Redoing the Seahawks' Underwhelming 2017 NFL Draft
It’s so difficult for a franchise’s brass to get a draft right. There are so many moving parts and possibilities that it makes it nearly impossible to nail every single one.
Every general manager has picks he wishes he could get back. Every team has players they passed on and let slip to other teams that they now regret.
General manager John Schneider and the Seahawks are no exception. It's impossible to predict that a late third-round pick will become an All-Pro or a seventh rounder will become a team's every-down running back.
The 2017 draft class is a rare black mark on Schneider and coach Pete Carroll’s collective resume during their 10-year partnership at the helm.
Looking back, there were several opportunities where, if the Seahawks had made a different selection, the ensuing seasons could have been much different and perhaps even another Super Bowl trophy could be residing in the case at the VMAC.
Round 1, Pick No. 26
Original Selection: traded down three times to pick in second round, with the traded picks, Seattle selected DT Malik McDowell at No. 35, S Lano Hill at No. 95, S Tedric Thompson at No. 111, S Mike Tyson at No. 187, RB Chris Carson at No. 249)
Redo selection: Ryan Ramczyk, OT, Wisconsin
The biggest blemish for the Schneider/Carroll regime is the selection of Malik McDowell, a player with raw, unlimited talented on the defensive line. He was their first selection of the draft, yet he never played a down due to an ATV accident, which prevented him from ever seeing the field.
The career-ending injury caused a ripple effect of moves as Seattle tried to cope with the loss over the next several seasons, costing the team draft picks and cap space down the road.
As a result of trading down three times, Seattle did make four other selections in this draft. But quite frankly, the only selection among those five picks that has made a significant impact has been Chris Carson, who just finished his second consecutive 1,000-yard season.
Seattle will have to find a running back in this redo scenario since they would not have an extra pick to use late in the draft to select him.
In this case, instead of trading down, the Seahawks keep their original pick and select tackle Ryan Ramczyk.
Seattle desperately tried to improve their offensive line in 2017 by trading for Pro Bowl left tackle Duane Brown. Perhaps they still swing that trade and have Ramczyk play right tackle, where he has been the last three seasons with the Saints after they took him at No. 32.
Such a tackle tandem would now be considered one of the best in the NFL and quarterback Russell Wilson would enjoy elite protection off the edge.
Ramczyk has missed just one game in three seasons and was recently crowned a First-Team All-Pro last year. Even without the Brown trade, Seattle would have had an All-Pro caliber tackle on a rookie deal with plenty of room to build around Wilson elsewhere.
Round 2, Pick No. 58
Original selection: Ethan Pocic, OL, LSU
Redo selection: Alvin Kamara, RB, Tennessee
Once again, Seattle raids a current Saints player.
Ethan Pocic has been largely a disappointment after being selected for his versatility, having played every offensive line spot at LSU.
With health issues and subpar play hindering him, he has started just 16 games in three seasons. Seattle has had to look elsewhere for reliable offensive line depth and his roster spot is very much in question for the 2020 season.
Seattle selected Carson in the seventh round of this draft and he has turned out to be a fine running back. However, in two of his first three seasons, he has ended the year on injured reserve.
Alvin Kamara is a Swiss army knife of a weapon with elite pass catching skills along with game-changing abilities as a runner out of the backfield. With the Saints, he earned Offensive Rookie of the Year and has been named to the Pro Bowl in each season thus far after being taken 67th overall.
Kamara has accumulated over 1,300 all-purpose yards every season, including over 700 rushing and receiving yards apiece in 2018. Imagine the magic Wilson could make with such a dual-threat weapon.
Round 3, Pick No. 90
Original selection: Shaquill Griffin, CB, UCF
Redo selection: Shaquill Griffin, CB, UCF
The Seahawks' brass deserves credit for finding a Pro Bowl cornerback late in the third round, which they did in Griffin. There are nine players who have been selected to a Pro Bowl among picks in the 2017 draft outside of rounds one and two and the former UCF star is one of them.
Griffin certainly has had his share of growing pains. To his credit, he built off of his struggles, becoming the Seahawks best corner and first Pro Bowler at the position since Richard Sherman. He allowed just a 57.1 percent completion percentage in 2019, along with 65 tackles and 13 passes defended.
In this scenario, there is nothing wrong with making Griffin the selection once more.
Round 3, Pick No. 102
Original selection: Nazair Jones, DT, North Carolina
Redo selection: Eddie Jackson, S, Alabama
Naz Jones had a smashing debut, intercepting Aaron Rodgers in his first game as a pro. In his rookie season, he collected 19 tackles and 2.0 sacks in a limited role, showing plenty of potential.
However, after that promising start, injuries and subpar play led to Jones completely falling off of the map. He missed the entire 2019 season with knee problems and was cut earlier this offseason, playing in just 20 games in three years.
