Seahawks second-round draft picks: A history of huge hits and major misses

Seahawks loaded up with winners: 2022-2023

Fear not, 12s, as happier days arrived in 2022. As most of the world's citizens realize, the Seahawks pulled off one of the best drafts in league history last year. As for that second round, Yes, Kenneth Walker III is good. While he played in 15 games, he only got the starting nod after Penny went down for the season. That alters his opportunities, which lowers his average score, but that's part of being a rookie. His average will likely rise drastically after the 2023 season. As it stands, 8.5 average value points is a pretty darn good number. Oh, and Garrett Wilson, the media's choice for ROTY, the guy that scored less than half of Walker's TDs, that guy? 7.5 average value points.

That brings us back to the Hawks other second-rounder, the man they selected ahead of Walker, Boye Mafe. Again, the comparisons to Frank Clark aren't just unavoidable, they're extremely instructive. Let's get the average value thing out of the way. Both Clark and Mafe created 2 average value points as rookies. Clark moves slightly ahead as he did it in 15 games and Mafe played in all 17, but it's pretty close.

For those keeping score at home, it's Clark 2.1, Mafe 1.9. Clark was in on 35 percent of the snaps as a rookie, Mafe for 37 percent. Again, a slight advantage for Clark. Mafe jumps ahead in tackles, though, with 41 combined tackles to Clark's 16. I'm more interested in what Clark did in his second season though, and what that could mean for Mafe.

In his second season, Clark nearly triple his production across the board. Tackles jumped from 16 to 47, QB hits from 6 to 18, tackles for a loss from 4 to 11, and sacks from 3 to 10. Yes, a lot of that was his snap count climbing from 35 percent to 67 percent. But still, his opportunities didn't quite double while his production tripled.

I believe there's every reason to expect a similar jump for Mafe. Doubling his opportunities and tripling his output gives us 12 QB hits, 9 tackles for a loss, and 9 sacks. No, he's not going to rack up 123 tackles. I may be mathy, but I'm not crazy. But the fact that Mafe assisted on 13 tackles last year speaks volumes about his nose for the football. Clark has only bettered that mark twice in his career, and I think it's safe to say we all think he's a pretty good player. I believe it all bodes well for a jump in Mafe's game this year.

As for the 2023 draft class, well, it's far too soon to say, isn't it? Okay, maybe not. While most 12s believe this could be an even better group than last year, we're not even sure about Darrell Taylor yet, now are we? Between Derick Hall and Zach Charbonnet, who's going to be this year's Blair, and who will be the Metcalf? Or maybe the football gods will smile, and give us a pair of future Pro Bowlers. As for the clues, well, it's obvious, isn't it? John Schneider already told us; to stop drafting for need and take the best player available. Early returns show it's definitely the right course.