Seahawks all-time undrafted free agent offensive squad
The Seahawks have made signing undrafted talent an art form. Here’s a look at the all-time best gems on the offensive side of the ball.
First, if you read the article on the defensive squad, you know the ground rules. If not, I’ll be brief. No players who were initially signed by another team count. The Seahawks had to sign the player first, not the San Francisco 49ers or the New Jersey Generals or even the San Diego Silverbacks.
Second, it would have been a *lot*easier to cheat and rationalize that a 17th round draft pick in the 70’s would have been an undrafted free agent today. Sorry Huskies fans, Chris Rowland is ineligible for the list.
Finally, all links for player stats redirect to the excellent pro-football-reference.com. For the complete roster of every player to ever wear the Seahawks uniform, I suggest a visit to the Football Database, footballdb.com. The statistics for tackles are more complete on the previous site, but the Database is still worth a look. Now on to the great undrafted Seahawks.
Offensive line – or as they are charmingly referred to at times, the Big Uglies
Tackle – James Atkins. Atkins protected the blind side for Rick Mirer and John Friesz in ’95 and ’96. He had 45 starts in seven seasons.
Guard – Bryan Millard. Millard started as a tackle but found a home at right guard. The position, not the deodorant. He made 90 starts next to the center.
Center – Jean-Phillipe Darche. He made the All-Rookie team in 2000. No starts, but 120 games in a nine year career isn’t bad for an undrafted kid from McGill University.
Guard – Frank Beede . Beede got just a handful of starts (eight) in his four years in the league. I’d say that’s close to the record for Panhandle State players.
Tackle – Garry Gilliam. It may seem odd to include him as the Seahawks let him walk, but he earned the spot.
Receivers – three or maybe four
Tight End – Mike Tice. There’s a reason he coaches the best offensive line in the NFL. And it’s not because of his receiving skills. He was an excellent blocker.
Wide Receiver – Doug Baldwin. One word. Angry.
Wide Receiver – James McKnight over Jermaine Kearse. Here’s the thing. Kearse is too inconsistent to rank ahead of McKnight. That’s especially true considering that Russell Wilson is throwing to Kearse, and McKnight had Mirer, Friesz and a past-40 Warren Moon as his quarterbacks. Despite that, McKnight averaged 18.6 yards per catch. Kearse is nearly five yards worse with an average of 13.8. Realistically, both would play in about half the sets anyway, resting either Tice or the next guy on our list.
Backfield in motion
RB – Mack Strong. In 14 seasons and 201 games, Strong got as many carries as his backfield partners would in one light season. He wasn’t there to carry the ball, of course. Strong’s job was to crush anything between Shaun Alexander and the end zone. And Ricky Watters and the end zone. And Chris Warren and…you get the point.
RB – Thomas Rawls. When healthy, he scares opposing defenses. Badly. Even with Eddie Lacy in the backfield this year, I expect him to return to his rookie season form.
QB – Dave Krieg. Over 38,000 yards passing and 261 touchdowns in a 19 year career. I haven’t checked, but I *think* he has the highest NFL passer rating of any Milton College graduate.
So that wraps up the list of the offensive side of the best undrafted players to play for the Seahawks. As with the defense, there is some room for improvement here. That’s fine, because they each gave the game all they had. For each of these players, one thing stands out. They never gave up.