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 ceaselessly be remembered as a game-changer for a franchise that had been good — even nice, at instances — however solely had one Tremendous Bowl look to indicate for it. This might be the 2012 NFL Draft, in fact, 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 line with 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 fascinating draft the place the Seahawks may need chosen two Corridor of Famers, however neither got here within the first spherical. There’s an fascinating debate available about what quarterback Russell Wilson’s late-career struggles in Denver — and what he does in Pittsburgh this 12 months 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, successful one. Second-round linebacker Bobby Wagner will doubtless make it to Canton; he has been a first-team All-Professional six instances.
What about the remainder of this draft? First-round decide Bruce Irvin has bounced across the league for the previous few years however began no less than 9 video games as an edge rusher in eight seasons. Within the seventh spherical, the Seahawks received defensive deal with J.R. Sweezy. He moved to offense in his second 12 months 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 deal with 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 at all times will probably be legendary.
In case you’re 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’d argue that the Seahawks’ 2012 class ought to objectively be first total *, because the New Orleans Saints are the one one in all these 4 groups to have gained a Tremendous Bowl on this century/ever, however I digress. In case you have an interest, right here is the unique Subject Gulls evaluation of the 2012 NFL Draft! Spoiler alert: they beloved it.
*the 2010 class can be second, adopted by the 2011 class