In the original 2017 draft, the Seahawks selected three safeties, none of which have panned out to make a big impact. In this redo, they select a game-changing safety that would have boosted Seattle's aging defensive backfield.
Eddie Jackson was available with pick No. 102, as he was taken by Chicago at No. 112 in reality. Seattle needed to find an heir for the aging Kam Chancellor and they knew that Earl Thomas was soon to leave as well, leaving the future of both safety spots in question.
The former Alabama defensive back would have been the perfect heir apparent. He became an instant starter with the Bears at free safety, having missed just two starts in his first three years.
In 2018, Jackson earned a Pro Bowl bid and was named First-Team All-Pro with 51 tackles and six interceptions, including two of them he returned for touchdowns, while also producing 15 passes defended, two forced fumbles and a sack.
His encore in 2019 was nearly as successful, earning a second straight Pro Bowl nod with 60 tackles, two interceptions, a sack, and five tackles for loss.
By making this selection, Jackson would have become the new alpha dog among the Seahawk's defensive backs in the post-Legion of Boom era.
Round 3, Pick No. 106
Original selection: Amara Darboh, WR, Michigan
Redo selection: George Kittle, TE, Iowa
For a third round pick, Darboh was very disappointing. He played mainly special teams in his rookie season, catching eight passes for 71 yards in 2017. The injury bug set in and he has not played a snap since and was last seen on the Steelers practice squad.
Still on the board when Seattle reached pick No. 106 was a certain tight end named George Kittle. Imagine if Seattle selected the now two-time Pro Bowler from Iowa instead of Darboh in the third round.
It would then be Wilson and the Seahawks torturing the rest of the NFL with the unfair mismatches Kittle creates. He set the football world ablaze in 2018 with 1,377 receiving yards, eight-most in the NFL and the best mark among tight ends.
His 2019 campaign was nearly as dominant, with a second straight 1,000-yard season and five scores, even with missing two games in the process. He earned his second consecutive Pro Bowl bid and was named First-Team All-Pro.
His combination of elite pass catching abilities with a hard-nosed attitude towards blocking has quickly made Kittle the best all-around tight end in the business. Picture Russell Wilson having a weapon like that instead of the Seahawks' defense trying to contain him twice a year as a member of the 49ers, who took him with pick No. 146.
Round 6, Pick No. 210
Original selection: Justin Senior, T, Mississippi State
Redo selection: Ifeadi Odenigbo, DE, Northwestern
Heading down the board to the late sixth round, it gets more difficult to find diamonds in the rough and selections become more miss than hit. Senior was placed on injured reserve before his rookie season even started and was released before he took a snap for the Seahawks.
Meanwhile, Odenigbo was still on the board. His name does not jump off the page like Alvin Kamara or George Kittle's, but in 2019, he put together a solid season for the Vikings.
He played all 16 games in a limited role, yet still found a way to get 7.0 sacks, a fumble recovery returned for a touchdown, and 13 quarterback hits. The Northwestern product set himself up for a bigger role along the Vikings' defensive line in 2020.
If the Seahawks would have selected Odenigbo at No. 219 instead of letting him fall to Minnesota at 220, they would have found a respectable source of pass rushing abilities they sorely lacked outside of Jadeveon Clowney last season.
Solid pass rushers certainly do not grow on trees in the NFL and Odenigbo seems to be developing into, at worst, a solid depth piece for Minnesota. At best, he could still become a viable every down pass rusher.
Round 7, Pick No. 226
Original Selection: David Moore, WR, East Central (OK)
Redo selection: Harrison Butker, K, Georgia Tech
David Moore has had a respectable career, given the fact that most seventh round picks don't usually make it very far. In the last two seasons, he has collected 746 receiving yards and seven touchdowns.
This is not as much a knock on Moore as it is addressing an immediate need for Seattle.
Need we be reminded of Blair Walsh and the debacle that was his 2017 campaign with the Seahawks? Some of his critical misses were big reasons why Seattle stayed home during that postseason.
If Seattle would have selected Butker instead of letting him fall to No. 233, they would have saved themselves major headaches over the last three seasons.
Interestingly, the Panthers inexplicably let Butker go before the 2017 season started, allowing the Kansas City Chiefs to scoop him up. He immediately became Kansas City's main kicker, leading the NFL in field goal attempts with 42 in his rookie campaign and making 90.5 percent of those kicks.
Butker also has made four of five field goal attempts during three postseason runs for the Chiefs, including making a 31-yarder in their Super Bowl LIV victory.
Over the last three seasons, the Georgia Tech alum has made 89.7 percent of his field goal attempts. Seahawks kickers in that same time frame have averaged a success rate of 78.7 percent.
The Seahawks likely win several more games over the last three seasons with Butker as their kicker and we could be having a far different discussion about how the team fared in postseason play.
