NFL draft: best fits between draft prospects and teams

LSU v Alabama

Seattle Seahawks – Kristian Fulton, CB, LSU

Seattle has refused to listen to me and invest draft capital in the offensive line in recent years, so I have given up hope that they will finally do so this year, and they have a very impressive receiving corp now. However, with the way people talked about the Seahawks defense last season, I think most of them would be surprised to learn they allowed the sixth-most passing yards in the league, despite ranking top ten in times of possession. There’s still a lot of questions about the D-line, with Jadeveon Clowney’s and Ziggy Ansah’s contract running out, but assuming they will at least sign somebody to play defensive end, I am looking at the cornerback position. Shaquill Griffin has been playing very well for them in his three years in Seattle, but they need to find a running mate for him they can trust. Tre Flowers has the measurements you are looking for in a that single-high cover-three, press-bail scheme, but he hasn’t been consistent enough, getting burned over the type on several occasions. The newest LSU corner has all the traits you want while having put together the tape to back it up. He is a better prospect than his former teammate Greedy Williams, even though another freshman corner kind of outshined Fulton last year – but that just seems to be the standard in Baton Rouge. He would immediately upgrade the pass defense and give their rush more time to get home.

Baltimore Ravens – Patrick Queen, LB, LSU

While Baltimore’s number-one ranked scoring offense somewhat masks their limited talent at wide receiver, I am looking at the defensive side of the ball. With two All-Pro corners and having just extended rising safety Chuck Clark, they are pretty settled on the back-end, but linebacker is a position they could use an upgrade at. LSU’s Patrick Queen has really shot up draft boards this season, after entering the starting lineup for the Tigers at the end of last year, when Devin White went down with an injury. He is a dynamic player in space, who can cover a lot of ground in coverage and has the closing speed to break on underneath routes, as well as being able to shoot downhill in the run game or come on green-dog blitzes. The loss of C.J. Mosley in last year’s free agency has left a void that Queen would be a great replacement for. However I will say that this largely depends on if the Ravens manage to re-sign Matt Judon, because if they don’t, they should be looking at edge rusher and possibly a hybrid player like Wisconsin’s Zack Baun, who they can use standing up but also let him rush the passer on third downs. Oklahoma’s Kenneth Murray is another option, but having a former teammate of likely first overall pick Joe Burrow would be pretty sweet to have against their division rival Bengals.