Seattle Seahawks: 15 best first-round draft picks of all-time

The Seattle Seahawks have had several great first-round choices in their history, including some Pro Football Hall of Famers. But who are the 15 best first-round picks ever made by Seattle?

Any NFL franchise worth its salt will have some first-round choices in its history that are truly great players. The Seattle Seahawks have been around for a bit over 40 seasons. In that time, they have had first-rounders go on to become Pro Football Hall of Famers.

In fact, Seattle has had so many great first-round picks that coming up with the 15 best is not an easy task. Some players will be left out that might deserve to be there. And some players might be on this list that you, dear reader, dispute. Comments are always welcome, of course. And I am OK with being wrong.

The great thing about lists like these isn’t that one knows they will change. No, the great thing is that for any franchise to be really good for years on end is that these lists must change.

If you are reading this list 10 years from now and the Seahawks have the same 15 players as their best first-round choices ever, something has gone wrong for the Seattle professional football franchise.

One or five of these players must go to the annals of Seattle football history and replaced with better players, ones that helped the Seahawks win that second or (if I can express my highest of hopes) 10th Super Bowl.

So, without further ado, here are the 15 best first-round draft picks in Seahawks history.

Anthony Simmons was drafted as the No. 15 overall choice in the 1998 NFL Draft out of Clemson University. Simmons was taken because he had the versatility to be all over the field. He didn’t miss tackles, but he could also pressure opposing quarterbacks.

In 2000 and 2001, Simmons was one of the best linebackers in the NFL. It is a shame that he never made the Pro Bowl in his career, though, as he probably should have. In 2000 alone, Simmons had 147 tackles and 11 tackles for loss. He had 11 tackles for loss again in 2001.

To put this is perspective, the Seahawks’ great linebacker Bobby Wagner’s career high for tackles for loss is 13. Wagner’s next highest total is 10. This means Simmons’ two straight seasons with 11 each is Wagner-esque.

The issue Simmons had during his career wasn’t his productivity on the field, but the problems he had staying on it. Simmons suffered multiple injuries, including a wrist injury that ended his career. After playing every game from 1999 through 2001 and playing brilliantly, Simmons missed 21 of a possible 48 games from 2002 through 2004.

Simmons now runs a chain of places children can get their haircuts called Sharkey’s Cuts for Kids. He lives in Nevada.

Sam Adams played a long time in the NFL. This is incredible when you think of the position Adams played. Interior defensive linemen usually get pretty banged up and either retire or lose their ability to be productive. For the most part, this did not happen to Adams.

Of Adams’ 14 NFL seasons, six were spent as a member of the Seahawks. This is twice as long as he spent with any other team. By far and away, Adams’ seasons in Seattle were his best, though two of his three Pro Bowl years were while he was with the Baltimore Ravens.

Tackles for loss was not an official statistic in the NFL until Adams’ last season with Seattle. This is a shame because Adams would have racked up huge numbers in that department. Take into account that Adams was drafted as the No. 8 overall pick in 1994 out of Texas A&M primarily to stop the run. He could do so much more.

Adams had seven sacks in 1997, to go along with 52 tackles. This is top-level activity for an interior lineman who is really there to eat up blockers. Adams could do that, but he could also disrupt any rhythm and offense tried to create.

Adams currently coaches football and basketball for youth teams.

The problem for the Seahawks with Joey Galloway wasn’t that he couldn’t be productive with the team. Like Sam Adams, Galloway simply didn’t stay with Seattle long enough. Galloway played with the Seahawks for five of his 16 years in the NFL. His best seasons, though, were probably spent as a member of the Seattle professional football team.

I say ‘probably’ because Galloway had some pretty decent seasons with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers five seasons after leaving Seattle. However, four of Galloway’s best five years as far as total yards came in his first four seasons with Seattle.

Galloway was drafted No. 8 overall in the 1995 NFL Draft out of The Ohio State University. He wasn’t big, but he was quick. Seattle knew it could use Galloway in multiple formations, both as a receiver and in the backfield.

