So before going into depth about the individual picks of the 2017 draft [Part 2], I will be looking at the overall Draft Class and giving the ‘Hawks my Draft grade. Also, out of vanity reasons, I will look back at my Draft Preview for Seattle [Part 3] and look at how well or not well I did in analysing their needs and what they might pick up.

The Seahawks came into the 2017 Draft with 7 picks:

• Round 1 | Pick 26 | No. 26 overall
• Round 2 | Pick 26 | No. 58 overall
• Round 3 | Pick 26 | No. 90 overall
• Round 3 | Pick 38 | No. 102 overall
• Round 3 | Pick 42 | No. 106 overall
• Round 6 | Pick 26 | No. 210 overall
• Round 7 | Pick 8 | No. 226 overall

They ended up making 11 selections:

• Round 2 | No. 35   | (DT) Malik McDowell, Michigan State
• Round 2 | No. 58   | (OL) Ethan Pocic, LSU
• Round 3 | No. 90   | (CB) Shaquill Griffin, Central Florida
• Round 3 | No. 95   | (SS) Delano Hill, Michigan
• Round 3 | No. 102 | (DT) Nazair Jones, North Carolina
• Round 3 | No. 106 | (WR) Amara Darboh, Michigan
• Round 4 | No. 111 | (SS) Tedric Thompson, Colorado
• Round 6 | No. 187 | (FS) Mike Tyson, Cincinnati
• Round 6 | No. 210 | (OT) Justin Senior, Mississippi State
• Round 7 | No. 226 | (WR) David Moore, East Central University
• Round 7 | No. 249 | (RB) Chris Carson, Oklahoma State

Let’s have a look then where the focus of the Seahawks was in this draft. That goes clearly to the Secondary where they selected 3 Safeties and a CB. Among those Safeties are two guys who the Seahawks have already talked about possibly for Nickel or Cornerback: Hill (Nickel) Tyson (CB/ Nickel). This makes me very happy because I had identified S/CB/N as the biggest draft need. So while the picks were made in the 3rd, 4th and 6th rounds, don’t be fooled. This is primetime for the Seahawks and one of the main reasons they often trade back to acquire more picks.

Picking up two guys for the DL, including their first pick was smart and a great continuation of making that line younger, like they started last year with Jarran Reed and Quinton Jefferson. On the other side of the trenches I did not see OL as such an area of need. I can understand the 6th rounder if the guy is someone you’ve had an eye on, but would have preferred to see them trade up for Melifonwu with their 2nd pick. On the other hand, having more quality players in the mix for the OL might help with the growing pains.

In my opinion more picks were also responsible for 2 WRs and a RB being picked up although that is not to say they are just quantity, they are definitely quality players. Especially Carson who I am very excited to see.

Overall Draft Grade: B (will probably be seen as better in a few years)

Altogether I think that the Seahawks made a great draft. It didn’t have any “Draft Superstars” in it, but was very balanced and they got guys for all their needs. With the Seahawks it is always worth checking out the Draft Class a couple of years down the line because their are possibly the best in identifying mid-round sleepers. Hill, Thompson and Carson are probably the guys I am most excited about, although a CB along with McDowell and possibly Pocic are probably the guys with the most likely shot at being thrown into the starting rotation. 

In Part 2 of my Draft analysis for the Seahawks I will be looking in more detail at each individual player that was chosen.