It's like Kenny Rodgers said Joe, "You got to know when to hold em, know when to fold em, know when to walk away, know when to run." PC/JS must be fans. Great article Joe.
Geno Smith is almost TWO FULL YEARS younger than Russell Wilson. Not the same age. That seems somewhat overlooked and significant to me, especially at his position. And as someone else noted, he has a lot less mileage on the chassis as well. It also seems to me that the mentorship he received under 3 different "ironman" QBs should not be understated. He wasn't simply a career backup - even though - well, he was. Still smile as I think of us chanting, "Geno, Geno, Geno!" during the Denver game last year. I expect him to grow this year as a starter and as a offensive team leader after the experiences of last year. Love Russell Wilson, but really glad it's worked out the way it has. I don't have to sit there during games yelling, "Russ! Throw the f___ing ball! Just throw it!!" Go Seahawks!!
Ages are being compared at the time of the season, not the current date today, but no I don't see it as significant. People can feel however they want to feel about Geno Smith. Glad people are enjoying happy feelings with anyone starting at QB for the Seahawks.
November of '88 for Russ. October of '90 for Geno. While not as critical at QB, seems like 2 years could be significant when discussing "the drop-off" players have. I was happy with Jim Zorn, Dave Kreig, Hasselbeck and the rest... Hell, besides a #3 Wilson, I have a Mirer and a Freiz jersey! Always hopeful happy feelings!. Truly blessed. : )
* Brooks was a bit overdrafted, but if healthy he's a solid starter. He never reached the Luke Kuechly ceiling some scouts had for him
* Lewis made the all rookie team at RG, then took his pains as a LG and came out the second year at the position much better. He's a keeper for the right price.
* Colby Parkinson excelled whenever he took the field (at one point last season he was the best tight end in the league by DVOA). Can he be good in a larger sample? I hope we find the answer this year.
* Darrell Taylor can be a fantastic long yardage rusher. Not as valuable as a every-down OLB, but the Seahawks had lots of success with guys that could only rush the QB and nothing else, as long as they did it really well. I'm expecting double digit sacks from Taylor this year as a rotational LEO.
* Dallas was also overdrafted, but the team may keep him if he takes vet minimum or close to it. He's our best gunner, he's a safe albeit unremarkable punt returner (but much better than people give him credit for) and Special Teams are a huge reason why we made the playoffs last year. And he's a fine emergency RB, which we need more often than not.
In the 2021 class, we found reliable swing tackles in the 6th round and in UDFA, which is amazing value. Jury still out on Tre and Dee due to their injuries.
No draft class is perfect, but I like the 2020 class quite a bit, and the team did the best they could with the paltry 2021 stock they got, just very unlucky with injuries.
My one issue with Dallas as a returner is that he dances around too much instead of getting the ball and getting to top speed as quickly as he can. I feel like it's easier to make guys miss when you're running full speed at them, especially if your guys are hitting their blocks and redirecting the gunners.
Returning punts is very different than returning kicks. I don't understand baseball, but I'd guess that's similar to the difference between batting a speedball and a curve ball. Also, punting is getting better and better, hang time is improving, so returners don't have time to hit their speed. They have to dance.
If you look at punt return yards, the Seahawks are slightly above average in the league.
If Jamal Adams come back to his own form and level of play, this team will be tremendous. If he doesn't, then he will be one more example of putting too many eggs in one basket. I hope that we never give up several draft picks for one player. We need large, good drafts every year. Isn't that pretty much how the Pats stayed on top for so long?
I don't have a clue what might be different about the Seahawks drafting philosophy but I sue hope it's sustainable. I have a feeling that overseeing the draft is a little like coaching an offense or defense in that you have to stay just a little bit ahead of the copy-cats who are watching you like a hawk and who will mimic and improve on your best efforts. Like a "Star Trek" multi-level, 3 dimensional game of chess.
Looking at last years and this years' drafts and the previous drafts is astounding, and monumental is the word that comes to mind. I am thinking we were lucky to get two starters per draft prior to our last two drafts compared to 6 or 7 eventual starters from each draft. That is phenomenal work, and it mostly is the result of the unmeasurables. Football IQ, love of football, gratefulness, sanity, desire, grit, and some I have missed.
