The most wonderful time of the year. MOCK DRAFT SIM THREAD.

[Michael K.]

"The Seahawks didn't need a wide receiver they acquired to play wide receiver well."

Like what?

They wanted a field stretcher and a return man. They got both. You are stubborn as Hell, and I'm done with this. There is ZERO chance anyone with a clue thinks this was a bad trade. Sorry.

[Michael K.]

Not a great draft, but I loaded up for next year, so let's hope that year is better! LOL

A couple of guys that might be a good value where I got them.

Keylan Rutledge
OG
Georgia Tech
Height: 6 - 3 |
Weight: 316 lbs |
RAS: N/A
Keylan Rutledge arrived at Middle Tennessee in 2022 and almost instantly factored into the starting rotation. After starting 17 games for the Blue Raiders, he transferred to Georgia Tech and made a similarly quick impact for the Yellow Jackets. He was a two-time first-team All-ACC competitor in his time under Brent Key, and in 2025, he was a first-team All-American. Now, entering the 2026 NFL Draft, Rutledge stands out as a potential gem in the middle-round range. At around 6'4", 330 pounds, Rutledge is a compact block of fury inside the tackles; in fact, there's an argument to make no offensive lineman brings more energy and relentless zeal than him on a down-to-down basis. Rutledge is similarly energized with his foot speed and play pace, and he has the combined mass and width to levy devastating bouts of hand force and rotational torque. In the run game, he's assignment-sound, angle-sound, and role versatile, with the hip flexibility to execute reach blocks, and in pass protection, he blends the line between patience and proactivity well, and is aggressive on help blocks. His limited knee bend affects his leverage acquisition and pad level maintenance, but he has the temperament to be a tone-setter on Sundays.

Demond Claiborne
RB
Wake Forest
Height: 5 - 9 |
Weight: 187 lbs |
RAS: N/A
Demond Claiborne is one of the most dynamic RB prospects in the 2026 NFL Draft. Though he's a bit lighter and undersized, he compensates with a devastating elusion fusion. He's incredibly explosive working upfield, but he also has elite lateral mobility and offsetting abiltiy on the horizontal plane, as well as size-defying contact balance churning through arm tackles. Claiborne's combination of skills makes him incredibly hard to not only tackle 1-on-1, but also get a read on with pursuit angles. He's more deferential to interior running and doesn't have great peripheral vision, as he'll pass up open lanes outside in attempt to churn through congestion, a style that doesn't always mesh with his build. He'll never be an all-out brawler through contact or an elite goal-line threat, but his dynamic creative skill set is tailor-made for a standout sparkplug role on Sundays.

I took Barton just to give myself PST of his brother!

Traded down and missed on the homer pick of Jonah Coleman. He went one before I took Rutledge. But I'd rather have Rutledge and Claiborne than Coleman and one of the lineman that was left later.

[Donn Beach]

Geno is a poor comp. They needed geno to hit the ball they didn't need rasheed to catch passes. If he was dropping passes it might be more accurate. But they weren't targeting shaheed often. They had pass catchers, what they needed was someone to stretch defenses and he did that. It opened things up for the rest of the offense. You break off a 95.yard opening kickoff return and defenses need to account for you when you're lined up as a WR. The offense and ST improved after the rasheed trade, they used him as they intended successfully. It was a very successful trade.

Just because the Seahawks won the SB does not mean that the Hawks didn't need Shaheed to catch more passes. That is a false correlation.

You acquire a wideout to catch the ball. That was certainly one of the Hawks goals in acquiring him and saying anything short of that is laughable.

"The Seahawks didn't need a wide receiver they acquired to play wide receiver well."

Like what?

You are wrong, there's no other way to put it. I'm not trying to argue it as much as explain to you. It's how NFL offenses work. Instead of just being stubborn you should try and understand that. I keep coming up with things to explain it to you but you are too concerned about defending this position of yours.

Believe me, there's more to playing WR than just catching footballs. It's like saying the only reason to have running backs is to carry footballs.

NFL passing offenses utilize elite speed (e.g., Tyreek Hill, Jaylen Waddle) or specialized roles (e.g., Tutu Atwell) as decoys to manipulate defensive coverage and create space for primary targets like Travis Kelce. These players often run deep routes or use motion to freeze linebackers and safeties, simplifying coverage for quarterbacks.

