Ranking the Seattle Seahawks’ Draft Classes Over the Previous Decade

Over the past ten years, the Seahawks have lost one juggernaut and built another, and the ebbs and flows of their draft success are a big reason why.

Seattle Seahawks general manager John Schneider celebrates with the Vince Lombardi trophy. | Kyle Terada-Imagn Images

When the Seattle Seahawks entered the 2016 NFL Draft, they were riding high as a franchise. Four straight postseason appearances, seven playoff victories, two super bowl appearances, and a super bowl title. The prior year had ended in a disappointing wild card berth and divisional round loss, but the team had a genuine franchise quarterback and the league’s top defense.

Unfortunately, years of lackluster draft hauls and some questionable decisions began to pull the team down at this point. While things never got truly terrible in Seattle, playoff wins became a rare occurrence and the team found themselves looking up at other teams in the division. The drafting didn’t improve much either, and 2021 saw the team finish last in the NFC West.

Fast forward to now, and a slew of ultra-successful drafts have the team back in the champion’s circle, with a Lombardi in their back pocket and a bright future. So, if you’ve been following this team over the last ten years, you should know exactly how important the draft is for a franchise. Let’s rank their last ten classes, starting with the worst and working our way towards the best.

Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Dee Eskridge (1) returns a punt for a touchdown against the Cleveland Browns. | Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images

10: 2021

A slam dunk, given the team only had three draft picks this year due to a series of trades (which also didn’t exactly work out all that well). #56 was spent on D’Wayne Eskridge, a Western Michigan wide receiver who had a laundry list of flaws even at his smaller school. Eskridge piled up 196 scrimmage yards and one touchdown over three injury-filled seasons before leaving.

Tre Brown, an Oklahoma cornerback picked at #137, had a few nice moments but ultimately couldn’t stay on the field and left after his rookie deal was up. Stone Forsythe was scooped up at #208 from Florida and ended up being a somewhat-competent swing tackle, but was certainly never a game-changer or someone you were happy about watching. A terrible class.

Seattle Seahawks offensive tackle Germain Ifedi (65) against the Arizona Cardinals. | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

9: 2016

Germain Ifedi at #31 is one of the picks that defined the offensive line struggles that the Seahawks had during this time, as the Texas A&M lineman played plenty of snaps but never became anything more than a well below-average player. Jarran Reed, the interior tackle from Alabama, was a nice pick at #49, but even he can’t save this class.

CJ Prosise, Nick Vannett, Rees Odhiambo, Alex Collins, Joey Hunt, Kenny Lawler, and Zac Brooks were all largely non-factors for the team, with some of them offering up a couple nice moments and others not even managing that. Quinton Jefferson, a tackle from Maryland, was decent for a #147 overall pick, but certainly not enough to make this class good.

Seattle Seahawks running back Chris Carson (32) rushes during the fourth quarter against the San Francisco 49ers. | Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

8: 2017

Malik McDowell defines this class. Taken at #35 out of Michigan State despite clear character red flags, the defensive tackle promptly suffered serious injuries in an ATV accident and never played a snap for the Seahawks. Ethan Pocic, a really nice center prospect taken at #58 from LSU, was largely wasted by being forced to play guard for most of his Seattle tenure.

Shaq Griffin was a good pick out of UCF, as the #90 overall pick turned into a multiple-time Pro Bowler at corner, but he still ultimately didn’t stick beyond his rookie contract. Delano Hill, Nazair Jones, Amara Darboh, Tedric Thompson, Michael Tyson, and Justin Senior were all somewhere between frustrating and complete nothings in Seattle.

The seventh round saved things a bit, with David Moore at #226 and Chris Carson at #249, but Moore was certainly not a franchise-altering player and Carson burned out quickly due to injuries. It’s no wonder the post-LOB Seahawks failed to get back to the top of the mountain with draft classes like this until after moving on from Russell Wilson and Pete Carroll.

Seattle Seahawks wide receiver DK Metcalf (14) catches a pass for a touchdown over Minnesota Vikings cornerback Stephon Gilmore. | Steven Bisig-Imagn Images

7: 2019

This one feels worse than 2018 to me because the issues were more obvious at the time. LJ Collier of TCU was a fairly clear reach at the 29th pick, although I never thought he’d be as bad as he ended up being. Marquise Blair out of Utah at #47 might have been a nice pick, but Coach Carroll seemed to quickly sour on him and he never got much of a chance.

Players like Cody Barton, Phil Haynes, Ugo Amadi, and Travis Homer made contributions but were never truly impactful. Gary Jennings, Ben Burr-Kirven, Demarcus Christmas, and John Ursua barely existed. There was one really good pick here, DK Metcalf at 64 out of Ole Miss, but even that one ultimately ended in some degree of frustration and disappointment.

eattle Seahawks punter Michael Dickson (4) punts against the New England Patriots in the first half. | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

6: 2018

How did Rashaad Penny, the SDSU running back taken at #27, become one of the most injury prone players in the NFL after supposedly having the cleanest injury record you could possibly have during the pre-draft process? It’s a mystery, but it left the Seahawks holding the bag on a talented, productive, but rarely-available player, setting the tone for another bad class.