Galloway didn’t rush the ball a lot but when he did, he was an effective ball carrier. In 1995 and 1996 combined, Galloway ran the ball 26 times for an average of 10.8 yards per carry.

Of course, Galloway was primarily a receiver and he was a good one. In Galloway’s first four seasons, he was targeted 121 times or more each year. Except for the 1996 season, he had over 1,000 yards receiving with Seattle.

In 1996, he had 987 receiving yards, so close enough to 1,000 yards for it to almost count. And of Galloway’s 77 career touchdown catches, 37 of them came in Seattle. This despite playing just a third of his career with the Seahawks.

John Williams‘ numbers will not blow you away. But pure statistics are not the reason Williams was so valuable in Seattle. He simply was what any team would want out of its players. Williams did anything the team asked him to do and he did whatever was asked of him with maximum effort. He was the No. 15 overall pick in the 1986 NFL Draft.

If the Seahawks wanted Williams to run the ball, he could. During his eight years with Seattle, Williams had 4,579 yards rushing, including 877 yards in 1986.

It is easy to overlook those numbers, though, because Williams was a fullback and not a running back. He was never meant to be the featured back, but his talent and versatility made him the featured back at times.

Between 1989 and 1992, Williams had 284 receptions, an average of 71 catches a season for those four years. In his career, he actually had one more receiving touchdown than rushing. Again, this guy was a fullback. In 1989, he had 76 catches and six touchdowns receiving. Williams made the Pro Bowl in 1989 and 1990.

Williams still has the fifth-most rushing yards in Seahawks history. He has the fourth-most receptions in franchise history with 471. So while people looking at his raw numbers may not be overly impressed at first, there was no mistake that Williams was one of the first-round picks in Seattle draft annals.

Jeff Bryant was the sixth overall pick in the first round of the 1982 NFL Draft out of Clemson University. He was a reliable pass rusher and run stopper who rarely missed games. Bryant played his entire NFL career in Seattle.

In the last 11 seasons of his career, Bryant missed only 10 games. That is an incredible streak of consistency for an interior lineman. But Bryant wasn’t just a player who showed up every Sunday. He showed up and was extremely effective.

For a lot of his career, “Boogey” was overshadowed by his peers along his own defensive front. In the 1980s, the Seahawks played a 3-4 defense and had one of the best defensive lines in the NFL.

Bryant was mostly a defensive tackle next to left defensive end Jacob Green (more on him later) and nose tackle Joe Nash. The trio played together for all of Bryant’s career up until 1991.

A lot of Bryant’s numbers are lost, as the NFL did not keep tackles or tackles for loss as official statistics for nearly all of his career. Sacks, however, were a stat. By the end of Bryant’s career, he had 63 of them. This number ranks third all-time in Seattle history.

How good was the line that Bryant helped form? While Bryant is third in Seahawks history in sacks, Green is first with 97.5 and Nash is sixth with 47.5. Now, that is impressive.

In 1997, the Seahawks had two first-round draft picks. Both players Seattle chose ended up being good. The first player that Seattle took was cornerback Shawn Springs out of The Ohio State University No. 3 overall.

Unlike a lot of the other players on this list, Springs did not play in Seattle his entire career. But he was a Seahawk for seven of his 12 NFL seasons and they were mostly very good years.

Springs’ second season in Seattle may have been his best. After this year, opposing quarterbacks may have figured out that it is best not to throw his way and he was received fewer targets against. But in 1998, those quarterbacks didn’t know this information yet and paid the price.

1998 saw Springs pick off seven passes and he returned two of them for touchdowns. He also forced two fumbles and made 75 tackles. For his effort, Springs made the only Pro Bowl of his career.

In 1999, Springs had five more interceptions. And in 2000, though he only had two picks, he recorded 85 tackles. Springs spent the next three years in Seattle, but they were mostly injury-filled years and his productivity lagged. Still, of Springs 33 career interceptions, 20 of them came in a Seahawks uniform.

Springs is currently the CEO of a business called Windpact, a company focused on safety features for various items.

