I’ll admit this up front. For sheer comedic value, this is the best part of the Seattle Seahawks' season. Every single team is going to the playoffs. When you watch those prediction segments on your favorite NFL talk show, you always hear something like this:
“True or false – the Jets will win 72 games this season?"
" I say true, Jim. They have Geno Smith at quarterback now.”
Seattle Seahawks fans are not immune to this way of thinking. But at least 12s are coming from a place grounded in reality. They are the defending champions. They obviously have a chance to repeat. The fact that history and statistics suggest they will not is easy to brush off in May.
No one has yet disappointed or gotten injured. Seahawk fans – like fans of all 31 other clubs – are only envisioning the ceiling. But there is a floor. And a cellar. And in some cases, typically on the shores of Lake Erie, a subcellar.
What a reasonable season would look like from the Seattle Seahawks' eight draft picks
When thinking about how a team did in the NFL draft, the rubric is pretty simplistic. All teams have holes. Did the general manager fill those holes? That’s usually as far as it goes. Will the player actually perform? Well, we don’t really know that yet. We just know that there was a hole at cornerback, and in the first round, they took a cornerback. Well done.
Then there is a fallacy of … I don’t know if it has an official name … I’ll call it extreme exclusivity. The analysis goes like this:
The Las Vegas Raiders needed a quarterback, and the Heisman Trophy-winning, defending national champion Fernando Mendoza was available. They got him, and he will be their star QB for the next decade.
Contrarians argue – “no, Mendoza is vastly overrated – purely a system guy. He will be a flop.”
The reality is that while there will be perennial All-Pros and embarrassing flops in this year’s draft class, most of the players – even the first-rounders – will fall into the vast middle. The mistake is thinking that we had a hole and filled it so that we now have a great player in that hole.
Seahawks fans saw a perfect example of this last season. Fortunately, it was on an opponent. The Patriots chose Will Campbell fourth overall in the 2025 draft, and everyone figured their left tackle concerns were a thing of the past. Indeed, he played well as a rookie.
Not an All-Pro. Not a Pro Bowler. But solid. Until the Super Bowl. In that game, he was so bad that it had Patriot fans wondering whether he would need to move from left tackle to a less isolated spot on the line.
No one is saying Will Campbell is a bust. No one is saying he may not have plenty of Pro Bowl years ahead of him. But right now, he’s a pretty good left tackle. That’s the thing about first-round draft picks. Most are going to be pretty good.
But in May, they are all future Hall of Famers.
So today’s mission is to consider what would amount to a realistically good season from Seattle’s draft class. Not simply the first rounders, but each of the eight. Beginning with…
Andre Fuller (R7, P236) and Michael Dansby (R7, P255) - Cornerbacks
We’ll lump the two seventh-round corners together, even though they are very different players. Barring injury, it is hard to see both making the final roster, so at least one is likely headed to the practice squad.
Fuller is the exact type of athletic, zone-savvy perimeter corner Mike Macdonald seems to favor, so I think he could compete for a final CB spot. Dansby’s best chance for a roster spot would come from outplaying veteran Noah Igbinoghene this Summer and shining on special teams.
Either way, 200 defensive snaps and another 200 special teams snaps would be a very good rookie season for either. Simply staying on the practice squad the entire season, with one or two injury callups during the year, would be just fine for whoever doesn’t achieve that first benchmark.
Deven Eastern (R7, P242) – Defensive tackle
Eastern has the bulk and strength to play nose tackle, but he is taller than ideal for that role. He is unlikely to supplant Brandon Pili in those situations where Seattle wants extra size up front, but he could nonetheless find his way onto the roster in certain packages.
Practice squad is likely. Getting 100 snaps-worth of actual game time as a rookie would be a good campaign.
Emmanuel Henderson (R6, P199) – Wide receiver
Henderson was an intriguing pick, especially when viewed next to the selections of Tory Horton and Ricky White III in 2025. He kind of slots in between those two. Not as polished a receiver as Horton and not quite the special teams ace as White, he nonetheless has the speed and athleticism to develop in both areas.
I admit that of all John Schneider’s picks, this is the one that makes the least sense to me. But I suppose Henderson could step into the role of the fifth and final departed free agent from last year’s squad, Dareke Young.
If Henderson can take over Rashid Shaheed’s kickoff return duties and post 25 yards per return and one touchdown, that would be an excellent year. Throw in one splash play as a receiver – say, a 25+-yard touchdown catch – and I will gladly admit I was wrong to question Schneider.
Beau Stephens (R5, P148) – Guard
I’m not at all surprised Schneider drafted Stephens. He has been drafting interior linemen like crazy over the last several years, trying to nail down the final spot on his offensive line. Anthony Bradford will probably remain the starter this year, but there is a decent chance he will depart via free agency in 2027.
Stephens joins a long list of potential replacements. But the fact that Schneider sacrificed a fourth-round pick in next year’s draft to get him has me thinking Stephens is not simply seen as one of many.
I think Stephens becomes the team’s primary swing guard as a rookie. If Bradford and Grey Zabel stay healthy, he really only plays on special teams. But there’s a decent chance he gets several hundred snaps in relief of both guards. 400 total offensive snaps with fewer than five combined penalties and sacks allowed would be a solid rookie season.
Julian Neal (R3, P99) – Cornerback
Julian Neal would appear to be the logical successor to Riq Woolen. Woolen and Josh Jobe shared snaps on the perimeter last year while Devon Witherspoon moved all over the field. Neal does not have Woolen's outlandish length and speed, but he enters the league as a more developed zone defender and tackler than Woolen was.
I don’t expect him to supplant Jobe, who should be on the field on most defensive snaps, but he should step into a major supporting role immediately.
A couple of picks and a completion rate under 55%. 700 defensive snaps.
Bud Clark (R2, P64) – Safety
Of all the secret ingredients in Mike Macdonald’s defensive scheme, this is the most important one. Julian Love and Nick Emmanwori could be the best free safety/strong safety tandem in the NFL. But neither is confined to one role.
Both are outstanding free lancers who could be anywhere on any given snap. The reason they can do that is that Ty Okada and – as of 2026 – Bud Clark are on the field to handle traditional safety business.
Clark will be a very steady box safety. 500-600 snaps, 40 tackles, and a diversified portfolio of big plays – one interception, one forced fumble, one fumble recovery, one sack.
Jadarian Price (R1, P 32) – Running back
Every other player on this list can come up short of expectation without leaving a major hole. That is how good and how deep this roster is. But Seattle needs a big season from Price.
In Emanuel Wilson and a hopefully-healthy Zach Charbonnet, new offensive coordinator Brian Fleury has decent options in the backfield. But Price is the only one who can really scare a defense. He doesn’t have the explosive burst of Kenneth Walker, but he may have even better vision.
Lead back in a three-tiered platoon, the numbers won’t be staggering. 200 carries for 900 yards and another 25 catches for 250 yards. Eight total touchdowns.
These numbers are attainable if each rookie has a solid season. They could all be better, and they could all be a lot worse. I trust John Schneider’s ability to evaluate talent and the coaching staff’s ability to fit that talent into its schemes, so I think these are all likely outcomes.
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