10 worst Seattle Seahawks draft picks of the Pete Carroll era
By Luke Allen
No. 8 - Marquise Blair - Seahawks safety (2019)
In 2019, the Seahawks desperately needed help in the secondary as their starting free safety was someone by the name of Tedric Thompson - you may know him. The infamously bad safety was coming off an infamously bad season, and Seattle looked to the draft to add his eventual replacement. In the second round, the 49th overall pick, Seattle drafted hard-hitting ballhawk safety Marquise Blair from Utah.
The 6'1", 200-pound safety was brought in to be the incumbent starter for Thompson, but Seattle knew there'd be a learning curve, so he wasn't expected to start immediately. Blair saw action in 14 games, including three starts, in his rookie season. And he looked lost. Blair hit hard and jarred two footballs loose over the course of the season, but the rookie looked slow and was out of place far too often.
Sensing Blair's struggles, Seattle traded for eventual starter Quandre Diggs in the middle of the 2019 season. In the offseason, they doubled down and paid the New York Jets a king's ransom for then-All-Pro safety Jamal Adams (yikes). At that point, it was clear Seattle no longer trusted Blair would live up to his second-round selection, and after only two more lackluster seasons, Blair was released in 2022.
Who did they miss?
Just one pick after Blair was selected by Seattle, the New Orleans saints selected Pro Bowl center Erik McCoy.