Reviewing Seattle’s draft: Why did they do that?

By Chris Cluff  |   Friday, May 11, 2007  |  Comments( 1 )

 Seattle Seahawks
Tim Ruskell, the Seattle Seahawks' president, and his scouts obviously know their craft when it comes to the draft -- a fact that has been proven with the savvy selections of starters like Chris Spencer, Lofa Tatupu, Leroy Hill and Rob Sims over the past two years. So -- especially at this early juncture, just days after the draft -- it seems...
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CommentsComments: 1
 No.1
VJD55		 11:00 AM
05/12/2007
Good article... but trust me, the Seahawks had a solid draft. I'm an AFC East guy so I don't have any bias here, and I thought Seattle got some undeserved criticism for this group. The only real problem with Wilson at 55 is that they didn't really need him, but he could develop into a quality starter and will bring immediate value on special teams as a top-notch gunner and returner.
Mebane was a better pick than Pitcock too... Pitcock isn't as stout or athletic, and Mebane was one of the more underrated prospects in this draft.
Atkins was a good pick because Fisher is average and Kerney has durability issues.
Most people haven't heard of Mansfield Wrotto, but I really liked him as a guard prospect. He's a quality athlete with great raw power; GT converted him from defensive tackle to offense, so he still has room for improvement. Most of his flaws are correctable.
I also liked the late picks of Will Herring and Steve Vallos. Herring is too small to start but could become an elite special-teams guy, and Vallos is an athletic guard prospect.

I agree with the head-scratching at not selecting a tight end. There's no reason to reach for a need, but after releasing Itula Mili and Jerramy Stevens you'd think they would bring in somebody. I see they signed Joe Newton, a 6'7" undrafted free agent out of Oregon State. He was a decent prospect in a relatively weak tight end class, and I was somewhat surprised to see him go undrafted. Don't be surprised if he earns playing time as their #2 TE behind Pollard.
I've been unimpressed with Seattle's drafts in recent years, but they've always been a substance-over-style team. Like this author said, "it won't be until the future that we know" how these prospects pan out. Just don't buy into the knee-jerk criticisms you may hear about this group.
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