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

Seahawks second-best draft: 2010

I know, 12s, I know. Pete and John’s first draft was an absolute classic, and here’s this idiot saying that it’s only second-best? The draft that immediately established the Seahawks brain trust as one of the best in the league? The draft that laid the foundation for the Legion of Boom, the defense that stole every last bit of oxygen from even the best offenses, not the best?

Well, as a matter of fact, no, it isn’t. I know, this is the draft that brought Earl Thomas and Kam Chancellor to Seattle. Tackle Russell Okung was the first pick of this party, and all he did was protect the blindside of his QBs for 131 games.

Oh, and I should probably mention there was this receiver by the name of Golden Tate who racked up over 8,000 yards receiving in his career. Not much there, right, other than one of the greatest safety duos in league history, plus two very good starters whose careers lasted over a decade.

What drops this draft to second place, as incredible as it was, is the fact that outside of those big four, there was very little value in the draft. Sure, you could argue when you get players like Thomas and Chancellor, you don’t need any other value. And the Seahawks cleaned up when you add Okung and Tate to that tandem.

But of the five other players drafted in 2010, only defensive back Walter Thurmond had any appreciable value. That’s firing too many blanks in comparison to the talent that Carroll and Schneider brought to Seattle with their best draft. Despite those misses, the 2010 draft averaged 3.13 points.

Earl Thomas AAV 8.20

Kam Chancellor AAV 6.13

Golden Tate AAV 5.27

Russell Okung AAV 5.09