The difference between Shawn Springs and Marcus Trufant is thin. But I am going with Trufant as the better first-round draft choice because he played his entire career in Seattle. He also helped mentor a young Earl Thomas. But that wasn’t all, as Trufant was a terrific corner for most of his Seahawks career.

Like Springs, Trufant earned one trip to the Pro Bowl in Seattle. Trufant made it in 2007, which may have been his best year. That season, the cornerback had seven interceptions and returned one 84 yards for a touchdown. He also had 85 tackles and 15 passes defended.

Trufant would have fit perfectly in the Legion of Boom, though. He wasn’t afraid to hit people. Trufant had 80 tackles or more in four different seasons, including 96 in his second season. 86 of those tackles were solo. That is a lot for a cornerback, but not for one who liked to hit as much as Trufant did.

He was the No. 11 overall pick in the 2003 NFL Draft out of Washington State. One reason that Trufant is so admired in the Seattle area is that he grew up in Tacoma and went to Washington State over in Pullman. But it wasn’t only was that he a local product, he was a great Seahawk.

Trufant currently is a co-host of The Barbershop Show that is definitely worth a listen.

Curt Warner was specifically drafted to transform the Seahawks offense. He was the No. 3 overall pick in the 1983 NFL Draft out of Penn State University. When Warner was drafted, Seattle’s head coach was Chuck Knox. Knox was known for his “Ground Chuck” offense that was designed to eat clock and help the defense. Warner was to be the centerpiece of Knox’ offensive scheme.

And to a great degree early in Warner’s career, he was every bit as good as expected. In 1983, Warner led the AFC in rushing with 1,449 yards and had 13 touchdowns. He had 1,774 yards from scrimmage in his rookie season.

Then, the world ended. Warner tore his ACL in the first game of the 1984 season. At the time, this type of injury may have ended a player’s career or made him much less productive. It did take Warner some time to come back, but by 1986 Warner had returned to his rookie-level self.

In 1986, Warner rushed for 1,481 yards and 13 touchdowns. The following year, a strike-shortened season, Warner ran for 985 yards and 8 touchdowns in 12 games. Warner made the Pro Bowl in 1983, 1986 and again in 1987.

Warner ranks third in all-time rushing yards for the Seahawks with 6,705. If not for his injury in 1984, Warner likely would have had many more yards and could have been a Pro Football Hall of Fame level player.

Steve Hutchinson spent only five of his 11 NFL seasons in Seattle, but they were great seasons nonetheless. His presence helped transform the Seahawks from a mediocre team into a near-championship one. He helped form one of the best offensive lines in the history of the NFL. And I dare you to challenge that statement.

Hutchinson should be a Pro Football Hall of Fame player and maybe he will get elected some day soon. If he does, he will join his former line-mate in Seattle in offensive tackle Walter Jones. It is one thing to say an offensive line is good, but it is another to prove it by having those players inducted into Canton. Frankly, Hutchinson deserves to be there.

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In three of the left guard’s five years with the Seahawks, he made the Pro Bowl. Going back to the Hall of Fame point, though, the first four years Hutchinson was with the Minnesota Vikings, he also made the Pro Bowl.

Overall, Hutchinson was a five-time First-Team All-Pro, according to the Associated Press. Two of those years were while he was with Seattle. Between 2003 and 2009, the left guard did not miss a single regular season game.

Hutchinson was taken No. 17 overall in the 2001 NFL Draft. The problem wasn’t that he was a bust with the Seahawks and moved on to grander things. The issue is he simply wasn’t with Seattle long enough. Regardless, Hutchinson was a great player and deserves to be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Shaun Alexander in many ways is the opposite of Steve Hutchinson. Hutchinson wasn’t with the Seahawks long enough. Alexander was crazy good when he was healthy with Seattle, but he didn’t play long enough. The running back was a Seahawk for eight seasons, but it could have been so much more.