Fortunately or unfortunately, John and Pete have been outspoken about the change, and undoubtably will be copied. With success comes imitation. Then high character guys will become harder and harder to find late in the draft. Guys like Oluwatimi, and Mike Morris.
I'm stoked about how many of these guys have fallen in love with Seattle and how great a place it is to live in or around. Morris really really wanted to be drafted by Seattle even when it meant waiting till 151. He had even started putting on weight before the draft to prove to Seattle his commitment. He wanted to be HERE out of 32 teams. That means something and is a tradition that can be integral to the success of our team.
A few random thoughts. I’m looking forward to seeing Alton Robinson get a shot. After his first season, Pete said they should have played him more. Then he gets injured before last season starts. So there is potential. And Tyreke Smith missed out on his entire first season. He’s effectively a rookie this season. I seem to remember some thought he could have been a real draft steal, but an injury killed that thought last year.
While Geno is about the same age as RW, he’s played substantially fewer games and has less wear and tear on the body. So maybe, in NFL years, he’s about 28.
But all in all, the influx of talent, youth and speed of the past two drafts is just what this team needed. I can’t wait to see how this season pans out.
I am intrigued by Tyreke Smith. A five star recruit entering Ohio State. Quite underwhelming pass rushing numbers per snap taken. He was considered good against the run. Usually Ohio State can unlock pass rushing greatness but not so much over the last three seasons. Maybe Clint can motivate and teach how to use the gifts he has been given. By his meassurables, one might think he is a can't miss. There is a lot of competition, at his position. We will see how hard he can work. It really shows how hard it is to make it in the NFL.
Count me in as one who will not dump on Russ. Sure Russ is somewhat quickly, but that doesn't detract from the amazing football he played for Seattle. What seems to be forgotten is how clutch Russ was. If Russ got the ball with 1.30 left on the clock, down by a converted TD or less, I always felt he would find a way to win it or push it into overtime.
The courage of John and Pete to trade Russ when they did is more than commendable. I can't remember a quarterback of his stature being traded at that point of his career. What they have done with their draft picks since is A plus. It's true we have no idea how this draft class is going to work out. On paper, I can see a way all of them make the 53 man roster and add to the teams over all success.
Four less points allowed per game, and 3 more scored, would give Seattle a 11 and 5 or a 10 and 6 record.
Ken is dead right, I could never have imagined this kind of optimizim before the Russ trade.
If all goes well Seattle has a good chance to win the NFC in 2024. This year the divisional round is a real possibility.
Not everything is a dump on Russ just because there was a noticeable and positive shift in things surrounding the team. I do think Russ put demands and expectations on Pete and John that they had to come out of their comfort zone to accommodate. The fans had a lot of influence on that, as well. There was this mindset that Russ was the heart, soul and backbone of the team no matter how the season went. That's understandable when he seemed to bring the team the first ever Lombardi trophy after more than 30 years. He sure didn't do that alone, but convince his loyal fans of that.
To paraphrase a sign in local shop: "We love ALL of our players; some when they come, some when they go."
I was a huge fan of Russ in his early career through the first two SB appearances, but the player be became while with the Seahawks was out of step with Pete's team building philosophy. JCPS tried to morph the team to accomodate Russ but the result was bad drafts and a decline in the team's performance results.
I give PCJS all the credit for the timing and result of the trade with Denver and the rebuild that has taken place, without (as a fan) having to go through a "lost" season or two as the Rams are doing now and as the Niners have done.
The 22+23 draft classes have the future looking bright again in Seattle!
Under the best coach, management/owner, and team. He would have had a very difficult time presenting a season with the Hawks that looked like his first season with the Broncos.
Listening to Mike Salk and Brock Huard dump on Russell is excruciating, considering how much they fawned over him while he was in Seattle. It’s genuinely embarrassing.
