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

Two legends join the Seahawks in the first half of the decade

The ’90s kicked off with one of the best to ever step into a pair of cleats. Any pair, not just the Hawks. I’m talking about the great Cortez Kennedy, of course. You know what this man did, but let me just emphasize the Hawks got 58 sacks from a defensive tackle. He routinely appears on all-time top ten lists, so that was a pretty tasty pick, to be sure. The Hawks struck gold again with their fourth pick, Chris Warren. I mean, he was only the second-leading rusher in Hawks history.

’91 wasn’t quite as productive as the previous year. By that I mean, it was practically a disaster. Seattle took Dan McGwire with their first pick. Yeesh. They did score with later picks in kicker John Kasay and defensive end Michael Sinclair. ’92 was even worse, as the only player remotely decent was offensive tackle, Ray Roberts. Even then, he was traded to Detroit after just four years. ’93 was basically a replay of the previous washout.

This time the Seahawks decided that quarterback Rick Mirer was the future. Not for long, he wasn’t, but at least he was miles better than McGwire. Seattle did grab DE Michael McCrary in the seventh round. He didn’t even start until his fourth season, then was traded to Baltimore. He didn’t achieve much with Seattle, but this is about the talent drafted, not about how they did with the Hawks.

Seattle only had five picks in 1994, but they maximized their draft with another gem. Unfortunately, the Seahawks traded future HOF center Kevin Mawae to the Jets after just four years. Yeah, sounds familiar, right? They drafted DT Sam Adams just before Mawae. He wasn’t exactly Cortez Kennedy, but he was one of the top tackles in the game, making the Pro Bowl three times. Sadly, all of those were after he left Seattle. The first half of the ’90s saw seven top picks out of 43 picks.