Grading The Seahawks 2009 Draft
By Keith Myers
The rule is that it takes 3 years to evaluate a draft. Well, the 2009 class has finished 3 seasons, so lets take a look back and see how Tim Ruskell’s final draft turned out.
Round 1, Pick 4: OLB Aaron Curry – Curry was a complete bust. After a decent start, he only managed to get worse the longer he was in Seattle. The Seahawks finally shipped him off to Oakland this past season just to get him off the roster.
Round 2, Pick 49: C Max Unger – Unger is the best player taken by the Seahawks in 2009. He’s always been a good pass blocker, but this this past season he developed into a good looking run blocker as well. By any measure, he’s one of the top 10 centers in the NFL.
Round 3, Pick 91, WR Deon Butler – Butler has the speed, but lack of height and not great speed in and out of his breaks has led to rather poor production. While there’s still a chance he can break out and have a great 2012 season, the odds are stacked against him. Butler is looking more and more like a bust at this point.
Round 6, Pick 178, QB Mike Teel – Teel never looked like he belonged on an NFL roster. In both preseasons that he was with the team, Teel looked lost and clueless. He never appeared in a regular season game, and that’s a good thing.
Round 7, Pick 245, DB Courtney Greene – Greene managed to play in 30 games as a special teams player over a 2 year career. He just never developed into a player that deserved to be on the field with the defense.
Round 7, Pick 247, DE Nick Reed – Reed became a fan favorite because of his endless motor, but his lack of skill and athleticism means he was never going to be much of an NFL player. He’ll go to camp with Tampa in 2012, his 4th team in 3 years in the league.
Round 7, Pick 248, TE Cameron Morrah – Despite being a 7th round pick, Morrah was the 2nd best player picked in this draft. Morrah still can’t block like a TE should be able to, but he’s got great speed and good hands and is a threat in the passing game. Morrah will most likely end up as the third TE with the Seahawks in 2012.
Overall, this was a horrible draft. Only Unger has been worthy of consistent playing time. Butler and Morrah are likely to be around the league for a few years, even if it ends up that it’s not with Seattle. The rest of the picks are worthy of a CFL team. Picking Aaron Curry at #4 is inexcusable, you simply can’t get so little out of such a high pick. I think we can all agree that the Seahawks are better off without Tim Ruskell.
Grade: F
2009 Redraft: (players the Seahawks sould have taken)
Round 1: NT BJ Raji
Round 2: G/C Max Unger
Round 3: DB Jerraud Power
Round 6: WR Brandon Gibson
Round 7: TE/FB Dan Grankowski
Round 7: RB Rashad Jennings
Round 7: K Ryan Succop