April 22, 2015

The Seahawks All-Time/All-Drafted Team (2015)


I'll be blunt and admit that I know next to nothing about who the Seahawks should draft next week. If you're itching for actual knowledge and insight about that, you should amble over to Seahawks Draft Blog for a bit before coming back over here... I don't really pay any significant attention to college football, and my preferences have been proven dead wrong WAY too many times in the past for me to trust my own prospective judgments about the NFL draft. I've been ecstatic about us drafting duds like Aaron Curry, a bit puzzled by picks like Russell Wilson, and disappointed by our selection of future Hall-of-Famers like Earl Thomas. Like the Sea Captain on The Simpsons, sometimes I am just left muttering "Yarr... I don't know what I'm doing." 

Thankfully, judging the performance of our front office in the draft retrospectively is much easier. A few years back I posted an "All-Time/All-Drafted" Seahawks team. Six years later, a reboot is LONG past due... First, the rules: 

A) players must have been drafted by the Seahawks (no undrafted players like Doug Baldwin or Dave Krieg)

B) players must have made a significant contribution with Seattle (no Ahman Greens, for example).

OFFENSE
Quarterback: Russell Wilson
You know who was the best quarterback drafted by the Seahawks before 2012? Seneca Wallace. Jim Zorn, Dave Krieg and Matt Hasselbeck were all acquired via means other than the draft. Yes, Wilson has only been the league for 3 years, but he's already not just the best quarterback the Seahawks have ever drafted- He's the best QB we've ever had, period. Easiest decision on this list. 

Running Back: Shaun Alexander; Fullback: John L. Williams
Curt Warner and Chris Warren had stellar runs in Seattle, but no other RB the Hawks have ever drafted comes close 2005 NFL MVP Alexander's resume. He's the all-time franchise leader in rushing yards and touchdowns scored and is a sure bet for a spot in the Seahawks Ring of Honor. 1986 first-round pick John L. Williams deserves a to have his name splayed across the Seahawks Stadium upper deck, too. Only Steve Largent and Brian Blades caught more passes for Seattle than the multi-talented fullback, and Williams stacked up nearly 8700 total yards from scrimmage as the Ground Chuck Era bled into The Forgotten Years. 

Wide Receivers: Brian Blades and Darrell Jackson
While it was tempting to try to slip Joey Galloway or Golden Tate into one of these slots, Blades and Jackson hold the #2 and #3 spots on the franchise's all-time receiving leaderboard. For all the grief D-Jack got over his bouts of the dropsies, only Largent has caught more TDs for Seattle than Jackson. He's still probably the best player in franchise history to never play in a Pro Bowl.  

Offensive Line: Walter Jones, Steve Hutchinson, Max Unger, J.R. Sweezy, Russell Okung
Jones and Hutchinson are the only offensive linemen in Seahawks history to be named All-Pro multiple times, so they were the easy picks here for one side of the line. I give Unger the nod over Kevin Mawai because the vast majority (and all of the Pro Bowls) of Mawai's storied career happened after he left Seattle. Sweezy gets the guard spot across from Hutch over Pete Kendall, and I cheated a little bit by sliding Okung over to right tackle opposite Big Walt. 

Tight End: John Carlson
How bad were the Seahawks back in 2008 and 2009? Carlson was the team MVP both seasons. When you look at how slim the pickings were at tight end through our team's history, current Cardinal Carlson is still the obvious choice. 

DEFENSE
Defensive line: Jacob Green, Cortez Kennedy, Brandon Mebane, Michael Sinclair
Cantonite Tez anchors this formidable theoretical d-line, and end rushers Green and Sinclair combined for a whopping 171 sacks wearing blue and green. Bane gets the other tackle spot, nudging aside Red Bryant and Rocky Bernard.

Linebackers: Bobby Wagner, Lofa Tatupu, K.J. Wright 
Wags and Wright are the cornerstones of the current Seattle linebacking corps, while Tatupu anchored the middle of Seahawks' defense through the playoff runs of the late-Holmgren era.

Defensive Backs: Richard Sherman, Kenny Easley, Earl Thomas, Kam Chancellor
Yes, I know I have three safeties and just one corner here. But would you rather have Shawn Springs/Marcus Trufant on the field over ANY one of Easley/ET/Bam-Bam Kam? Let them murder the enemy WRs and Sherm can cover whomever happens to survive.

SPECIALISTS
The Traitor Josh Brown is still the best placekicker the Seahawks have ever drafted, and Ruben Rodriguez gets punting duties basically by default. Charlie Rogers and Bobbie Joe Edmonds were the most versatile/effective kick/punt returners Seattle's ever seen, and Fredd Young had absolute murder in his heart covering kicks for the Hawks in the mid-80s.

What do you think, sirs? Any glaring omissions? Let's hash it out in the comments!

5 comments:

it's all in D Hans said...

#51 is one of my all time favorites at linebacker - Lofa Tatupu. Who could ever forget the hit that he laid on Carolina Panther RB Nick Goings in that 2005 NFC Championship game? Knocked him 10 years into the future! Tatupu is now a LB coach for the 2015 Seahawks, and I plan to pull his treasured jersey out of the back of my closet this year and sport it an awesome throwback (now that he is actively affiliated with our team again.) Here is a link to the announcement: http://www.kirotv.com/news/news/seahawks-announce-coaching-changes-kris-richard-pr/nj7gg/

As always - another great read, Ramona. Am looking forward to your analysis of our 2015 schedule. I am excited to be traveling to Dallas in November and to Phoenix for New Year's 2016. Both will be monumental games in our teams march toward legendary greatness. I.simply.cannot.wait.

Unknown said...

I'm not sure I would go K.J. over 1984 third rounder Fredd Young. Four times a Pro Bowler and twice selected an All-Pro. Bryan Millard said it best, “I’d rather sandpaper a bobcat’s butt in a phone booth than be tackled by Fredd.”

Ramona P. said...

Nick,
A fair point. As I remember it though, two of those Pro Bowls were for his work on special teams... and according to PFT he was only All-Pro once. But sure- He'd be a perfectly cromulent choice over Wright.

Unknown said...

Quite right about the special teams aspect, in fact his 1984 All-Pro selection was for exactly that. In 87 he was selected for his linebacker play.

Unknown said...

You bring up a great point about John L. Williams and the ring of honor it is up to alot of the old school tried and true Hawks fans to make some noise and push the Seahawks brass to put him in the ring of honor. When the Seahawks used to setup screen passes for him it was a thing of beauty to watch when it was executed properly. I think you nailed the list for the most part Brian Blades might deserve some consideration for the ring of honor also but I am not as steadfast in my belied as I am about J.L. What do you think about Bobby Engram getting some consideration also perhaps he didn't put up gauddy numbers outside of the one 97 catch season but he was such a monster 3rd down guy that his stats don't due him justice.