Maybe I am a petty person but I’ve loved every minute of it. High knees on the plane, “run or pass, gotta let ‘em know,” the bizarre Subway ad, and especially his “Broncos country, let’s ride” catchphrase; I could go on and on. Not that I have hard feelings about Russell Wilson the man, but I was growing weary of his persona towards the end of his time here. He became bigger than the team in his own mind. His quest to “cook” was about individual accolades over team success. If the Athletic article is to be believed, he wanted Pete and John fired to bring in a staff who would build the offense around what isn’t even his strong suit. And a ton of obnoxiously vocal online fans were in complete agreement, though they are silent now.
I adored Russ. Me and the Mrs own his jerseys. The best memories I have of Seahawks football are largely his plays, or at least from the era he was our quarterback. But his play declined and his ego only grew. It’s not an exaggeration to say that trading Wilson saved this franchise.
Russell has his side of the story, too, even if he didn’t handle the end game particularly well. Nearly tearing up his knee while being “protected” by Sowell and Webb. The botched drafts of 2016-2017 (and the mediocre drafts that ensued), and the subsequent refusal to adjust by taking greater risks in free agency. The cobbled-together OLs that started games looking defeated. The confounding loyalty to Tom Cable. It would be understandable if he thought “they’re putting all this on me anyway, so why shouldn’t I get to do it the way I want to.” I don’t think that was the right response, but I get it.
I can also see why he would lost confidence in PCJS. As a fan, I can take the long view that there are going to be draft dry spells. But it’s not my career and my body on the line. Anyway, my point is that the breakup wasn’t all on Russell.
Agreed. It feels low-brow to me. I loved Russell and everything he did for this franchise, and now I have had some time to get past the initial shock and bitterness of how he unceremoniously took shots at JSPC and tried to control the entire franchise, I can honestly agree with SSJoe... I am glad he left like he did. He actually ended up accomplishing his goal of making the team better, just not in the way he was trying to. I now see him as the poetically tragic figure who caused his own demise through his selfishness bred by success, but the broader story and characters now flourish as a result of the collateral effects of his fall. It's like a decent movie script. So, I am thankful for him and even though painful to go through, thankful of how we came out of how it went down. Of course, we wouldn't be so well off without JSPC recognizing it all and acting with perfect timing.
We should not bash him, but stay classy. If San Diego can stay classy, so can the 12s.
I do think that Russell’s loss of confidence in Pete and John had basis in reality when it came to roster building. He was an awfully good soldier for years, too--I once heard him stand up for Bradley Sowell and J’Marcus Webb. But Pete had the right of it when it came to the best way to use Russell’s strengths--Let Russ Cook was a black eye for the quants and bore out Pete’s perspective.
A switch got flipped somewhere in John and Pete's exec suite, and the Seahawks went from years of substandard and losing drafts, to two brilliant drafts. What is the secret sauce? Who knows, John has merely said they are now drafting guys they like and want to the team (as opposed to what? drafting guys they didn't want on the team?). Look at this draft, early returns indicate that Seattle drafted three R1 talents and five R2 talents! John's mastery of the middle rounds continued with four exceptionally promising linemen. I suppose we will never know what enlightenment occurred in the war rooms, so let's sit back and enjoy the harvest.
He is drafting the best player, rather than drafting for positional need. Thus why it was until round 5 when we got help for the interior of the defense
John has mentioned in a few predraft interviews, very candidly, that they got into "trouble" by drafting for need instead of best player available. He said they examined their own draft performances over the years and have learned to be better. They learned to value nonmeasurable character traits that make people competitive and hungry. They started going after leaders, more, too. Also, being a Super Bowl contender rarely left them with any high picks. 14yrs of practice can make you better if you have self-awareness, I reckon.
I wish I had specific sources to site, but I can say I heard John on Sirius XM NFL "The Blitz" with Pat Kirwan and Jim Miller saying these things, and heard similar answers from 3rd party sources I can't remember.
The Hawks blew the 2016-2017 drafts and this set them back for years. Schneider accumulated eleven Day 1 and Day 2 picks and wound up with very little to show for it.
That being said, these guys aren’t perfect and drafting is difficult. They have attempted three major builds through the draft (2010-2012, 2016-2017, and 2022-) and seem to have hit twice, which is more than respectable.
