AP

In this Oct. 20, 2007 file photo, Oregon tailback Jonathan Stewart runs against Washington in the first half of a football game in Seattle. Stewart is a top prospect in the upcoming NFL football draft on Saturday, April 26, 2008.

KIRKLAND, Wash. - Now that Shaun Alexander is gone, can the Seahawks get so lucky that Jonathan Stewart falls to them?

There seems to be a need for a fresh running back. After all, recently signed Julius Jones and T.J. Duckett will turn 30 someday -- just as Alexander did during his free fall from league MVP to Seattle castoff in just over two years.

It'd take luck for Stewart, the Oregon star from Timberline High School in Lacey, Wash., to fall to the Seahawks at No. 25 in the first round of Saturday's NFL draft. But a top tight end such as Fred Davis of Southern California being there then wouldn't ruin Seattle's weekend, either.

Even though those appear to be the two positions at which Seattle needs its most immediate help, the heads of the Seahawks' drafting plans aren't acknowledging it.

"This is the first time for me here that we don't feel hostage to a position," team president and general manager Tim Ruskell said Thursday. "That's a good feeling. Especially in the first few rounds, where we feel like the whole board is at our mercy ... we can go any way.

"We can really rely on our grading system in terms of who the best guy is. We just don't feel hostage to any position."

That's the standard smoke screen in a league that treats specific draft plans as if they were CIA operations. Either that, or Jeb Putzier and run blocker Will Heller, currently on the roster, really are the dynamic pass receiving tight ends that coach Mike Holmgren has been seeking since letting go of troubled Jerramy Stevens before last season.

This may be one of the better drafts to select a tight end. Dustin Keller from Purdue and Davis are considered the top ones. And Seahawks vice president for player personnel Ruston Webster said there are many more available who can play in the NFL.

"I would say the tight end class is really good. I wouldn't say it is great -- it is a good, solid class," Webster said.

Video: Hawks President Ruskell on the NFL draft

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"I don't know how many guys you will see go in the top 15, probably not any, but it is a good solid class overall."

Webster thinks five or six tight ends may be selected during the first two rounds.

If Webster is right about the top 15, Keller may be around at No. 25 for Seattle, which tried and failed with aging veteran free agent Marcus Pollard last season. Keller may fit Ruskell's proclamation of getting the best player -- while getting the need filled, too. Keller is a 6-foot-2, 242-pound force with 4.5 speed in the 40-yard dash who caught 68 passes last season, the second-most by a tight end at pass-happy Purdue.

But Keller, who arrived at Purdue as an 185-pound wide receiver as a freshman, only started regularly for his final two collegiate seasons. That goes against the Seahawks' philosophy of favoring college players who have proven themselves for three and even four years as a starter.

"That is always something from a scouting point of view is good to look at," said Webster, who began in the NFL as a scout with Tampa Bay in 1988 when Ruskell was a regional scout with the Buccaneers. "The guys that are four-year starters, especially at the big schools, that means something. ... I have always personally been partial to four-year starters."

Ruskell calls those who have only excelled for one or two seasons in college "hit or miss prospects."

"Philosophically over the years we have said, 'Don't even look at those guys until the third round'," Ruskell said.

Davis, 6-4, 248 pounds, started three games at USC as a sophomore -- then went on to become the Trojans' record holder for catches by a tight end.

Look for the Seahawks to draft at least one defensive tackle, maybe early. Ruskell said veteran departures are why Seattle will likely add at that position.

"We have been targeting all along defensive tackles and defensive linemen because we lost Chuck Darby and we lost Ellis Wyms. Philosophically, both O-line and D-line, you want to rejuvenate those every year," Ruskell said. "(We) don't ever lose track of that."

Ruskell has also said a team can't have too many running backs -- the Seahawks still have Maurice Morris and Leonard Weaver, in addition to the recently signed Jones and Duckett.

Seattle would also like to add a rookie kicker, either through the draft or as an undrafted free agent next week, to compete with veteran offseason acquisition Olindo Mare as the replacement for Josh Brown.

Ruskell said he has fielded calls from teams that own picks early in the second round and want to trade into late in the first round. The Seahawks keep hinting they may be willing to do that, but Ruskell said Seattle trading up in the first round won't happen. He said Seattle lacks the depth of picks to do that. The Seahawks own just six picks in the seven rounds.