Pete Carroll and John Schneider partnered up on some legendary draft courses, significantly of their first few years collectively. One stands above the others, although, and can perpetually be remembered as a game-changer for a franchise that had been good — even nice, at occasions — however solely had one Tremendous Bowl look to point out for it. This may be the 2012 NFL Draft, after all, the place the Seattle Seahawks chosen Bruce Irvin, Bobby Wagner, and Russell Wilson with their first three picks. Not solely this, however they added some guys who offered key depth and/or competitors throughout their time with the workforce, like Turbo and Jeremy Lane.
This class was adequate to rank fifth better of the twenty first century, in response to Aaron Schatz of ESPN. His full ESPN+ article is subscription-only, so right here is the evaluation particularly on the Seahawks 2012 draftees.
Right here’s an attention-grabbing draft the place the Seahawks might need chosen two Corridor of Famers, however neither got here within the first spherical. There’s an attention-grabbing debate available about what quarterback Russell Wilson’s late-career struggles in Denver — and what he does in Pittsburgh this yr will imply for his Corridor of Fame case. However that doesn’t change the very fact the Seahawks received a signal-caller within the third spherical who made 9 Professional Bowls for them in 10 years and led them to 2 Tremendous Bowls, profitable one. Second-round linebacker Bobby Wagner will seemingly make it to Canton; he has been a first-team All-Professional six occasions.
What about the remainder of this draft? First-round choose Bruce Irvin has bounced across the league for the previous few years however began at the very least 9 video games as an edge rusher in eight seasons. Within the seventh spherical, the Seahawks received defensive sort out J.R. Sweezy. He moved to offense in his second yr and was a starter at guard for 3 completely different groups for seven seasons from 2013 by way of 2020. In between, the Seahawks additionally drafted fourth-round operating again Robert Turbin, who had an eight-year NFL profession; fourth-round defensive sort out Jaye Howard, who ultimately began two seasons in Tampa; and sixth-round nickelback Jeremy Lane, who performed a key function within the 2013 and 2014 Tremendous Bowls.
The category of 2010 could also be extra star-studded (Okung, Thomas, Tate, Chancellor, Thurmond), however the truth that the Seahawks landed a franchise quarterback within the third spherical is and all the time will likely be legendary.
In case you might be curious, the groups that rank forward of the Seahawks are the 2008 Atlanta Falcons (Matt Ryan, Sam Baker, and Curtis Lofton), Arizona Cardinals (Larry Fitzgerald, Karlos Dansby, Darnell Dockett), 2004 LA Chargers (Philip Rivers/technically Eli Manning, Nick Hardwick, Nate Kaeding), and 2006 New Orleans Saints (Reggie Bush, Jahri Evans, Roman Harper, Marques Colston), respectively. Now, I might argue that the Seahawks’ 2012 class ought to objectively be first general *, because the New Orleans Saints are the one one in all these 4 groups to have received a Tremendous Bowl on this century/ever, however I digress. In case you have an interest, right here is the unique Discipline Gulls evaluation of the 2012 NFL Draft! Spoiler alert: they beloved it.
*the 2010 class could be second, adopted by the 2011 class
