Celebrating the Fourth with the Seahawks best fourth-round picks ever

Happy Independence Day, 12s! We can’t fire up the grill for you, but we can bring you the best fourth-round picks in Seahawks history!

Hopefully, the grill is going at your place. If it’s a gas grill, please have the decency to have a smoker box. Otherwise, it’s old-school charcoal all the way. And keep the potato salad on ice till it’s time to dig in. Now that we’ve got that settled, let’s talk about the best fourth-round picks the Seahawks ever drafted.

Let me address the 2018 draftees at the start. We’re on the record as really liking the prospects for Gary Jennings Jr., Phil Haynes, and Ugo Amadi. But it’s far too early to say how they rate among all the draft classes in Hawks history. We’ll give them another look on a future holiday. I’ll have to say the same for 2018’s pick, Will Dissly. He looked great in his four games, but it was still just four games. We’ll wait for another day to rate him.

One thing that pops right off the draft history is that the Seahawks have had remarkably few fourth-round picks pan out. At first, I thought they just haven’t had many selections in that round. As odd as it is, Seattle seems to have had a penchant for trading that pick away. The Hawks had eight drafts without a pick in that round. Then again, they had thirteen drafts with more than one in that slot. So apparently it was just the luck of the draw. Bad luck, that is.

One extra benefit from using pro-football-reference.com as the source for the Hawks draft history is their formula for approximate value. For the nitty-gritty on how it works, go here. For now, just know it’s a formula that does a great job of comparing players’ value across seasons and positions. Which is pretty handy when you’re ranking draft picks. For an idea of relative values, currently Bobby Wagner has 98 AV points, while former first-rounder Bruce Irvin has 43 points. The stage is set, so let’s see the Seahawks best!

Behold, the Seahawks four best fourth-rounders!

At number four, we have guard Rob Sims with 56 points of approximate value. Sims never made a Pro Bowl but he was a solid player for the Hawks. After he missed almost all of 2008, he bounced back with 14 starts the following year. Sims did most of his damage with the Lions after Seattle traded him to Detroit in 2009. 114 starts is pretty good for a fourth-round pick.

Our third player is more familiar to younger 12s. That would be Mr. K.J. Wright, with 64 points of approximate value. I’m pretty sure you already know quite a bit about one of the best weakside linebackers in the game. I’ll just say that as the only active player listed, and considering that he averages 9 AV points per full season, he’s going to do some serious climbing.

Second is running back Chris Warren, with 70 points of value. With his career sandwiched between superstars Curt Warner and Shaun Alexander, Warren is something of a forgotten man. Warner was the Hawk’s first big star at the position, while Alexander was a league MVP. Still, Warren has three Pro Bowls to his name, the same as his backfield brothers. I’m pretty sure the Seahawks would welcome the 90’s version of Warren to the team.

The king of the fourth-rounders surprised me. It’s defensive end Philip Daniels, drafted in 1996 and the clubhouse leader with 89 points of approximate value. He just spent four seasons in Seattle, so that’s my excuse for him flying beneath my radar. He didn’t start in his rookie year but got 10 starts in 1997. He was on his path of destruction then. His best season in Seattle was his last with the team. In 1999 he had nine sacks and 48 tackles, 15 of those for a loss. He really hit his stride with the Chicago Bears, but talent is talent. He’s the king of Seattle’s fourth-rounders.

At least he’s the king until K.J. Wright passes him. It’ll be close, as Wright needs three solid years to do it. My money is still on K.J., though. I never realized it until today, but I’m so grateful that Independence Day didn’t fall on the seventh. This would just be another article about Chris Carson in that case. Enjoy the holiday, 12s, and be safe tonight!