I did not realize that 2016-2017 was a rebuild. But, I had many long winded conversations (arguments) with people that wanted Pete and John fired when Russ left. I just didn't get it. You have two of the best ever, in the history of the NFL, to build a roster and you want them fired? They always talked about failed drafts and I firmly believe that this is because PC/JS were not good at maintaining a roster. But, it terms of building a team, I would not put two guys ahead of them in the league.
And its not just drafting. Pete is in his element with young guys. Everyone talks about Woolen and how lucky they were to hit on him. True, partly. The other part, how many NFL coaches would have started Woolen? Pete is incredible at this. Here is another one: Russell Wilson. How many coaches would have started a third round too small QB over the high priced FA?
The last two drafts have been no surprise along with the direction of the team, because you have two of the best to ever do it back in a position of what they do best: build. It is always surprising to me that Seahawks fans are surprised about the last two years. This is just who Pete and John are.
Without any real evidence to back it up, I firmly believe we've also witnessed a shift in the primary decision maker from PC to JS regarding personnel and the draft. PC wanting to draft for need, in a belief the team really was only a few players away from winning it all again and wanting to do so before he calls it a day. JS pressing through a more long term building plan, knowing his job security is reliant on maintaining success as he doesn't want to retire soon. And he can sell it Pete in two ways. 1) Going for needs has obviously not worked. 2) By drafting good players, the team will still be good now and keep him in reach of the Ring.
Becuase honestly, if the real answer is "we were trying to be too clever" or "our draft methodology was based on a bad foundation", then I have concerns about this teams ability to get back to the top and what the hell they were doing having obviously wasted years of prime chances. Petes a great coach, have him coach. John's a good roster builder, let him build. [proper armchair GM'ing going on here :p]
It's like Kenny Rodgers said Joe, "You got to know when to hold em, know when to fold em, know when to walk away, know when to run." PC/JS must be fans. Great article Joe.
Geno Smith is almost TWO FULL YEARS younger than Russell Wilson. Not the same age. That seems somewhat overlooked and significant to me, especially at his position. And as someone else noted, he has a lot less mileage on the chassis as well. It also seems to me that the mentorship he received under 3 different "ironman" QBs should not be understated. He wasn't simply a career backup - even though - well, he was. Still smile as I think of us chanting, "Geno, Geno, Geno!" during the Denver game last year. I expect him to grow this year as a starter and as a offensive team leader after the experiences of last year. Love Russell Wilson, but really glad it's worked out the way it has. I don't have to sit there during games yelling, "Russ! Throw the f___ing ball! Just throw it!!" Go Seahawks!!
Ages are being compared at the time of the season, not the current date today, but no I don't see it as significant. People can feel however they want to feel about Geno Smith. Glad people are enjoying happy feelings with anyone starting at QB for the Seahawks.
November of '88 for Russ. October of '90 for Geno. While not as critical at QB, seems like 2 years could be significant when discussing "the drop-off" players have. I was happy with Jim Zorn, Dave Kreig, Hasselbeck and the rest... Hell, besides a #3 Wilson, I have a Mirer and a Freiz jersey! Always hopeful happy feelings!. Truly blessed. : )
From 2020:
* Brooks was a bit overdrafted, but if healthy he's a solid starter. He never reached the Luke Kuechly ceiling some scouts had for him
* Lewis made the all rookie team at RG, then took his pains as a LG and came out the second year at the position much better. He's a keeper for the right price.
* Colby Parkinson excelled whenever he took the field (at one point last season he was the best tight end in the league by DVOA). Can he be good in a larger sample? I hope we find the answer this year.
* Darrell Taylor can be a fantastic long yardage rusher. Not as valuable as a every-down OLB, but the Seahawks had lots of success with guys that could only rush the QB and nothing else, as long as they did it really well. I'm expecting double digit sacks from Taylor this year as a rotational LEO.
* Dallas was also overdrafted, but the team may keep him if he takes vet minimum or close to it. He's our best gunner, he's a safe albeit unremarkable punt returner (but much better than people give him credit for) and Special Teams are a huge reason why we made the playoffs last year. And he's a fine emergency RB, which we need more often than not.
In the 2021 class, we found reliable swing tackles in the 6th round and in UDFA, which is amazing value. Jury still out on Tre and Dee due to their injuries.
