Strength of tackle, receiver and running back classes could help Seahawks greatly

If what happens in free agency helps teams determine what to do in the NFL draft, so it is that what happens at the NFL combine helps determine what happens in free agency.

Recall that one of the biggest moves of the Pete Carroll/John Schneider era – a trade in March 2013 for receiver Percy Harvin – was made in part because the Seahawks had assessed the draft landscape that year and decided the first-round pick they’d have to give up to get the mercurial receiver from Minnesota wasn’t going to be worth what it might usually be given the available talent.

That Harvin proved a disaster other than one shining moment in New Jersey makes it a trade Seattle wouldn’t do again, and as time has gone on, the legacy of the 2013 draft is a little better than it looked initially. The top of that class has turned out historically bad – only six of the top 10 players in that draft are even still playing and only three have made a Pro Bowl – but as seasons have passed, some players later in the first round and in later rounds have emerged.

The broader point is that the intel the team had gathered at the combine helped influence their decisions before the draft even arrived.

Which brings us to this year’s ongoing NFL combine, which concluded Sunday.

And one of the overriding assessments of experts once it was over was that several groups of offensive players may be more talent-rich than usual.

One area that wasn’t all that good was the tight-end group. But the receiver class may be historically great, while the general perception is that the draft is also unusually good at offensive tackle, pretty good on the line overall and solid at running back.

“Disappointing numbers for pretty much every tight end” but Albert Okwuegbunam of Missouri, wrote Scott Barrett of Pro Football Focus.

All of which sounds like music to the Seahawks’ ears and something that may further explain how we have seen Seattle approach its offseason to date.

Seattle’s only big move so far has been to sign veteran tight end Greg Olsen to a one-year deal worth up to $7 million with $5.5 million guaranteed.

The signing of Olsen leaves Seattle with $44.6 million in cap space, according to OvertheCap.com, with the ability to create maybe $8 million to $10 million more with a few other roster moves. (The cap may also go up a bit depending on what happens with the proposed new collective-bargaining agreement. But that obviously would go up equally for everyone.)

And we know where the Seahawks need to spend a lot of that money, on re-signing the likes of defensive linemen Jadeveon Clowney and Jarran Reed or finding their replacements.

Another thing that might help the Seahawks is what may be the best defensive group is cornerbacks, where Seattle might be in the market to draft someone as immediate competition at the nickelback spot.