Seahawks NFL Draft: Best & Worst Picks - Kam to Collier - on Defense
Now preparing for their 14th NFL draft working together in tandem, Seattle Seahawks general manager John Schneider and coach Pete Carroll have a great opportunity to further bolster the team's roster with 10 picks at their disposal.
Amid a busy offseason, Seattle prioritized improving its defense in free agency, aggressively spending to add veterans Dre'Mont Jones, Bobby Wagner, and Julian Love last month. While these moves upgraded the unit at several key spots, the team could use further reinforcements and has the draft capital with four picks in the first 52 selections to add more quality talent.
Gearing up for another draft with a slice of historical perspective, where have the Seahawks found the most success drafting players at each respective defensive position since Schneider and Carroll first arrived back in 2010? Here's a look at best and worst picks at each position group as well as the "sweet spot" where the franchise has had the best luck selecting quality players.
Though his selection didn't come without controversy, Frank Clark quickly endeared himself to fans with three straight seasons producing at least nine sacks.
Defensive End/EDGE
Best Pick: Frank Clark
Worst Pick: L.J. Collier
Sweet Spot: First three rounds
Not all of Schneider's selections in the first two days of the draft have planned out as hoped at defensive end, as Collier produced only three sacks in four seasons with the Seahawks and stands out as one of the biggest busts in franchise history. But away from that big miss in 2019, the front office has done a good job finding quality talent at the position in the first three rounds. 2012 first-round pick Bruce Irvin registered eight sacks as a rookie and had 25.5 sacks in six seasons with the team, while Clark racked up 35 sacks in four seasons before being traded to the Chiefs, including a 13-sack season in 2018.
Even recently, though his run defense has been suspect and he missed his whole rookie year recovering from a fractured ankle, Darrell Taylor has provided much-needed juice rushing the quarterback with 16 sacks and five forced fumbles over the past two seasons. On the flip side, 2022 second-round pick Boye Mafe impressed as a run defender as a rookie last season and started to make contributions as a pass rusher late in the season.
Beyond the second round, Seattle has had minimal success finding contributors at the position, with Alton Robinson being the lone positive example with four sacks during his rookie season after being picked in the fifth round in 2020. If fans want to see another quality rusher added to the mix, they should be hoping to see Schneider and company address the need early with one of their first five selections.
Evolving from an early-down run stuffer into a viable interior pass rusher in Seattle, Jarran Reed has been a rare success story for Seattle drafting defensive tackles.
Defensive Tackle
Best Pick: Jarran Reed
Worst Pick: Malik McDowell
Sweet Spot: Not Applicable
If there's a position on defense where the Seahawks have consistently struggled to draft well in any of the seven rounds, defensive tackle would have to rank at the top of the list. Trading up to pick Reed in 2016 stands out as the clear and obvious success story, as he eventually became the third defensive tackle in team history to reach double digit sacks in a season and played dominant run defense in his first five seasons.
But away from Reed and Quinton Jefferson, a fifth-round pick in the same draft who overcame a rough start to become a quality starter in the league, Schneider and his cohorts have swung and missed on most of their defensive tackle picks. Malik McDowell infamously didn't play a snap for the team after the second-round pick suffered serious injuries in an ATV accident, while third-round pick Nazair Jones couldn't build off of a decent rookie season and found himself out of the league after only two years.
Historically, Seattle has been able to overcome poor drafting at the position by making thrifty veteran signings such as Tony McDaniel, Kevin Williams, and Al Woods. Finding a gem in Poona Ford as an undrafted free agent also helped immensely. But the organization hasn't been able to hit on many defensive tackles regardless of when they select players over the years.
One of the best to ever play the position, Bobby Wagner proved to be a historically great second round selection for the Seahawks.
Linebacker
Best Pick: Bobby Wagner
Worst Pick: Kevin Pierre-Louis
Sweet Spot: All seven rounds
On the opposite end of the spectrum, while not every linebacker Schneider and Carroll have picked has become a star, the Seahawks have consistently hit on picks at the position throughout the draft. The franchise's all-time leading tackler and a nine-time All-Pro selection, Wagner belongs amongst the best to ever play the position, while Wright turned in 10 outstanding seasons as a fourth-round pick playing alongside him at weakside linebacker and should be in the Ring of Honor someday.
Though the pick was panned by most draft experts when it happened, Jordyn Brooks has proven worthy of the 27th overall pick in the 2020 draft, racking up 402 tackles in three NFL seasons. One year earlier, Seattle picked Cody Barton in the third round and after being a stalwart special teams player his first three years, he jumped into the starting lineup with over 130 tackles last season. Even on day three, away from nailing Wright's pick, Super Bowl XLVIII MVP Malcolm Smith arrived as a seventh-round pick in the same 2011 draft.
When it comes to confidence, Seahawk fans should feel good about Schneider and company picking a linebacker wherever they see fit, as they have had far more big hits than misses over the years.
Though his departure wasn't a pretty one coming off an Achilles injury, Sherman stands out as the best cornerback to ever wear a Seahawks uniform.
Cornerback
Best Pick: Richard Sherman
Worst Pick: Tharold Simon
Sweet Spot: Day three
Over 13 drafts, the Seahawks haven't even picked a cornerback earlier than the third round (Shaquill Griffin, 2017), so there's no evidence of success or failure early in the draft at the position. But Schneider and Carroll have masterfully drafted and developed cornerbacks on day three, headlined by potential Hall of Fame fifth-round pick Richard Sherman, who earned First-Team All-Pro honors three times and intercepted 32 passes in seven seasons starring in the "Legion of Boom." Last season, they unearthed a rising star in Tariq Woolen in the same round, as he earned Pro Bowl honors after leading the league with six interceptions as a rookie.
Even in the case of Griffin, while the third-round selection never quite reached the heights of Sherman and lacked the ball production of Woolen, he made the Pro Bowl in 2019 and produced 42 pass breakups over four seasons as a starter. Seattle also found a quality fifth-round pick in Tre Flowers in 2018, as he started 40 games in four seasons with the organization, as well as a reliable slot corner in sixth-round pick Jeremy Lane back in the renowned 2012 draft. Similar to linebacker, the front office has earned the benefit of the doubt picking corners.
Arguably the most popular player from the "Legion of Boom," Chancellor let his hard hits do the talking as an enforcer in Seattle's secondary.
Safety
Best Pick: Kam Chancellor
Worst Pick: Marquise Blair
Sweet Spot: Anywhere except second-fourth rounds
Since Earl Thomas departed after the 2018 season, the Seahawks haven't relied on the draft to bolster their safety group, instead trading for veterans Quandre Diggs and Jamal Adams in separate deals. But to understand why both of those trades came to fruition, draft misses have to be accounted for. With Thomas and Chancellor aging entering the 2017 season, Schneider used a third-round pick on Michigan safety Lano Hill and a fourth-round pick on Colorado safety Tedric Thompson, believing the pair would eventually take over as starters.
Unfortunately, neither Hill nor Thompson amounted to much as pros, as both players struggled with injuries and performed poorly when thrust into action. Two years later, they selected Blair out of Utah in the second round as Chancellor's new successor, only for him to miss 25 games due to knee injuries and be released prior to the 2022 season. Those botched picks forced the team to trade for Diggs and Adams, with the latter deal being an incredibly expensive one.
On a positive note, Schneider did land two Hall of Fame-caliber talents in Thomas and Chancellor in successive drafts in the first and fifth rounds respectively. 2019 fourth-round pick Ugo Amadi also played well for his draft positioning over three seasons, seeing action as a slot corner and starring on special teams. Away from the second, third, and fourth rounds, the drafting track record looks far better.
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