2025 NFL draft: Grading each pick by the Seattle Seahawks

Another draft class is in the books for the Seattle Seahawks. Heading into this class, the elephant in the room was whether they could fix the element that's been keeping a low lid on their win total these last few years. Specifically, Seattle went into the 2025 NFL draft with the worst offensive line in the NFL. The Seahawks got off to a great start addressing this problem with their first pick, but it's worth asking if they invested enough draft capital into this unit, despite taking two more later on.

Along the way, the Seahawks also added a special chess piece for Mike Macdonald's defense, a playmaker at tight end, wide receiver depth and a developmental quarterback with supremely high upside. Let's break it down and hand out letter grades for each pick.

Pick No. 18: NDSU OL Grey Zabel: A+

Usually taking a guard with a first-round pick is a bit of a reach, but when you have the worst interior offensive line in the league, it's ok to reach a bit - perhaps even a bit necessary. Grey Zabel is far from your average guard prospect, in any case. He has experience lining up at all five positions and could eventually take over for Charles Cross or Abe Lucas if the future calls for it. To start out, Zabel will play guard - likely left guard given the lack of options there and a bunch of them at right guard. Wherever he ends up playing, Seattle landed a major upgrade where they needed it the most.

Pick No. 35: South Carolina DB Nick Emmanwori: A-

Next, the Seahawks traded up in the second round, sending the Titans picks No. 52 and 82 overall in order to move up to No. 35 to take the best safety prospect in this draft class in Emmanwori. When it comes to trade value Tennessee got the better of Seattle, hence the minus. As a prospect there's nothing not to like about Emmanwori, who will act as a force multiplier for the back end of the Seahawks defense and unlock all kinds of diabolical combinations for Macdonald. Emmanwori's incredible size, speed, power and explosiveness will evoke Kam Chancellor - a comparison that he's embracing rather than shrinking from.

Pick No. 50: Miami TE Elijah Arroyo: B+

Given how much they're likely to use tight ends under new offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak, the Seahawks needed to add one in this draft, which is pretty deep at the position. With Arroyo they are getting one of the best pass-catching options in a strong group of them. It's fair to point out that Arroyo's sample size as a receiving threat is relatively small, but he flashed enough in 2024 to prove he can be a real weapon at the next level for Sam Darnold, especially on the deep balls where he was better than anybody else last season.

Pick No. 92: Alabama QB Jalen Milroe: A+

This was the big surprise pick by Seattle near the end of the second night of the draft. While they didn't exactly need to pick a quarterback, the best time to draft one is before you need one anyway - a philosophy from Green Bay that John Schneider finally followed through on for the first time since 2012. Milroe's game may be raw as hell, but he'll have plenty of time to develop as he sits behind Sam Darnold and Drew Lock. What really matters is that Milroe might have the most upside in this class, especially as a unique rushing weapon and a superb deep thrower of the ball. If they can build up the short and intermediate parts of his game and smooth out a few other rough spots, Milroe could be lethal some day.

Pick No. 142: Notre Dame DT Rylie Mills: B-

The interior defensive line had to be addressed at some point, especially after cutting Cameron Young going into the draft. Here the Seahawks landed a very promising prospect who was expected to come off the board much earlier than he did. However, the reason why was a significant knee injury late in the season for Mills, which qualifies as a yellow flag. If he can stay healthy though Mills will be an exellent depth piece behind Leonard Williams, Byron Murphy and Jarran Reed.

Pick No. 166: Colorado WR Tory Horton Jr.: B-

The Seahawks had to find a third wide receiver to replace what Tyler Lockett brought to the table, and in Tory Horton they landed one who looks an awful lot like Lockett did coming out of Kansas State 10 years ago. Horton comes with remarkable speed, soft hands and solid size for the position. Horton may also be the best punt returner in his class. However, like Mills Horton is also coming off a pretty big knee injury that only allowed him to play six games last year. That keeps the ceiling on this grade relatively low when it could have been an A+ pick otherwise.

Pick No. 175: Alabama TE/FB Robbie Ouzts: F

This one was our least-favorite pick by far. While it's hard to deny Ouzts has magnificent moustache aura for a fullback, the simple fact is that teams don't need to use draft picks on fullbacks in the modern NFL. Ouzts was projected to go undrafted in the first place and odds are Seattle could have signed him when the draft was over. In the meantime, the Seahawks should have been investing more capital into their offensive line, which needs all the help it can get.

Pick No. 192: Kansas OL Bryce Cabeldue: C+

With the next pick Seattle did get back to the business at hand. However, it also continues a long and unsuccessful trend of drafting players to line up at guard who haven't actually played guard before. Cabeldue does have a lot of experience at both left and right tackle, but only a grand total of five snaps at guard in college. A lot of NFL teams slide tackles inside. It doesn't always work out though - especially not for this team. Cabeldue should be a good long-term option at swing tackle, at least.

Pick No. 233: Miami RB Damien Martinez: A

The Seahawks are pretty well setup at running back with Ken Walker (who's not getting traded), Zach Charbonnet and Kenny McIntosh. Three is a bit thin, though - so it made sense to add a fourth on Day 3 of the draft. In Martinez the Seahawks landed a much better-back than you usually see still hanging around in the seventh round. Martinez averaged over six yards per carry in college and scored 26 touchdowns in just 38 games.

Pick No. 234: Iowa OL Mason Richman: C+

Once again general manager John Schneider picks a tackle with the plan to play him at guard. Richman played his entire college career at Iowa starting at left tackle. However, the Seahawks are calling both him and Cabeldue guards. Richman is a pretty solid pass blocker and offers more depth at tackle - but again in this case it seems like they're cramming a square peg into a round hole.

Pick No. 238: UNLV WR Ricky White III: A

Like Martinez, it was a bit of a surprise to see such a productive skill player still on the board this late in the draft. White averaged about 1,000 receiving yards and seven touchdowns a year over the last three season. He earned strong PFF grades in both 2023 and 2024 and at least appears to have a ceiling that could push out any undrafted free agents currently on the roster at this spot.