Seattle Seahawks 2020 draft class deserves a lot more respect

The 2022 and 2023 Seattle Seahawks draft classes have produced a number of starters. One player has already made the Pro Bowl - Riq Woolen did so last year - but many more will likely follow. Kenneth Walker is at least a top-10 running back in the league and 2023 draftee Devon Witherspoon is currently the highest-graded cornerback in the NFL, per Pro Football Focus (they require you to subscribe).

But the Seahawks aren't simply a pretty good team because of the last two draft classes. General manager John Schneider and head coach Pete Carroll and the rest of the scouting department have consistently done a good job of making sure Seattle chooses the right players for most of the last 14 years. Heck, even though Seattle had just three draft picks in 2021, two of them - cornerback Tre Brown and offensive tackle Stone Forsythe - have played pretty well this year.

But the 2020 draft class gets overlooked quite a bit. And yet, it shouldn't. Seattle had eight choices in 2020 and only the players taken in the fifth round and beyond won't have some kind of impact on 2023. Of the remaining three players, three have been starters and the other two serve important secondary roles.

2020 Seattle Seahawks draft class deserves some more love

Seattle's first choice was linebacker Jordyn Brooks. Brooks has been a beast of tackler over the last three-plus years and showed to be a kind of superman after coming back so quickly this year from a knee injury he suffered in late 2022. But Brooks hasn't just come back and taken a few reps, he is 2nd in the league in tackles and he leads the Seahawks in tackles for loss (6) and he has 2.5 sacks this year.

Fourth-round pick DeeJay Dallas is currently fifth in the NFL in yards per punt return and leads the league in yards per kickoff return. He also is an excellent third down back for Seattle because he's a fantastic blocker.

Left guard Damien Lewis was a top-10 guard in 2022, per Pro Football Focus. He's been a little banged up for some of this year, but the Seahawks miss him every time he can't play.

Second-round choice Darrell Taylor still needs help playing the run, but he's produced 8-plus sacks in each of the last two years. He needs to be a lot more consistent, but when he's on he's almost unstoppable over a full game. In Week 7 against the Arizona Cardinals, he had 1.5 sacks.

Tight end Colby Parkinson is trending toward having his best season and he's a great fit in Seattle's three-man TE rotation. He has averaged 12.4 yards a catch over the last two seasons and he could develop into a more important red-zone threat.

A lot of these players are glue-type players that help football teams win games. All of them except for Taylor (who missed his rookie year with a leg injury) are free agents after 2023. Hopefully, they are all brought back. If so, they are going to continue to help the Seahawks win a lot of football games.

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