Unlike Curt Warner, Alexander wasn’t drafted to transform the Seattle offense. But he did that anyway. In his rookie year in 2000, the No. 19 overall pick in the same year’s NFL Draft started just one game and ran the ball just 64 times. From 2001 until 2005, though, he was one of the best – if not the best – running back in the NFL.

Between 2001 and 2005, Alexander had 87 rushing touchdowns. Again, that was 87. In 2005, the first season Seattle reached the Super Bowl ever, Alexander rushed for a then-NFL record 27 rushing touchdowns.

He also led the league with 1,880 yard rushing. He averaged over five yards a carry that season. Alexander made the Pro Bowl every year from 2003 through 2005. He was named the NFL MVP in 2005.

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It should be noted that Alexander was able to run behind a line that featured Steve Hutchinson and Walter Jones, however. He was a great running back, but also ran behind a great offensive line.

After 2005, and after Hutchinson left in free agency, Alexander wasn’t the same back for many reasons. One, he didn’t have the same quality of offensive line to run behind. Two, Alexander got injured a lot more. In 2006, he broke his foot in the third game of the year. And in 2007, he broke his wrist. Alexander was never the same running back he was in 2005 and before.

Still, Alexander easily ranks first on the Seahawks’ all-time rushing list with 9,429 yards. He is also easily first on all-time rushing touchdowns. Alexander has 100. The next closest is Marshawn Lynch with 57.

Jacob Green joined the Seahawks when Seattle professional football was not very good. But Green and some other players helped turn Seahawks football into a respectable group that could make the playoffs and possibly even make the Super Bowl. He was drafted No. 10 overall in 1980 out of Texas A&M University.

Of course, Seattle never did make the Super Bowl during Green’s time with the Seahawks, but that wasn’t his fault. Seattle made the playoffs four times after Green joined the franchise, beginning in 1983. Green, as I mentioned before with Jeff Bryant, become an AFC power because of their defensive line. And Green was the standout.

Let’s think about how the Pro Bowl voting, for instance. Nowadays, if a player gets 16 sacks, he would probably be a Pro Bowl player. Green, though, had that many sacks in 1983 and wasn’t even in the Pro Bowl. The bias against the Pacific Northwest was and remains true, 12s.

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Green did make the Pro Bowl in 1986 and 1987, however. And between 1983 and 1986, Green accumulated 54.5 sacks. That’s impressive then and it would be more impressive now. If Green were up in free agency in 2019, he would make lots of money. But times have changed and he was always underpaid during his career compared to now.

Green is still far and away the Seahawks’ franchise sacks leader. He finished his career with 97.5 in a Seattle uniform. The next closest player is Michael Sinclair with 73.5. Pro Football Hall of Famer Cortez Kennedy played the same amount of years in a Seahawks uniform – 11 – and has 38.5 fewer sacks. Just think about that for a second.

Earl Thomas has a history of a career that is not yet fully written. Thomas was a member of the Seahawks of nine years. Those years will be his legacy. Though he signed as a free agent with the Baltimore Ravens in 2019, he will always be a Seahawk.

Thomas was a huge reason Seattle won its first Super Bowl for the 2013 season. Without Thomas, Seattle would not have been nearly as successful in the first part of this decade. He allowed other players, like Kam Chancellor and Richard Sherman, to develop into the great defensive stalwarts they became.

If Thomas were not roaming centerfield, Chancellor and Sherman would have had other assignments and not able to make the game-changing plays they did. Without Thomas, Sherman doesn’t make the money he was able to earn.

Thomas will be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame one day. If he isn’t, the NFL should do away with the Canton institution. Thomas is the epitome of a football player. He isn’t big, but he is really fast. When he is on the field, he gives a maximum effort. Thomas changes outcomes of games and does it with his ability to make plays.

Seattle’s former free safety could make an opposing receiver feel pain physically and emotionally. Thomas could hit hard for a player his size, but could also bait a team into poor throws as well. He was a reason Seattle went to back-to-back Super Bowls and should have won both.

Thomas was chosen in the 2010 NFL Draft with the No. 14 overall pick. He ended up helping make Seattle a Super Bowl champion. What else can a team ask?

