Moore: Ranking the Seahawks’ draft success round by round

Apr 10, 2020, 10:27 AM

The Seahawks have had varying success in each of the seven draft rounds. (Getty)

(Getty)

Former Seattle Sports Host

There’s a perception that Seahawks general manager John Schneider is very good at finding gems in middle-to-later rounds of the NFL Draft. But I’ve always wondered if that perception is accurate or not.

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We all know that he selected Richard Sherman in the fifth round, and the former Seahawks’ cornerback turned into a future Hall of Famer. We also know that Russell Wilson was chosen in the third round, and he’s on his way to becoming one of the best quarterbacks in NFL history.

Kam Chancellor is another fifth-rounder that brought the juice to the Legion of Boom, and Chris Carson has gone from seventh-rounder and 249th pick overall to an elite starting running back.

But Schneider, like all GMs, has had his share of misses too. I decided to rank the rounds where he’s had the most success, and it’s highly subjective, probably moreso than rating each of Schneider’s 10 draft classes, which I did on Thursday.

Whether fair or not, I like to think that first-rounders, second-rounders and third-rounders have a better than average chance of being solid players and maybe even stars in the league. Their odds are certainly better than fourth, fifth-, sixth- and seventh-rounders, many of whom become special-teamers and role players if they even stick on the roster.

I tried to take all of that into account, and according to my rankings anyway, the perception about Schneider is pretty close to reality.

7) Sixth round.

Hits: Byron Maxwell, CB; and Joey Hunt, C.

Near hits: Spencer Ware, RB; and Jacob Martin, DE.

Misses: Anthony McCoy, TE; Winston Guy, S; Jeremy Lane, CB; Garrett Scott, OT; Eric Pinkins, S; Obum Gwacham, DE; Kristjan Sokoli, OT; Mike Tyson, S; and Justin Senior, OT.

Time will tell: Travis Homer, RB; Demarcus Christmas, DL.

Maxwell is the only standout from the sixth-rounders, replacing Brandon Browner at right cornerback, sustaining the Legion of Boom. I’m calling Hunt a hit because he started the last eight games of the 2019 season, capably replacing Justin Britt. And after all, he’s a sixth-rounder. If he were a second-rounder, he wouldn’t be a hit. The rest of this group never did much, though I thought about making Lane a near hit.

6) First round.

Hits: Russell Okung, OT; Earl Thomas, S; and Bruce Irvin, OLB.

Near hits: James Carpenter, OT; and Germain Ifedi, OT.

Misses: None.

Time will tell: L.J. Collier, DL; and Rashaad Penny, RB.

It’s easier to find hits when you draft in the first half of the first round, which was the case with Okung, Thomas and Irvin. Carpenter and Ifedi have been so-so at best, Penny showed flashes but is recovering from a knee injury and Collier looks like he could be a miss based on his first season.

5) Fourth round

Hits: K.J. Wright, LB; and Mark Glowinski, OG.

Near hits: Walter Thurmond, CB; Robert Turbin, RB; Cassius Marsh, DE; and Will Dissly, TE.

Misses: Kris Durham, WR; Jaye Howard, DT; Chris Harper, WR; Kevin Norwood, WR; Kevin Pierre-Louis, LB; Terry Poole, OG; Tedric Thompson, S; and Gary Jennings, WR.

Time will tell: Phil Haynes, OG; and Ugo Amadi, DB.

If you take away the washout wide receivers, not a bad round with hits and near hits. Wright is the jewel of this bunch, and Glowinski continues to hold down a starting spot in Indianapolis. Based on history, Haynes or Amadi will work out for the Seahawks, but it’s doubtful that both will.

4) Third round

Hits: Russell Wilson, QB; Tyler Lockett, WR; and Shaquill Griffin, CB.

Near hits: Rasheem Green, DE.

Misses: John Moffitt, OG; Jordan Hill, DT; Nick Vannett, TE; Rees Odhiambo, OL; Lano Hill, S; Naz Jones, DL; and Amara Darboh, WR.

Time will tell: Cody Barton, LB.

I maybe have the third round ranked too low at No. 4 when you look at Wilson, Lockett and Griffin, but there were too many misses in what should be a strong round for near hits anyway. Moffitt and Darboh were colossal misses, and Hill has been the most recent disappointment.

3) Seventh round

Hits: Malcolm Smith, LB; J.R. Sweezy, OG; David Moore, WR; and Chris Carson, RB.

Near hits: None.

Misses: Dexter Davis, DE; Jameson Konz, WR; Lazarius Levingston, DE; Greg Scruggs, DE; Ty Powell, DE; Jared Smith, DT; Michael Bowie, OT; Kiero Small, RB; Ryan Murphy, DB; Kenny Lawler, WR; Zac Brooks, RB; and Alex McGough, QB.

Time will tell: John Ursua, WR.

Most of the time, as the years go by, you can hardly remember names in the seventh round, which is the case with a lot of the misses here. But there’s a strong group of hits, topped by Carson and followed by Sweezy. I listed Smith as a hit because he was a Super Bowl MVP and has had a long NFL career. Moore has never been consistently spectacular but he’s been good enough as a seventh-rounder to be called a hit.

2) Second round

Hits: Golden Tate, WR; Bobby Wagner, LB; Justin Britt, C; Frank Clark, DE; Jarran Reed, DT; and D.K. Metcalf, WR.

Near hits: Paul Richardson, WR.

Misses: Christine Michael, RB, Malik McDowell, DL; and Ethan Pocic, OL.

Time will tell: Marquise Blair, S.

The second round lost in a photo finish to the fifth round in these rankings. A high total of six hits, but this group was bogged down by two of the worst picks in Seahawks’ history – Michael and McDowell. And Pocic has not even come close to expectations.

1) Fifth round

Hits: Kam Chancellor, S; Richard Sherman, CB; Luke Willson, TE; Quinton Jefferson, DT; Tre Flowers, CB; and Michael Dickson, P.

Near hits: None.

Misses: Mark Legree, S; Korey Toomer, LB; Jesse Williams, DL; Tharold Simon, CB; Jimmy Staten, DT; and Tye Smith, CB.

Time will tell: Shaquem Griffin, OLB; and Ben Burr-Kirven, LB.

The fifth round also has six hits, though I thought about putting Willson, Jefferson and Flowers in the near-hit category. I still consider them hits based on where they were drafted. Chancellor and Sherman were stars in the Legion of Boom, and Dickson has been a terrific punter in his first two years.

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