Seahawks April Fooled: 5 biggest busts in Seattle draft history
By Lee Vowell
3. Malik McDowell, 2017
Oddly, I am beginning to see a trend here. So far, everyone on this list has been drafted in a year that ended in a 7. However, just like Tony Dorsett, Malik McDowell never played a down for the Seahawks. After being taken in the second round in 2017, McDowell was involved in an ATV accident and never played football again.
McDowell had actually fallen to the number 35 pick in the draft, though it was the Seahawks first choice they had in 2017, because he had bad combine interviews with other NFL teams and the fact that is motor ran hot and cold when he played in college. McDowell was physically gifted, but it appears not mentally strong.
McDowell’s injury and not being able to play forced the Seahawks to trade for Sheldon Richardson. Richardson then played for Seattle for just one year before leaving via free agency. So not only did Seattle get nothing from McDowell on the field, Seattle was forced to make a decision that would affect the team in the future as well.
One might make the case that McDowell is the worst pick the Seahawks have ever made. Everyone else on this list that Seattle actually chose at least played an actual down for the Seahawks. McDowell never did and never will.