5 worst Seattle Seahawks draft picks under Pete Carroll and John Schneider

No. 1 - Seattle Seahawks defensive tackle Malik McDowell (2017)

Since the Eskridge suspension and fan anger about that, I have seen a lot of social media posts that Eskridge is the worst draft pick for Seattle since Aaron Curry. Curry was not a great choice, but he still isn't as bad as the Malik McDowell pick. Curry also happened before Pete Carroll and John Schneider arrived in Seattle to start running the team, therefore Curry wouldn't be on this list anyway. But Curry somehow managed 5.5 sacks in his Seahawks career. McDowell went some better (or worse) than Curry.

The same offseason that Seattle traded back out of the first round only to make McDowell their first choice in the 2017 draft in the second round and number 35 overall, McDowell thought it wise to get on an ATV and have an accident that would hurt his leg and head so badly that he would never play for Seattle. He would not even practice for the team. Seattle tried to rid themselves of the player by waiving him in 2018 but no team picked him up so he returned to the Seahawks on the non-football injury list.

He was waived again in 2019 and became a free agent. There were doubts that due to his injuries that McDowell would ever play for any team in the league. But the Cleveland Browns, in all their wisdom, decided to take a chance on him and McDowell actually played in 15 games for the Browns in 2021 and had 3 sacks. But then McDowell being McDowell, he was arrested in January 2022 for, among other things, assault on a police officer. The Browns released him and McDowell didn't play last season for anyone.

Malik McDowell is the worst pick under Pete Carroll and John Schneider because even though he had red flags before the 2017 draft, the team was content to trade out of the first round and get McDowell. He never played for Seattle.

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