Why the Seahawks and Russell Wilson finally split. Hint, it’s the drafts.

2017

The 2017 draft is probably the most underwhelming draft class in the careers of Carroll and Schneider. Schneider did his usual trade-down act once again. A series of absolute mind-boggling transactions took place before Seattle made their first selection of the draft. This is what Seattle did:

• Trade 26th overall pick to the Atlanta Falcons for the 31st pick in the 1st round, 95th pick in the third round, and 249th pick in the seventh round
• Trade 31st pick to their arch-nemesis the San Francisco 49ers for the 34th overall selection in the 2nd round and the 111th selection in the 4th round.
• Trade 34th pick to the Jacksonville Jaguars and getting in return a 35th overall pick and 187th pick in the 6th round.
• With their first selection in the 2017 NFL draft, the Seahawks select Malik McDowell. Yep, all that for Malik McDowell.

Malik McDowell would never play a single down for the Seahawks after an ATV accident before the 2017 season started. The selection of McDowell sparked a series of unfortunate events that changed the face of the Seahawks.

McDowell not playing for the Seahawks led to Seattle trading a 2nd round pick plus Jermaine Kearse to the Jets for Sheldon Richardson. Richardson played in Seattle for one year and then departed in free agency after Seattle missed the playoffs for the first time in the Russell Wilson era.

The 2017 draft did have a player that would have changed the fortunes of the Seahawks had he been drafted. That player is Wisconsin’s offensive tackle Ryan Ramcyzk. Ramcyzk wasn’t drafted until the 32nd pick after the Saints traded up to get him from the New England Patriots.

After one year of abysmal play by Germain Ifedi, the entire fan base was ready to move Ifedi inside at right guard and try a new option at right tackle. For many 12s, they saw Ryan Ramcyzk as a solution to that hole. Unfortunately, Pete and John didn’t share that same sentiment. While Malik McDowell didn’t play one single snap for Seattle. Ryan Ramcyzk is still playing near an All-Pro level at right tackle.

Through five years, Ramcyzk has only allowed 12 sacks in total. Russell Wilson spent the vast majority of his time in Seattle scrambling after the pocket broke down. Much of the issue had to do with the combination of the Seahawks consistently whiffing on their offensive line draft picks and Seattle choosing not to spend big in free agency.