No draft class is perfect, but I like the 2020 class quite a bit, and the team did the best they could with the paltry 2021 stock they got, just very unlucky with injuries.
My one issue with Dallas as a returner is that he dances around too much instead of getting the ball and getting to top speed as quickly as he can. I feel like it's easier to make guys miss when you're running full speed at them, especially if your guys are hitting their blocks and redirecting the gunners.
Returning punts is very different than returning kicks. I don't understand baseball, but I'd guess that's similar to the difference between batting a speedball and a curve ball. Also, punting is getting better and better, hang time is improving, so returners don't have time to hit their speed. They have to dance.
If you look at punt return yards, the Seahawks are slightly above average in the league.
Parkinson provides a *lot* of value.
If Jamal Adams come back to his own form and level of play, this team will be tremendous. If he doesn't, then he will be one more example of putting too many eggs in one basket. I hope that we never give up several draft picks for one player. We need large, good drafts every year. Isn't that pretty much how the Pats stayed on top for so long?
C’mon Joe. Michael Dickson’s a star too!
I don't have a clue what might be different about the Seahawks drafting philosophy but I sue hope it's sustainable. I have a feeling that overseeing the draft is a little like coaching an offense or defense in that you have to stay just a little bit ahead of the copy-cats who are watching you like a hawk and who will mimic and improve on your best efforts. Like a "Star Trek" multi-level, 3 dimensional game of chess.
Looking at last years and this years' drafts and the previous drafts is astounding, and monumental is the word that comes to mind. I am thinking we were lucky to get two starters per draft prior to our last two drafts compared to 6 or 7 eventual starters from each draft. That is phenomenal work, and it mostly is the result of the unmeasurables. Football IQ, love of football, gratefulness, sanity, desire, grit, and some I have missed.
Fortunately or unfortunately, John and Pete have been outspoken about the change, and undoubtably will be copied. With success comes imitation. Then high character guys will become harder and harder to find late in the draft. Guys like Oluwatimi, and Mike Morris.
I'm stoked about how many of these guys have fallen in love with Seattle and how great a place it is to live in or around. Morris really really wanted to be drafted by Seattle even when it meant waiting till 151. He had even started putting on weight before the draft to prove to Seattle his commitment. He wanted to be HERE out of 32 teams. That means something and is a tradition that can be integral to the success of our team.
A few random thoughts. I’m looking forward to seeing Alton Robinson get a shot. After his first season, Pete said they should have played him more. Then he gets injured before last season starts. So there is potential. And Tyreke Smith missed out on his entire first season. He’s effectively a rookie this season. I seem to remember some thought he could have been a real draft steal, but an injury killed that thought last year.
While Geno is about the same age as RW, he’s played substantially fewer games and has less wear and tear on the body. So maybe, in NFL years, he’s about 28.
But all in all, the influx of talent, youth and speed of the past two drafts is just what this team needed. I can’t wait to see how this season pans out.
I am intrigued by Tyreke Smith. A five star recruit entering Ohio State. Quite underwhelming pass rushing numbers per snap taken. He was considered good against the run. Usually Ohio State can unlock pass rushing greatness but not so much over the last three seasons. Maybe Clint can motivate and teach how to use the gifts he has been given. By his meassurables, one might think he is a can't miss. There is a lot of competition, at his position. We will see how hard he can work. It really shows how hard it is to make it in the NFL.
Geno also doesn't put the strain on his body that RW always did/does.
Count me in as one who will not dump on Russ. Sure Russ is somewhat quickly, but that doesn't detract from the amazing football he played for Seattle. What seems to be forgotten is how clutch Russ was. If Russ got the ball with 1.30 left on the clock, down by a converted TD or less, I always felt he would find a way to win it or push it into overtime.
The courage of John and Pete to trade Russ when they did is more than commendable. I can't remember a quarterback of his stature being traded at that point of his career. What they have done with their draft picks since is A plus. It's true we have no idea how this draft class is going to work out. On paper, I can see a way all of them make the 53 man roster and add to the teams over all success.
Four less points allowed per game, and 3 more scored, would give Seattle a 11 and 5 or a 10 and 6 record.
