A Brief History of John Schneider and 1st Round Picks

2015

The Seahawks chose to trade away their first round pick for the 3rd consecutive season. Whether is was worth it or not is still up for debate. TE Jimmy Graham was one of the NFL’s premier tight ends throughout his tenure in New Orleans, using his massive 6’7 frame to catch 386 balls and 51 TD’s over the course of his five years in the Big Easy.

Seattle struggled in the red zone in 2014, so they needed a big target to help out Russell Wilson. Despite their rumored interest in free agent Jordan Cameron, Schneider instead traded the 31st pick and starting center Max Unger for Graham and a 4th round pick. New Orleans spent the pick on Clemson LB Stephone Anthony, who had a very productive season on the Saints mediocre defense.

Graham started his first year in the Pacific Northwest slowly, only scoring 2 TDs in the first 8 games. However, Graham was just starting to find his groove when a torn right patellar tendon prematurely ended his promising season.

The 4th round pick ended up being an added bonus, as it was part of the package Seattle used to trade up in round three for WR Tyler Lockett. Lockett ended up outperforming everyone’s expectations as a rookie, earning Pro Bowl and first-team All-Pro honors for his returning skills.

His emergence as an NFL-caliber wideout aided QB Russell Wilson’s sensational stretch to end last season. Lockett showed tremendous growth, hopefully, a sign of great things to come for the 23 year old.