This is what they were after and they were successful. There's nothing to argue. I'm perfectly confident in that

[Seattle or Bust]

Geno is a poor comp. They needed geno to hit the ball they didn't need rasheed to catch passes. If he was dropping passes it might be more accurate. But they weren't targeting shaheed often. They had pass catchers, what they needed was someone to stretch defenses and he did that. It opened things up for the rest of the offense. You break off a 95.yard opening kickoff return and defenses need to account for you when you're lined up as a WR. The offense and ST improved after the rasheed trade, they used him as they intended successfully. It was a very successful trade.

Just because the Seahawks won the SB does not mean that the Hawks didn't need Shaheed to catch more passes. That is a false correlation.

You acquire a wideout to catch the ball. That was certainly one of the Hawks goals in acquiring him and saying anything short of that is laughable.

"The Seahawks didn't need a wide receiver they acquired to play wide receiver well."

Like what?

You are wrong, there's no other way to put it. I'm not trying to argue it as much as explain to you. It's how NFL offenses work. Instead of just being stubborn you should try and understand that. I keep coming up with things to explain it to you but you are too concerned about defending this position of yours.

Believe me, there's more to playing WR than just catching footballs. It's like saying the only reason to have running backs is to carry footballs.

NFL passing offenses utilize elite speed (e.g., Tyreek Hill, Jaylen Waddle) or specialized roles (e.g., Tutu Atwell) as decoys to manipulate defensive coverage and create space for primary targets like Travis Kelce. These players often run deep routes or use motion to freeze linebackers and safeties, simplifying coverage for quarterbacks.

This is what they were after and they were successful. There's nothing to argue. I'm perfectly confident in that

If you can show me the impact Shaheed had on the field that's passive, I'll believe you. But I don't buy it considering the passing offense took a hit after Horton went down and the Hawks traded for Shaheed.

You and I both know Shaheed going for 100 yards and a TD is much more impactful that him playing a decoy. Let's not play stupid.

No team in the NFL is going to defend 18 catches over 12 games to the tune of 22 yards and 0 TD's. If Shaheed is re-signed and does that next year I don't care how many KR TD's he has, it would be a horrific signing for $15 million a year. Horrific.

The only reason people are justifying his lack of production at WR is because the Hawks won the SB. Had they lost to the Rams in the NFC Championship, a game where Shaheed had one KR for 21 yards, no punt returns, and 0 catches on 1 target... people would be looking at him as a scapegoat due to the total lack of production.

[Michael K.]

In the two wins against the Rams? Darnold's per game #s are 23.5 completions on 35 attempts. 67% with 2.5 TDs and 1 pick. Both wins. I'd say the passing game was just fine. The offense was just fine. Disagree all you want, I won't ever agree with you. 10 and 1 after the trade and the one loss they beat two times after. One pretty much directly from the impact he had on the 4th quarter with a big return and big run. But yeah, should have hoped that Mr Brittle came back instead of trading for a game changer on Special Teams. Never in my life have I seen more handwringing over the #3 WR that was basically the 5th option in the passing game!

They don't beat the Rams without Shaheed, and without beating the Rams? They don't have home field or the first round bye and they don't start out the playoffs by trouncing the 49ers. Instead of addressing that you keep posting stats that you feel make your theory. Now you bring up if they resign him. I don't give a fuck if they resign him, it was NOT a bad trade! Jesus man, you'd have rather lost to the Rams and gone on the road in the playoffs!? Youd have rather Geno Suarez didn't hit the walk off Grand Slam? Good Lord....I'm convinced you won't be happy unless you have something to bitch about.

Super Bowl Champs, everyone loves the guy, he completely changed the return game, but SOB says it's a bad trade so we should all just agree? Fucking A. Oh, and at the end of the NFCCG? The Rams ran their starting RB out their to return punts just to catch it and call punts. I bet they agree with you that Shaheed was a bad trade. They'd have won a ring if we didn't make that trade.

[Donn Beach]

Just because the Seahawks won the SB does not mean that the Hawks didn't need Shaheed to catch more passes. That is a false correlation.

You acquire a wideout to catch the ball. That was certainly one of the Hawks goals in acquiring him and saying anything short of that is laughable.

"The Seahawks didn't need a wide receiver they acquired to play wide receiver well."

Like what?

