Ranking the five best Seahawks drafts of the Carroll-Schneider era

Seahawks third-best draft: 2011

Wait a minute. I’m only ranking the draft that completed the Legion of Boom as third-best? Not only did 2011 bring the loyal 12s cornerbacks Richard Sherman and Byron Maxwell, but also the criminally overlooked K.J. Wright. It took Maxwell a few years to take his place in the LOB, but Sherman was an immediate force, as was Wright.

As with so many great players – okay, just about all of them – Sherman, then Wright eventually were forced out by contract considerations. Wright’s departure in particular pointed the way to the future. But he was still a great pick.

I should probably mention that the ‘Hawks first pick that year was pretty good, too. O-lineman James Carpenter started nine games at right tackle as a rookie, then moved to left guard for the next 10 seasons.

And at the opposite end of the draft, Seattle found linebacker Malcolm Smith with the 242nd selection. Smith’s best year in Seattle was in 2013, but he’s still playing, appearing in 15 games for the Browns. 134 games, 62 starts, and 500 tackles isn’t too shabby a stat line for a seventh-round pick.

In fact, that was the strength of this draft, the talent that Carroll and Schneider found in the later rounds. Wright was a fourth-round pick, and Sherman was famously not taken until the fifth. That has become something of a theme for the Seahawks, as all good 12s know.

We also know that’s a two-edged sword, as all too often Seattle has had to salvage their drafts with solid late-round picks to make up for questionable first-rounders. That’s a story for another time, though. The 2011 draft averaged 3.18 points.

That’s actually a fraction better than my choice for the second-best draft, but when you see the names attached (and you can probably guess them), you’ll see why I bumped that group ahead.

Richard Sherman AAV 8.82

K.J. Wright AAV 5.82

James Carpenter 4.36