Could Seahawks take Keylan Rutledge at No. 32 to pair with Grey Zabel?

There could be fire where there’s smoke about Georgia Tech guard Keylan Rutledge being the Seattle Seahawks pick at No. 32.

Brock Huard did a draft profile on him last week, praising his toughness, multi-sport background and grit. The same day, ESPN NFL Analyst Peter Schrager released his first mock draft, which had him going to the New England Patriots at No. 31. This would make sense given those traits are emphasized by Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel, but they don’t have an open guard spot. The NFL Stock Exchange podcast dissected this to possibly mean Seattle could be considering him at No. 32.

Schrager’s mock drafts are largely based on putting players in the range of picks he’s hearing NFL teams see players as going in. The fact he included Rutledge in the first round at all is a surprise, considering most big boards have him close to the mid second-round. In his reasoning for mocking him to the Patriots, Schrager states that, "In talking to teams over the past few weeks, Rutledge is viewed as a Day 1 or Day 2 prospect." There’s a good chance Schrager hears rumblings about Rutledge as a back-end of the first-round type of pick, but which team makes the most sense is more of the question. In that case, one could argue the Seahawks are more likely to take a guard at that spot. Moreover, Rutledge fits the bill for most of the same reasons they took Grey Zabel last year.

The rugged play-style is there, and he’s also specifically a right guard who could slot into Anthony Bradford’s spot. He was on a very good yet overlooked team in Georgia Tech and was one of their best players, similar to Zabel with North Dakota State. If John Benton’s first step to rebuild the offensive line in his image was starting Zabel and last year, adding Rutledge to the interior would certainly fit his type.