Ken is dead right, I could never have imagined this kind of optimizim before the Russ trade.
If all goes well Seattle has a good chance to win the NFC in 2024. This year the divisional round is a real possibility.
Here here. 👍
Sorry 11 and 6 or 10 and 7. I am two years out of date haha.
Not everything is a dump on Russ just because there was a noticeable and positive shift in things surrounding the team. I do think Russ put demands and expectations on Pete and John that they had to come out of their comfort zone to accommodate. The fans had a lot of influence on that, as well. There was this mindset that Russ was the heart, soul and backbone of the team no matter how the season went. That's understandable when he seemed to bring the team the first ever Lombardi trophy after more than 30 years. He sure didn't do that alone, but convince his loyal fans of that.
To paraphrase a sign in local shop: "We love ALL of our players; some when they come, some when they go."
I was a huge fan of Russ in his early career through the first two SB appearances, but the player be became while with the Seahawks was out of step with Pete's team building philosophy. JCPS tried to morph the team to accomodate Russ but the result was bad drafts and a decline in the team's performance results.
I give PCJS all the credit for the timing and result of the trade with Denver and the rebuild that has taken place, without (as a fan) having to go through a "lost" season or two as the Rams are doing now and as the Niners have done.
The 22+23 draft classes have the future looking bright again in Seattle!
I'll pay good money for that sign with a Seahawks logo on it
Regarding the Russell Wilson trade. Russ was the best QB in team history ... period!
Real Hawk fans will always honor his accomplishments
rightfully so.
However. In the immortal words of that great Dodger GM Branch Rickey, " It's better to trade a player a year early than a year late."
Ergo the Wilson trade.
John and Pete should be indicted for Grand Larceny for the trade results!!!
Under the best coach, management/owner, and team. He would have had a very difficult time presenting a season with the Hawks that looked like his first season with the Broncos.
Listening to Mike Salk and Brock Huard dump on Russell is excruciating, considering how much they fawned over him while he was in Seattle. It’s genuinely embarrassing.
Maybe I am a petty person but I’ve loved every minute of it. High knees on the plane, “run or pass, gotta let ‘em know,” the bizarre Subway ad, and especially his “Broncos country, let’s ride” catchphrase; I could go on and on. Not that I have hard feelings about Russell Wilson the man, but I was growing weary of his persona towards the end of his time here. He became bigger than the team in his own mind. His quest to “cook” was about individual accolades over team success. If the Athletic article is to be believed, he wanted Pete and John fired to bring in a staff who would build the offense around what isn’t even his strong suit. And a ton of obnoxiously vocal online fans were in complete agreement, though they are silent now.
I adored Russ. Me and the Mrs own his jerseys. The best memories I have of Seahawks football are largely his plays, or at least from the era he was our quarterback. But his play declined and his ego only grew. It’s not an exaggeration to say that trading Wilson saved this franchise.
Russell has his side of the story, too, even if he didn’t handle the end game particularly well. Nearly tearing up his knee while being “protected” by Sowell and Webb. The botched drafts of 2016-2017 (and the mediocre drafts that ensued), and the subsequent refusal to adjust by taking greater risks in free agency. The cobbled-together OLs that started games looking defeated. The confounding loyalty to Tom Cable. It would be understandable if he thought “they’re putting all this on me anyway, so why shouldn’t I get to do it the way I want to.” I don’t think that was the right response, but I get it.
I can also see why he would lost confidence in PCJS. As a fan, I can take the long view that there are going to be draft dry spells. But it’s not my career and my body on the line. Anyway, my point is that the breakup wasn’t all on Russell.
Very well said. This hit the nail on the head.
Best comment so far.
Agreed. It feels low-brow to me. I loved Russell and everything he did for this franchise, and now I have had some time to get past the initial shock and bitterness of how he unceremoniously took shots at JSPC and tried to control the entire franchise, I can honestly agree with SSJoe... I am glad he left like he did. He actually ended up accomplishing his goal of making the team better, just not in the way he was trying to. I now see him as the poetically tragic figure who caused his own demise through his selfishness bred by success, but the broader story and characters now flourish as a result of the collateral effects of his fall. It's like a decent movie script. So, I am thankful for him and even though painful to go through, thankful of how we came out of how it went down. Of course, we wouldn't be so well off without JSPC recognizing it all and acting with perfect timing.
