Seahawks Highly Regarded in NFC Draft Class Power Rankings
Almost immediately following the conclusion of the NFL draft came the first wave of draft grades, with all 32 teams assessed on how their class came together. Depending on which of those assessments you looked at could offer a vastly different look at a team's draft haul.
The Seattle Seahawks, though, are a team whose draft class has been widely praised by analysts. So much so that in the Sports Illustrated draft class rankings the Seahawks had the best class in the NFC West, and were second in the NFC behind the Philadelphia Eagles.
"It was somewhat surprising that the Seahawks went with Devon Witherspoon over Gonzalez at No. 5, because coach Pete Carroll tends to favor cornerbacks with length and athleticism," Sports Illustrated wrote.
"But that shows just how much the Seahawks were enamored with Witherspoon, a tenacious cover man with solid instincts. Seattle now has an excellent cornerback duo in Witherspoon and Tariq Woolen to throw at San Francisco’s and Philadelphia’s skill players."
A duo of Witherspoon and Woolen at corner has the potential to be one of the NFL's better cornerback duos, while the additions of Derick Hall, Mike Morris and Cameron Young should go a long way towards the Seahawks improving against the run - which will be big against the aforementioned Philadelphia and San Francisco.
While the Seahawks added several key pieces on defense, they also made sure to bolster the offense to make life easier for Geno Smith.
"On offense, the Seahawks also have a standout receivers trio, with Jaxon Smith-Njigba joining DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett," Sports Illustrated wrote.
"Seattle probably could have gone in a different direction with the second-round selection of running back Zach Charbonnet, but it could be worth it when the rookie and running back Kenneth Walker III are closing games in December and January."
The selection of Smith-Njigba and Charbonnet gave Seattle complements to positions that were already strong suits, allowing the Seahawks to further open up the offense.
Elsewhere in the draft they added offensive linemen Anthony Bradford and Olu Oluwatimi, giving them two more young pieces along the offensive line after drafting Abe Lucas and Charles Cross as their bookend tackles in the 2022 draft.
Seattle entered the draft in an enviable position due to not only its quantity of picks, but the value of said picks - and once again the Seahawks left another draft as one of the biggest winners.
You can find Connor Zimmerlee on Twitter @Connorjz98
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