by: Chris Sullivan
Who the hell is Mike Teel? Well, for one, it could be argued that he's the guy responsible for Kenny Britt. (The counter argument, and the potentially more convincing one, is that Kenny Britt is responsible for Mike Teel.) Here's how NFL.com broke down our pick:
Teel has an extremely strong arm. He was plagued by some Rutgers receivers dropping passes last year and he lacks speed, but he has a cannon and is very smart. He helped turn around the Rutgers program and has a shot to develop into something.
Okay, so, strong arm (that's new), receivers dropping passes (okay he'll fit in alright in Seattle), lacks speed (that's Hasselbeckian) and very smart. He's improved his stats every year, but again how much of that is Rutgers getting a great WR in Britt? Hard to say, but ideally he'll have great WRs in the NFL too, making that point a concern but somewhat moot.
Here's his Bio from Seahawks.com:
A durable three-plus-year starter with NFL size and an adequate arm, Teel really started to turn heads during the team's seven-win run at the end of 2008. His connections with fellow 2009 NFL Draft prospects wide receivers Tiquan Underwood and Kenny Britt lit up scoreboards through the final two months of the season.
Teel improved statistically each season, partially because his receivers began catching the ball consistently. He set career highs as a senior with 3,418 passing yards and 25 touchdowns.
An NFL team will take a chance on him as a late-round pick or priority free agent because of his strong physical and mental makeup.
The jury will be out for a few years, and I think it's still possible we grab someone from the list of undrafted free agents and maybe even someone with a comp pick in the 7th. Who knows?
The real concern most fans (and myself) are having is in opportunity cost. What did picking Teel cost the Hawks as far as who we could have picked? It's impossible to say, because we don't know who was being looked at. Rashad Jennings was available, but 22 picks later he's still available. Maybe he's not as good as we all (including me) wanted him to be? While I trust the pro scouts above my own scouting, this pick was very unexciting. That doesn't mean it won't be a good one, but it does show yet again that Ruskell and Mora think we can win with the guys we have right now.
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