You are wrong, there's no other way to put it. I'm not trying to argue it as much as explain to you. It's how NFL offenses work. Instead of just being stubborn you should try and understand that. I keep coming up with things to explain it to you but you are too concerned about defending this position of yours.

Believe me, there's more to playing WR than just catching footballs. It's like saying the only reason to have running backs is to carry footballs.

NFL passing offenses utilize elite speed (e.g., Tyreek Hill, Jaylen Waddle) or specialized roles (e.g., Tutu Atwell) as decoys to manipulate defensive coverage and create space for primary targets like Travis Kelce. These players often run deep routes or use motion to freeze linebackers and safeties, simplifying coverage for quarterbacks.

This is what they were after and they were successful. There's nothing to argue. I'm perfectly confident in that

If you can show me the impact Shaheed had on the field that's passive, I'll believe you. But I don't buy it considering the passing offense took a hit after Horton went down and the Hawks traded for Shaheed.

You and I both know Shaheed going for 100 yards and a TD is much more impactful that him playing a decoy. Let's not play stupid.

No team in the NFL is going to defend 18 catches over 12 games to the tune of 22 yards and 0 TD's. If Shaheed is re-signed and does that next year I don't care how many KR TD's he has, it would be a horrific signing for $15 million a year. Horrific.

The only reason people are justifying his lack of production at WR is because the Hawks won the SB. Had they lost to the Rams in the NFC Championship, a game where Shaheed had one KR for 21 yards, no punt returns, and 0 catches on 1 target... people would be looking at him as a scapegoat due to the total lack of production.

Wrong again, the trade for shaheed began before Horton was injured. The plan was to play them together.

JS

"We had planned on having Tory and Rashid as top-end take-the-top-off speed threats

Show you? That's all I've been doing lol. Show me something, show me something that indicates he struggled to get open.

[Donn Beach]

Here, I did it for you. I'm getting bored with this

Based on recent 2025-2026 season data, Rashid Shaheed’s transition to the Seattle Seahawks has shown a mix of elite special teams impact and a slower, developing role within the offensive passing game. While he has struggled at times to consistently generate high reception totals as a receiver, he has not necessarily "struggled to get open" in the context of being a poor route runner, but rather faced challenges in timing and system integration.
Key Takeaways on Shaheed's Performance:
Production Challenges: After being traded to the Seahawks, Shaheed struggled to immediately establish high target numbers, with some reports noting few targets in specific games and an average of 1.5 receptions.
Role as a "Spacer": While his receiving numbers were modest, his value has been in his speed, forcing defenses to stretch and opening up space for other receivers like Jaxon Smith-Njigba.
Limited Chemistry: Early struggles were largely attributed to a lack of timing with quarterback Sam Darnold, as he was a midseason addition, and the team's offensive focus on the run game.
Elite Special Teams: Despite a slow offensive start, Shaheed has been highly productive elsewhere, highlighted by a 95-yard kickoff return touchdown in the 2026 playoffs.
Playoff Impact: Following his transition, he began showing better chemistry in the playoffs, contributing key receptions, such as a 74-yard performance in week 15.
In summary, while Shaheed’s raw receiving stats didn't explode immediately after the trade, his role as a vertical threat and his massive impact in the return game have been central to the Seahawks' offense in the 2025-2026 postseason.

[Michael K.]

Special Teams played a huge part all year, and was key in all three playoff wins. Luckily this organization understands that more than SOB.

[Donn Beach]

Special Teams played a huge part all year, and was key in all three playoff wins. Luckily this organization understands that more than SOB.

Complimentary football, with all the meme stuff I think that deserve more attention. I'm worried about the Rams. ST was the difference last season. As close as they were, the Seahawks and Rams. With the seahawks with maybe the leagues best and the Rams one of the worst. We certainly can't depend on that again. McVay is fixing that. Even if he just gets them league average it could swing the division

[Sibelius Hindemith]

How about this:

It was a good trade because Shaheed had some huge plays on special teams and stretched the field in a way that none of the other receivers could have.

+1 for Michael and Donn

It wouldn't be a good idea to sign him at projected market value ($14 mil per) with Horton back and so many other players they could use that money to keep like Walker, Woolen and Bryant.

+1 for SorB

Now can we just agree to disagree on the finer points regarding his value as a receiver and move on to other topics...