THE CHEAP SEATS WITH STEVE CAMERON: On eve of draft, Seahawks zero in

YES, WE have your questions and comments on how the Seahawks can improve.

Apparently, the fact that no one is positive quite when (or if) the NFL might kick off the 2020 season hasn’t hindered your interest in the draft — which opens Thursday night via video conferencing.

I’ve gotten an endless stream of emails, enough that if they were all printed out, the stack might be high enough that I could sit on top and peer into GM John Schneider’s living room.

However, even though this draft will be conducted without in-person events (it had been scheduled as a Las Vegas spectacular until, you know...), most experts already have concluded that Seattle will be Seattle.

Which is to say, Schneider and Pete Carroll will come up with some off-the-wall antics.

They’ll probably trade down from their 27th spot in the first round — Schneider thinks of that as a second-round value, anyhow — and begin piling up extra selections.

AND...

They’ll grab at least one player about three rounds ahead of the spot assigned to him by draft guru Mel Kiper Jr., and perhaps seize a gifted athlete who has fallen too far for whatever reason (see: DK Metcalf, 2019).

This year’s version could be Colorado WR Laviska Shenault Jr.

The Seahawks’ draft board doesn’t look even remotely like anyone else’s, because Schneider and Carroll are looking for specific, unique traits, depending on the position.

One thing that most of you emailers put in big bold letters was: PASS RUSH!

The Seahawks managed only 28 sacks in 16 games a year ago, and even QB pressures were down.

The secondary wasn’t great, but it was more than adequate — especially after the midseason trade for free safety Quandre Diggs — but you can’t ask the cover guys to fill every patch of grass forever.

So, can I give you the name of some pass rushers available in this draft who should be available whenever the Seahawks finally do have some choices?

Sure, but...

What we DON’T know is whether the Seahawks are pretty close to having a deal in place with their old pal Jadeveon Clowney or former Viking Everson Griffen, two big-time rushers.

Neither is likely to sign until the week after the draft, when they no longer would count in the compensatory picks process for teams losing them.

If the Hawks don’t land Clowney or Griffen (and maybe even if they do get one), outside rushers will remain a top priority.

Two very good ones who should be around when Seattle finally makes a pick are A.J. Epenesa from Iowa and Penn State’s Yetur Gross-Matos.

Several mock drafts see the Hawks taking Auburn’s nimble 300-pounder, Marlon Davidson, late in the second round.

Not that the Seahawks would care, but I like Epenesa because of a particularly fierce, angry look to how he plays.

He’s also immense at 6-6 and 280 with long, long arms and heavy, vicious hands to make things happen.

You feeling me, guys?

THERE’S ANOTHER issue to the whole pass rush thing, besides whether the Hawks bag one of the free agents (they’d have to cut a veteran or two to make that work under the salary cap, by the way).

Two returnees could change the D-line around — Jarran Reed at tackle figures to improve off his short season in 2019, and last year’s first-round pick, L.J. Collier, could make a huge leap forward.

By all accounts, the Seahawks brain trust still loves Collier, and although he plays 5-technique end on the other side (Michael Bennett’s old role), he could move to tackle on passing downs and really create some havoc.

Remember, also, that Seattle has signed two vet edge rushers, Bruce Irvin and Idaho grad Benson Mayowa — both former Seahawks. These guys are savvy pros and combined for 14 1/2 sacks last year.

Any of you who wrote in and did NOT howl about the pass rush were generally fearful of an offensive line that wasn’t all that good, and simply must keep Russell Wilson upright if Seattle is going to make a serious playoff run.

THE GOOD news is that the Hawks signed everyone but your Aunt Alice from the lower tier of free agency, providing competition for offensive line spots and, just maybe, with the chance to unearth a gem or two.

Guards Mike Iupati and D.J. Fluker are back — for better or worse — and the evergreen Duane Brown is set at left tackle, despite being 36 years old.

There will be fierce competition for spots, if and when there’s actually a training camp.

Keep an eye on guard Phil Haynes, one of last year’s draftees who needed surgery. Haynes is now healthy and has a ton of potential.

In a perfect world, both Fluker and Iupati might lose their jobs to better players — but it’s tough to dislodge a cagey veteran O-lineman.

Seattle almost surely will draft an interior lineman or two somewhere from Thursday to Saturday (Kiper thinks they’ll grab center/guard Cesar Ruiz from Michigan in the first round), but rookies usually take a while to force their way into these jobs, although...

Starting center Justin Britt is coming off a season lost to surgery.

On both sides of the line, it’s tough for first-year players to learn enough that they have an immediate impact.

So the Hawks may be drafting for the future.

Or depth.

Sorry.

Email: scameron@cdapress.com

Steve Cameron’s “Cheap Seats” columns appear in The Press on Wednesdays and Fridays. “Moments, Memories and Madness,” his reminiscences from several decades as a sports journalist, runs each Sunday.

Steve also writes Zags Tracker, a commentary on Gonzaga basketball, once per month during the offseason.