In the past few days, one player has seen his draft stock rise significantly, much to the surprise of many. Andy Dalton, quarterback of the TCU Horned Frogs, has gone from afterthought to sudden first-round pick, and the Seattle Seahawks may just be the ones to snatch him up. We’ve seen Mel Kiper peg Dalton as the Seattle’s pick at No. 25 in his 2011 NFL mock draft, and now others are following suit. And it should be a scary projection for Seattle fans.
Edit: I completely forgot Don Banks pegged Dalton as the Seahawks pick in his mock draft a month ago. To be fair, and in the interest of accuracy, it should be pointed out Banks was the first to connect Seattle and Dalton.
The latest to jump on the Andy Dalton to Seattle bandwagon is SB Nation. In the final 2011 NFL mock draft, Brian Galliford has the Seahawks taking Dalton, but adds the team may prefer a different quarterback. Whether one is available remains to be seen.
NFL writers insist Dalton will be a first-round pick, much to the dismay of draftniks everywhere. Seattle needs a quarterback, but may prefer someone else.
For the life of me, I can’t figure this pick out. Dalton is spectacularly mediocre when it comes to measurables and even the prototypical skills you look for in an NFL quarterback. Yes, all he did was win at TCU, but nothing about him jumps off the page. He is just “meh,” or completely average, on the surface.
Taking Dalton in the second round would be just fine, and should be where he slots into the mix this year. But in the first round? It’s a reach, and feels like a product of the run on quality quarterbacks more than anything else. First round picks should be special and, if done right, can net a team a star for years to come. With Dalton, all I see is average, and have a hard time justifying spending the No. 25 pick on him
For more on the draft, stay with our 2011 NFL mock draft StoryStream. Be sure to head over to our 2011 NFL Draft StoryStream for the latest news and rumors on draft day. Head over to Field Gulls, SB Nation’s Seahawks blog, for even more draft analysis.