A deep look at the best NFL Draft class ever by the Seahawks

Seahawks added a few stars in the ’80s, but not enough

Once we hit the ’80s things begin to look up. One of the all-time great Seahawks, defensive end Jacob Green, was the 10th overall pick in the 1980 draft. Seattle added Hall of Fame safety Kenny Easley the next year, along with guard Edwin Bailey. In 1982 Seattle drafted defensive lineman Jeff Bryant and linebacker Bruce Scholtz.

Another all-time Seattle great, Curt Warner, joined the team in 1983. Linebacker Fredd Young was the Hawks third pick in 1984. Not many 12s remember Young, but he made the Pro Bowl in each of his first four seasons.  Halfway through the decade, we see seven players of note out of 57 draftees. That’s not exactly a great rate of return, folks.

1985 added no one particularly notable. We’d have to wait till ’86 to get our next top Seahawks star, fullback John Williams. He never gained 1,000 yards, but not many fullbacks do. He was one heck of a receiver, though, with 546 catches in his career. He did break 1,000 yards from scrimmage four times and was a devastating blocker. Just ask Curt Warner about that.

In 1987 the Hawks added defensive end, Tony Woods. They also picked up a guy with a huge rep in the supplemental draft, Brian Bosworth. He’s most notable for his haircut and getting demolished by Bo Jackson. Suffice to say, the Boz didn’t pan out. Things picked up in ’88 with wide receiver Brian Blades, who hauled in 581 passes for 7,620 yards, both ranking second all-time for the Seahawks.

In ’89 Seattle welcomed Andy Heck to the squad. And that was it. That rounds out the ’80s with a grand total of 11 high-impact players out of 118 selections. Things got better, but it would be quite a while before the Hawks really started maximizing their picks.