Seahawks 25 best players, #17 Jarran Reed

Feb 28, 2016; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide defensive lineman Jarran Reed participates in workout drills during the 2016 NFL Scouting Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 28, 2016; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide defensive lineman Jarran Reed participates in workout drills during the 2016 NFL Scouting Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports

The Seattle Seahawks roster is generally regarded as one of the best in the NFL top to bottom, but what about the talent level within the roster? Our co-editor Dan Viens takes a shot at ranking the team’s Top 25 players in order.

(PART 9 OF 25 IN A SERIES)

NFL Network does their Top 100 NFL players list every year, and this off season we’ve seen our share of analysts taking a crack at ranking the best rosters in the league. As we enter into the dog days of the off season, with the start of training camp still over a month away, I wanted to see what it would look like if I tried to rank the best 25 players the Seahawks have.

It was harder than I thought.

The top 10 was pretty easy. I would suspect most would end up with the same 10-12 names in some order or another. After that it gets dicey.

Among the challenges, how do you figure in the rookies and players who have never played a down in Seattle?

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My criteria was wide-ranging. Sometimes I went with pure talent, and other times I gave more weight to the players importance to the team. And in certain cases the players role…….played a role in my ranking. When in doubt, however, I would just ask myself “who’s the better player?”

So here we go……

The 17th Best Player On The Seahawks Roster Is….

#17: Jarran Reed, DT

Reed is the fourth rookie to show up on the list already, a testament to the quality of this year’s draft class, but also how much the team was in need of an infusion of top-end talent. Reed is definitely that. Universally considered the best run-stuffing interior linemen in this draft, he slipped to the second round because…….all he can do is stuff the run. With every team looking for impact pass-rushers, the Seahawks got a steal with Reed falling like he did.

What he gives Seattle is a block-eating two gap DT in much the same mold as former starter Brandon Mebane. There’s some talk that he could develop into a bit of a pass rush threat with some coaching, but even if he never does, he should start from day one and help make an already outstanding Seattle defense even better.

Next: Check the data, Seahawk WR's are GOOD

Anytime you can get a long-term starter in the second round you’ve nailed your draft. With the names we’ve seen already on this list…… early returns appear to suggest that the Seahawks did just that.

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