GM Schneider: How Seahawks approach need vs best available in draft

Should teams approach the NFL Draft with an emphasis on filling roster needs? Or should they simply take the best available player, regardless of position?

It’s an age-old draft question.

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And with the 2026 draft exactly one week away, Seahawks general manager John Schneider was posed a version of that question Thursday during his weekly appearance on Seattle Sports’ Wyman and Bob.

Asked whether he would still draft the best overall player even if it was at a position where the Seahawks were already deep, Schneider said that ultimately their draft board bakes in a combination of both need and best available.

Schneider also emphasized that they view draft prospects through the lens of who’s the best available player for the Seahawks – not necessarily who’s the best available from a league-wide perspective.

“It usually ends up being a combination of the two, really,” Schneider said. “And we grade for our team. We don’t grade for the National Football League. So we just say, OK, this is our best player for our team.

“Now, there times where, yeah, we can’t pass up a player,” he added. “We think (he’s) going to get drafted higher, and here he comes, and we’ve gotta take him. You’re just taking the best player.

“But as we build this thing, we’re always building it for our team and not the league, and not where the player should go.”

The John Schneider Show will air on Wyman and Bob every Thursday at 4 p.m. leading up to the 2026 NFL Draft.

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