Kenny Easley was chosen as the No. 4 overall choice in the 1981 NFL Draft. He was a big safety at 6-foot-3, but he was quick, too. Easley was the forerunner of Kam Chancellor. Like Chancellor, Easley was known as the enforcer. However, Easley was greater even than Chancellor because Easley was really a hybrid of Chancellor and Earl Thomas when you really think about it.

The only reason Easley may not be considered the greatest safety to ever play is that his career was cut short by injury. Easley played just seven seasons. That being said, Easley made the Pro Bowl in five of those years.

His 1983 and 1984 seasons are nearly incomparable by another defensive back. Still, one cannot help but wonder what Easley would have accomplished had he not been injured in the midst of his prime as an NFL player.

Let me put aside the negative, though, and honor the Pro Football Hall of Fame career of a Seahawks safety that would have fit perfectly in the Legion of Boom of this current decade.

In 89 games, Easley had 32 interceptions. Think about that for a second. The percentage of interceptions to games is ridiculous. In 1983 and 1984 combined, Easley had 17 interceptions , returned two for touchdowns and had four fumble recoveries.

Easley was a three-time Associated Press First-Team All-Pro and was finally inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2017.

Cortez Kennedy was the No. 3 overall pick in the 1990 NFL Draft. He played on some awful teams while with the Seahawks, but he never disappointed with his play on the field.

In fact, given that Kennedy was in Seattle his entire career probably hurt his value to the average football fan. If Kennedy had played in a major media market like New York or Dallas, the defensive tackle may not only be remembered as one of the best defensive tackles in the history of football, but the best.

For instance, Kennedy won the Associated Press’ NFL Defensive Player of the Year in 1992, possibly his best season. That was in a year when Seattle went 2-14. Had Kennedy had any help at all, Seattle could have made the playoffs and Kennedy would have been a disruptor in the postseason.

In 1992, Kennedy had 14 sacks, 92 tackles and forced four fumbles. This would have been an incredible year for any interior defensive lineman, but for one on a 2-14 team where the opposing offense knew they only had him to block makes it look even more impressive decades later.

In Kennedy’s 11 seasons in Seattle, the Seahawks had a winning record in just two years. And both of those season – 1990 and 1999 – saw Seattle go just 9-7. Mostly, Kennedy’s talent was wasted as a member of the Seahawks.

Kennedy was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2012, the second full-time Seahawk to make it into Canton after wide receiver Steve Largent. Sadly, Kennedy died of a heart condition in his home in 2017.

Few Seahawks could truly be considered the best player at their position to ever play the game. This changes with Walter Jones. Jones might be the best left tackle in the history of the NFL. He began his career on some terrible Seattle teams and helped transform the franchise into a championship caliber one.

Jones played 12 NFL seasons in Seattle. He was taken, along with defensive back Shawn Springs, in the first round of the 1997 NFL Draft.

Jones was taken No. 6 overall. Four times, he was named First-Team All-Pro by the Associated Press. Twice, he made the Second-Team. He was named to the NFL 2000s All-Decade Team. Jones played in 180 games with Seattle and started them all.

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In those 180 games, Seattle attempted a bit over 5,500 passes and Jones allowed just 23 sacks in those pass attempts. Again, that was just 23 sacks. That translates into Jones’ quarterback being sacked on an inefficient block by Jones just .004 percent of the time.  He was called for only nine holding penalties in his career. That’s less than one holding call a season!

Jones, along with the aforementioned Steve Hutchinson, also made the Seahawks offensive line into one of the best in the NFL for nearly half a decade. Behind Jones, Shaun Alexander rushed for 1,880 yards in 2005 and won NFL MVP, as Seattle made its first trip to the Super Bowl in franchise history.

Jones was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2014. The Seahawks have had two other first-round picks go into the Pro Football Hall of Fame as well in Kenny Easley an Cortez Kennedy. To put it simply, Jones isn’t just the best first-round choice Seattle ever made, he is probably the greatest player in franchise history.