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

Linemen were the Seahawks theme for the second half of the decade

The second half of the decade started pretty quietly, as linebacker Lofa Tatupu was Seattle’s only true impact player. His three Pro Bowl selections attest to that. 2006 saw the Hawks pick up guard Rob Sims, while 2007 brought a monster defensive tackle, Brandon Mebane.

Blowing up opposing linemen, Mebane was a key factor in the Legion of Boom’s dominance, one of the few not drafted by Carroll and Schneider. Seattle added a bookend tackle the following year in defensive tackle Red Bryant. Together, the pair destroyed the middle of the line.

In 2009 Seattle added their equal on the offensive side of the ball, center Max Unger. After two Pro Bowl seasons, injuries limited him to just six games in 2014. Seattle made one of their worst decisions ever and traded him to New Orleans for Jimmy Graham.

Graham was never going to replicate his numbers with the Saints; why Pete Carroll thought that could happen is beyond me. But I’m here to talk about the draft, so – the Hawks closed out the aughts with nine good to great picks out of 84 selections. That’s a definite drop from the production of the ’90s.