The Seattle Seahawks didn’t draft that well last season
Last April is a month the Seahawks would like to forget. The first pick they had was in the 2nd round when they selected CB Josh Wilson. Wilson played in 12 games (0 starts) for the Seahawks last season and he made 9 tackles. Wilson was a solid kick returner however as he returned 14 kickoffs for 385 yards (27.5 avg) with 1 TD return. DT Brandon Mebane was drafted in the 3rd round by the Seahawks last year and he was the best pick they made. He played in 16 games (10 starts) for the Seahawks last season and he made 29 tackles and had 2 sacks. DE Baraka Atkins was the first of two 4th round picks the Seahawks made last year. He played in 12 games (0 starts) for the Seahawks last season and he made 10 tackles and defensed 1 pass. The other 4th rounder for the Seahawks was OG Mansfield Wrotto. Wrotto didn’t even make it on the field as a rookie. In the 5th round the Seahawks selected OLB Will Herring. Herring played in 12 games (0 starts) for the Seahawks last season and he made 13 tackles. WR Courtney Taylor was the 6th round pick of the Seahawks last April. He played in 8 games (0 starts) for the Seahawks and he finished with 5 receptions for 38 yards (7.6 avg). He also returned 1 kickoff for 27 yards. Neither of the 7th round picks of the Seahawks made it to the field. WR Jordan Kent and OT Steve Vallos somehow are still on the roster.
GRADE FOR THE 2007 SEASON: D
GRADE FOR THE FUTURE: C-
This is ridiculous. Wilson played decent at one of the positions where it’s toughest to transition from college to the NFL and he was a solid kick returner. Mebane is a starting-quality DT. Atkins should get more time this year since the ‘Hawks are going to try to rotate their defensive ends more to keep Kerney and Tapp fresh. Taylor and Kent will both be in the competition for the 4th and 5th receiver spots this year, Wrotto and Vallos are apparently held in high enough regard that the team didn’t see a need to draft an o-lineman this year and Herring was a great contributer on special teams last year who will see more time this season after the loss of Bentley and Koutovides.
Not everyone can make a huge impact in their rookie year, but all of the guys that made the team made decent progress over the course of the season and many of them will be leaned on harder this year. Saying that the ‘Hawks did not draft well is completely wrong. I’m not saying it was the best draft ever, but if anything it is 2 years too early to judge.