The Seattle Seahawks began the 2025 NFL draft with a shocker. They drafted the player they needed the most. Things only got better with their second pick overall, a true gift. So far, this is looking like a great draft for Seattle.
Of course, we won't know that for sure for a year or two. Seattle's 2022 draft class is a perfect example of that. Charles Cross and Abe Lucas were great as rookies, but Lucas has missed 21 games in the last two years. Riq Woolen had a phenomenal rookie campaign but has yet to replicate that.
Meanwhile, Coby Bryant didn't find his best role until last year. Okay, the Seahawks didn't put him in the correct position until then, but you know what I mean. Boye Mafe showed promise as a rookie, then roared to life in his second season. Kenneth Walker had to wait for an injury to get his chance to start to show precisely why he was a steal in the second round. So, we'll see how the 2025 draft looks in a few more years.
John Schneider pulls off a classic move for the Seahawks with his second pick
I worry just a bit that Grey Zabel may have been a bit of a reach at the 18th overall pick. No other team took an offensive lineman until the Vikings took Donovan Jackson at # 24, so he could have moved down and still drafted his guy. But I can't imagine that John Schneider didn't try to trade down.
It seems much more likely that he had no takers, at least not for what he wanted, so he wisely took what he saw as a sure thing in Zabel. All I know is, he better be the next Steve Hutchinson. I like the pick. For once, I think Schneider was correct - taking a guard at the 18th overall spot does seem like a bit of an overvaluation.
But the Seahawks needed him, and they got him. More to the point, that didn't stop Seattle from grabbing one of the most dynamic players in this draft. Trader John showed his hand and traded up to get the player he wanted. Seattle traded picks 52 and 82 for the 35th overall selection.
The Seahawks moved up to take safety Nick Emmanwori, as he wasn't likely to fall much further. For my money, he was the best safety in the draft. He's literally the same size as the all-time great Kam Chancellor and plays with that same Bam Bam aggression. Except that he's much faster.
I know that it isn't fair to compare any rookie to a player like Chancellor - or Hutchinson, for that matter - but Emmanwori is the only player in this draft who is anything like Chancellor. With him in the defensive backfield, Mike Macdonald now has that nasty safety group he wanted to put in place last year. This is a massive win for the Seahawks.