We should not bash him, but stay classy. If San Diego can stay classy, so can the 12s.
I do think that Russell’s loss of confidence in Pete and John had basis in reality when it came to roster building. He was an awfully good soldier for years, too--I once heard him stand up for Bradley Sowell and J’Marcus Webb. But Pete had the right of it when it came to the best way to use Russell’s strengths--Let Russ Cook was a black eye for the quants and bore out Pete’s perspective.
Isn’t Bo Melton with the Packers?
Yes
A switch got flipped somewhere in John and Pete's exec suite, and the Seahawks went from years of substandard and losing drafts, to two brilliant drafts. What is the secret sauce? Who knows, John has merely said they are now drafting guys they like and want to the team (as opposed to what? drafting guys they didn't want on the team?). Look at this draft, early returns indicate that Seattle drafted three R1 talents and five R2 talents! John's mastery of the middle rounds continued with four exceptionally promising linemen. I suppose we will never know what enlightenment occurred in the war rooms, so let's sit back and enjoy the harvest.
He is drafting the best player, rather than drafting for positional need. Thus why it was until round 5 when we got help for the interior of the defense
They stuck to the board instead of trying to outsmart it.
John has mentioned in a few predraft interviews, very candidly, that they got into "trouble" by drafting for need instead of best player available. He said they examined their own draft performances over the years and have learned to be better. They learned to value nonmeasurable character traits that make people competitive and hungry. They started going after leaders, more, too. Also, being a Super Bowl contender rarely left them with any high picks. 14yrs of practice can make you better if you have self-awareness, I reckon.
I wish I had specific sources to site, but I can say I heard John on Sirius XM NFL "The Blitz" with Pat Kirwan and Jim Miller saying these things, and heard similar answers from 3rd party sources I can't remember.
The Hawks blew the 2016-2017 drafts and this set them back for years. Schneider accumulated eleven Day 1 and Day 2 picks and wound up with very little to show for it.
That being said, these guys aren’t perfect and drafting is difficult. They have attempted three major builds through the draft (2010-2012, 2016-2017, and 2022-) and seem to have hit twice, which is more than respectable.
I did not realize that 2016-2017 was a rebuild. But, I had many long winded conversations (arguments) with people that wanted Pete and John fired when Russ left. I just didn't get it. You have two of the best ever, in the history of the NFL, to build a roster and you want them fired? They always talked about failed drafts and I firmly believe that this is because PC/JS were not good at maintaining a roster. But, it terms of building a team, I would not put two guys ahead of them in the league.
And its not just drafting. Pete is in his element with young guys. Everyone talks about Woolen and how lucky they were to hit on him. True, partly. The other part, how many NFL coaches would have started Woolen? Pete is incredible at this. Here is another one: Russell Wilson. How many coaches would have started a third round too small QB over the high priced FA?
The last two drafts have been no surprise along with the direction of the team, because you have two of the best to ever do it back in a position of what they do best: build. It is always surprising to me that Seahawks fans are surprised about the last two years. This is just who Pete and John are.
Without any real evidence to back it up, I firmly believe we've also witnessed a shift in the primary decision maker from PC to JS regarding personnel and the draft. PC wanting to draft for need, in a belief the team really was only a few players away from winning it all again and wanting to do so before he calls it a day. JS pressing through a more long term building plan, knowing his job security is reliant on maintaining success as he doesn't want to retire soon. And he can sell it Pete in two ways. 1) Going for needs has obviously not worked. 2) By drafting good players, the team will still be good now and keep him in reach of the Ring.
Becuase honestly, if the real answer is "we were trying to be too clever" or "our draft methodology was based on a bad foundation", then I have concerns about this teams ability to get back to the top and what the hell they were doing having obviously wasted years of prime chances. Petes a great coach, have him coach. John's a good roster builder, let him build. [proper armchair GM'ing going on here :p]
I don't click the LIKE button much but KHammarling got one this time. I don't know if your right or not, but I sure hope you are.