No one should have been surprised by what Ruskell did in draft

By Chris Cluff  |   Sunday, May 04, 2008  |  Comments( 1 )

Seattle Seahawks
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Once again, Tim Ruskell is taking heat for the Seattle Seahawks’ draft. And once again, he probably will prove all of his critics wrong.

No one should be surprised that Ruskell ignored conventional wisdom and followed his own evaluations, drafting a guy many had rated as a second-rounder.

No one should have been surprised because Ruskell has done it before. In 2005 – Ruskell’s first year as team president -- he drafted center Chris Spencer in the first round even though the Seahawks had a greater need at defensive end. Spencer was considered a bit of a reach but was the highest-rated player on the Seahawks’ board at the time. Then Ruskell traded up in the second round to take linebacker Lofa Tatupu. That was considered a colossal stretch even though Tatupu played a position of extreme need, and Ruskell took a lot of heat for that move. Of course, three Pro Bowls later, Tatupu has more than proven Ruskell right on that pick.

By now, everyone should know what Ruskell is looking for when he drafts. He wants players from big schools who were successful against the highest competition and started for at least three years. And he wants high-character players who are intelligent leaders.

Ruskell’s MO so far has been to draft the top guy on his board with the first pick and generally go for need with the second selection, even if it costs a little bit.

After matching need to value with cornerback Kelly Jennings in 2006, Ruskell traded Seattle’s 2007 first-round pick for receiver Deion Branch and then drafted another cornerback (Josh Wilson) with the second-round choice even though the Seahawks had greater needs at tight end and guard.

So, with tight end, guard and defensive tackle the top needs (again) this year, it should have been no surprise to see Ruskell draft defensive end Lawrence Jackson in the first round. Or to move up in the second round again to fill a need by drafting tight end John Carlson. That’s how Ruskell operates: The guy he really wants at the price he wants followed by the player he really needs even if he has to pay a bit more.

This year, Ruskell got as much out of his draft position as he could. The Seahawks traded down from 25th overall and added selections in the fifth and seventh rounds before taking the player they wanted all along. As with his other drafts, Ruskell has been criticized because the player he took was rated lower than a few other players at positions that might have helped. But Ruskell obviously wasn’t sold on defensive tackle Kentwan Balmer or end Phillip Merling, who both were productive for only one year in college.

Ruskell also agreed with the prevailing sentiment that no tight end was worth a first-round pick (although the New York Jets drafted Dustin Keller 30th overall, two choices after the Hawks took Jackson). And all of the quality linemen the Seahawks might have drafted were gone by the 21st pick. So the Seahawks dropped down three picks and still got the guy they wanted. It was similar to the move Ruskell made in 2005, when he traded down three spots and took Spencer 26th overall.

And just like in 2005, when the Seahawks jumped up to get Tatupu in the second round, the Hawks went up again in that round because they realized they were sitting too low to get Carlson. In 2005, it cost them a fourth-round pick (they sent two to Carolina, but they had received one from Oakland in the first-round trade). This time, the Hawks burned a third-rounder to make sure they filled their biggest need with their highest-rated tight end.

Ruskell admitted he hated to let go of the third-round pick because those players tend to carry the most value of any round in the draft (unless a team makes the mistake the Seahawks made in Ruskell’s first year and draft someone like quarterback David Greene). But in his short time as the Seahawks’ top personnel guy, Ruskell has proven he can find the right players in the second round -- Tatupu is among the NFL's top linebackers, and defensive end Darryl Tapp and Wilson both look like up-and-comers.

Once again, Ruskell is taking a lot of flak for another unconventional draft. But no one should have been surprised by what he did, and no one should be surprised by what his new players do over the next few years.
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About Chris Cluff

Chris Cluff spent 10 years as an editor and sportswriter for The Seattle Times. He was a key figure in the newspaper's coverage of the Seahawks, particularly during their Super Bowl run in 2005. He also has written two books on the Seahawks: "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: Heart-Pounding, ...
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