There were some nice picks here, like Will Dissly at #120 and Michael Dickson at #149. But then you had the fairly-forgettable Rasheem Green at #79 to offset it. Shaquem Griffin, Jamarco Jones, and Alex McGough never did much of anything. Tre Flowers did a lot, but most of it wasn’t good. Jacob Martin became a decent player, but mostly after he left Seattle.

Seattle Seahawks defensive end Darrell Taylor (52) leaves the field after a game against the Kansas City Chiefs, | Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images

5: 2020

Maybe the most frustrating class listed. Jordyn Brooks at #27 from Texas Tech was a tough one, and to this day Seahawks fans are split on him. Either way, he left for Miami after his rookie contract and was never a part of any deep playoff runs. Damien Lewis out of LSU at #69 was good, as he provided average-to-good play at guard, but also departed after a few years.

I thought we had something special with Darrell Taylor, an edge rusher from Tennessee taken at #48, but after teasing great potential he turned into an untrustworthy and one-dimensional player. Colby Parkinson, DeeJay Dallas, Alton Robinson, and Freddie Swain did things and were generally fine, but nothing big here. And Stephen Sullivan was discarded fast.

New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye (10) is sacked by Seattle Seahawks defensive tackle Byron Murphy II (91). | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

4: 2024

For my money, we should wait another year before drawing any permanent conclusions on this class. But Byron Murphy, the Texas defensive tackle taken at #16, seems like a star with potential to become a superstar already, and Michigan’s AJ Barner has far exceeded expectations for a player taken at #121, a prolific receiver and blocker already.

Unfortunately, as of now, that’s most of it. Christian Haynes has been a big disappointment after being taken out of UConn at #81, barely seeing the field. Tyrice Knight was effective as a rookie but was relegated to backup work in 2025 and is currently probably stuck there with Drake Thomas’s emergence. Nehemiah Pritchett has been mixed in limited reps so far.

Sataoa Laumea, DJ James, and Mike Jerrell aren’t on the team anymore, although Laumea and Jerrell made minor contributions as rookies before departing. Unless someone picks up the slack in the above paragraph, I’m not sure I can go too over the top with these picks, no matter how good and important Murphy and Barner have proven to be.

Seattle Seahawks safety Nick Emmanwori (3) against the New England Patriots during Super Bowl LX. | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

3: 2025

It’s way too early to truly understand this group, but based off what we know right now, it seems like Grey Zabel is in for a long, fruitful career of upper-level play at left guard after getting picked at #18 out of NDSU. Nick Emmanwori blossomed faster than most expected after getting taken at #35 from SC, already one of the most important parts of the NFL’s top defense.

Tory Horton needs some love for making a series of big plays early in his rookie season after slotting in at #166, although we now have to sweat out a serious injury. Robbie Ouzts seems to be figuring out the fullback thing, and Rylie Mills has people buzzing after a monster play in the super bowl despite missing most of his rookie year.

I’m just not quite as rosy on some of the others in this class. Elijah Arroyo of Miami strikes me as a little limited for a player taken at #50, and Jalen Milroe has a lot between him and productive NFL play, which is frustrating for a player taken at #92 out of Alabama. Bryce Cabeldue, Damien Martinez, Mason Richman, and Ricky White are question marks.

Seattle Seahawks running back Kenneth Walker III (9) carries the ball against the New England Patriots. | Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

2: 2022

It’s easy to be a tiny bit put out by this class now, knowing that most of them didn’t get second contracts. But Charles Cross and Abraham Lucas, taken #9 and #72 respectively, did, and getting a strong tackle tandem in one draft by itself is enough to make this class look very strong. And the rest of the group still helped the team win a super bowl a couple months ago.

Running back Ken Walker at #41 will always be a romanticized pick, having been the Super Bowl MVP, and Coby Bryant and Tariq Woolen were flawed, but ultimately productive, pieces of the defensive backfield over the last several years. Even edge rusher Boye Mafe, who was disappointingly unproductive for the 2025 squad, had a good run after going at #40 overall.

Even Dareke Young found ways to contribute to the squad when healthy despite his very low draft slotting. Only Bo Melton and Tyreke Smith are anonymous from this group, and Bo’s actually found a little bit of life with the Green Bay Packers in recent years.

Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba (11) interacts with fans during the Super Bowl LX. | Steven Bisig-Imagn Images

1: 2023

What else would it be? Devon Witherspoon of Illinois at #5 and Jaxon Smith-Njigba of OSU at #20 alone makes this a historic class. JSN is now the highest-paid wide receiver in NFL history, and Spoon will likely do the same for cornerback whenever his extension comes down. Picks like those are how you build a championship caliber team.

Derick Hall at #37 out of Auburn and Zach Charbonnet at #52 out of UCLA haven’t been perfect, but have certainly contributed to the team and are good players. Even Anthony Bradford can’t be dismissed with his extensive starting experience over his career, with other picks like Olu Oluwatimi and Mike Morris providing good depth and special teams.

Cameron Young and Jerrick Reed didn’t do much before departing, and Kenny McIntosh can’t stay healthy. Noted. But even with that, this draft class is so strong at the top that the little bumps sustained at the bottom are basically meaningless, and make this the best draft class for the Seattle Seahawks over the last ten years.

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