If given the chance. Just think about this..

As Patrick Mahomes comes to Seattle, revisiting the rumors that the Seahawks wanted to draft him

The Seahawks have acknowledged they were heavily enamored with Mahomes' talents when he came out of Texas Tech. What might that alternate reality entail? Even if we’ll never know, we can always wonder.

By Bob Condotta
Seattle Times staff reporter
In the middle of an answer this week to a question about Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes — the favorite to be named the NFL’s MVP this season — Seattle coach Pete Carroll gave the most public confirmation yet to what is emerging as one of the more intriguing hypotheticals in team history.

Specifically, the story is the Seahawks were so seriously infatuated with Mahomes when he entered the draft out of Texas Tech in 2017 that they were thinking about taking him with the 26th pick if he had been available, even if quarterback would have been perceived as their position of least need.

Instead, the Chiefs — who play the Seahawks in Seattle Sunday night — traded two first-round picks to Buffalo to move up from 27 to 10 to grab Mahomes.

The next morning, Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network tweeted “If Patrick Mahomes was there for the Seahawks in late (round) 1 they would have really, really considered it.’’

Mahomes was one of the fastest-rising players in the draft and the thought as selection day approached was that he probably wouldn’t last to 26.

But that the Chiefs, a team many had taken Mahomes in mock drafts, were a spot behind Seattle in the draft and made a bold strike to move up to get him may only further reinforce the idea that he wasn’t going to get past 26 — and stranger things have happened then a marquee QB falling a few spots in the draft (remember Aaron Rodgers falling to 24 in 2005?)

“(Seahawks general manager) John (Schneider) was in love with him,’’ Carroll said of Mahomes. “He knew that he had something really special. He thought he was worthy of going up there in the very top of the draft. We were surprised that he made it to 10th by our evaluations.’’

With Mahomes off the board, the Seahawks eventually traded out of the first round, ultimately moving down to 35 where they took Michigan State defensive lineman Malik McDowell (yeah, about that), in the process acquiring picks in later rounds they used to draft safeties Delano Hill and Tedric Thompson, defensive back Mike Tyson (now with Houston) and running back Chris Carson.

The idea that Seahawks apparently would have considered drafting Mahomes drew more than a few raised eyebrows at the time.

Russell Wilson had signed his four-year $87.5 million extension — which runs through the 2019 season — barely two years earlier.

Were they really willing to spend a first-round pick on what would have been perceived as a likely little-to-be-used luxury item for at least three years?

What’s worth remembering is the context of the time.

Wilson was coming off a 2016 season that remains the roughest of his career, suffering three injuries that limited his ability to run and also helped result in a 92.6 passer rating, his lowest.

Wilson is the only quarterback the Seahawks have drafted since Schneider and Carroll took over in 2010, and his arrival in 2012 has given Seattle one of the best in the NFL at that position ever since.

But Wilson’s injuries that year and the lack of a proven backup led to a lot of conjecture going into that draft that maybe 2017 would again be the year the Seahawks would take a QB to beef up the overall depth at that spot, even if no one was thinking they would do so in the first round.

A quote Schneider gave a few days before the draft that year when asked about the QB spot is telling, as is remembering that he spent much of his pre-Seattle career in Green Bay, a franchise known for always making sure it was well-stocked at quarterback no matter who it had as its starter, even if usually doing so in the mid-to-later rounds (consider that during the time the Packers had Brett Favre as their starter among the QBs they drafted were Matt Hasselbeck — later traded to Seattle — and former Husky Mark Brunell, later traded to Jacksonville. Then there was the drafting of Rodgers, who sat behind Favre for three years).

“I’ve always thought you have to have one (quarterback) in the chamber, and have a guy who is getting ready,’’ Schneider said. “… that’s something that you want to do. The most important position on the field.’’

Seattle didn’t take a QB that year. But further evidence they were serious at the time about making sure they were better covered at the backup spot came when the Seahawks famously brought in Colin Kaepernick for a tryout a few weeks after the draft.

Kaepernick didn’t sign and Seattle shortly after signed Austin Davis. Still, in those spring months when Seattle might still have been a little queasy about Wilson’s health and not having a real proven backup, certainly not one who would really push Wilson for the job — Trevone Boykin was also on the roster at the time — it seems clear they were interested in exploring options (there’s always been a thought that if Seattle had a backup in 2016 more proven than Boykin that Wilson might well have sat for a few weeks as he dealt with ankle, knee and pectoral injuries).

As we now know, Seattle’s evaluation of Mahomes as a player worth making a significant investment on couldn’t have been more accurate — in his first season as a starter, Kansas City comes to town having scored the fifth-most points in NFL history through 14 games, 499.

Maybe even at that point, if the Seahawks thought a deal with Wilson would be difficult, it was Wilson they could have dangled, assured they were right about Mahomes, and going back to the formula that led the Carroll/Schneider era to its greatest years — a young quarterback on a rookie contract and lots of cap space.

Even if we’ll never know, we can always wonder.
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