The Seattle Seahawks have the 18th pick in the first round of the upcoming NFL draft. It is a position they have only been in twice before, decades ago. The first time was in the franchise’s fourth season, 1979. They selected defensive tackle Manu Tuiasosopo from UCLA.
Tuiasosopo had an outstanding rookie season, starting every game for the Seahawks and recording eight sacks. He would also start the next two seasons before injuries slowed him down in 1982. He spent his final three NFL seasons with the 49ers.
Overall, Tuiasosopo started 64 games for Seattle, accumulating 20 sacks and recovering five fumbles. For his efforts, he was inducted into the Asian Hall of Fame in Seattle in 2014. Four years later, he was enshrined in the Polynesian Football Hall of Fame as well.
How have the Seattle Seahawks done at pick 18 in previous NFL drafts?
The next time Seattle had the 18th pick (and the last time up until this season) was 1987. The pick was Tony Woods, a defensive end from Pittsburgh. Woods’ career trajectory was similar to that of Tuiasosopo. He played six seasons in Seattle before moving to the Rams for one year. He ended his career with three seasons in Washington.
Woods became a starter midway through his rookie year and remained one for most of his career. In all, he started 79 games for the Hawks over six seasons and managed 16 sacks and more than 500 combined tackles. In his second season, Woods finished fifth in the league in combined tackles with 141, a figure that still ranks him high on the leaderboard in team history.
There’s a small lesson to be learned from the way in which Seattle handled Tony Woods. He was forced into service early on when injury sidelined starting outside linebacker Bruce Scholtz. Woods benefited from playing next to Fredd Young in the middle.
When Young was traded the following season, Woods flipped to the right side. Despite all those tackles, he struggled in pass defense. He was really a defensive end being asked to play outside in a 3-4 base. The struggles continued into 1989.
Defensive coordinator Tom Catlin recognized this. For the 1990 season, the Seahawks began playing more 4-3 fronts and Woods moved to his more natural position at defensive end. His tackles dropped as would be expected, but his overall play improved. That’s the lesson. Don’t force players to perform out of position. Design your defenses to maximize their strengths.
After a few more seasons in Seattle, the Seahawks decided to go younger and released Woods. He played for one year in Los Angeles before heading back east to Washington.
The team, now known as the Commanders, was in a bad position. The new salary cap caused them to shed many of the players who had made them a three-time Super Bowl winner in the previous ten years. Hall of Fame coach Joe Gibbs suddenly retired and the unproven Norv Turner was now in charge.
Woods came on a bargain deal to help try and rebuild the roster. He stayed for three more years and performed at a reasonable level, as he had done throughout most of his career. But Washington was not good during those years.
In Woods' very first game for his new team, they hosted Seattle and were drubbed 28-7. Hawks QB Rick Mirer had an efficient day. Backs Chris Warren and Jon Vaughn chewed up the Washington defense. For that defense, there was really only one bright spot. They managed to sack Mirer once. The sack was recorded by Tony Woods.
Longtime fans remember Manu Tuiasosopo fondly and probably have some vague memories of Tony Woods. They were both pretty good players for Seattle. When you’re drafting in the middle of the first round, that is a floor you must not sink below.
A pretty good starter in the 2025 draft won’t wow anyone, but he would be part of a necessary retooling. Exceeding the Tuiasosopo/Woods line would speed up the retooling. Falling short of it would be a bad sign indeed.