Our rookie draft class dilemma...

[nyc-seahawk]

As I sit in my recliner and revel in the pleasure of demolishing our bitter enemies, a nagging thought slowly makes its way to my conscious. That is the lack of production from our rookie draft class. I know we've only played 2 games and hopefully this will change very soon.

2nd Pick- Christian Michael (no carries, not even seen on the field as far as I know)
3rd pick- Jordan Hill (injured, not contributing)
4th pick- Chris Harper (no longer on team)
5th pick-Jessie Williams (IR, no contribution)
5th pick-Tharold Simon (injured, not contributing, or too busy owning the town of Eunice
5th pick-Luke Wilson (nothing special so far, does he even have a reception?)
6th pick-Spencer Ware (minor contribution during garbage time so far)
7th pick-Ryan Seymour (practice squad, therefor no game day contribution)
7th pick- Ty Powell (not on team)
7th pick- Jared Smith (practice squad)
7th pick- Michael Bowie (on the roster as backup, so not that bad I guess)

It's interesting how one bad or unproductive draft class can disrupt a franchise. I'm sure many of you remember the painful draft class of 2006? Ben Obamanu, a 7th round pick and career backup, ended up being the most productive player in that awful group. Now I know the 2006 team was way different in so many ways so you can't really make a comparison. I'm positive similar examples exist within other franchises, where one really bad draft can drag down a teams overall success for many years.

The foundation for sustained success in the NFL is the ability to stack quality drafts on top of each other year after year. A weak link in the chain hampers a teams long term success severely.

However, when looking at it in a different way, this could be an incredible example of why Pete Carroll is such a great head coach. The foundation of his system is too be completely impartial about a players seniority, salary, popularity, or what round they were picked in, and only judge him based on his actual production and attitude. By doing that he completely removes politics which is the complete opposite of production. I sincerely hope the outlook of our rookie class looks different by mid-season.

 

[Navyhawkfan187]

This is a hard roster for a rookie to crack right now. This is why you don't judge a draft class until year 3.

 

[12thManNorth]

I look at it as a positive. We have the best roster in the league without relying on a single draft pick. These guys can get healthy and work on their craft while our #1's and #2's dominate. Nothing wrong with that as far as I'm concerned

 

[Basis4day]

If you're a good team going into the draft, you're not going to have places for rookies to contribute right away. Remember, you only have 53 spots available and can only dress 46. Game 2 of the regular season is quite premature to start evaluating the strength of a draft class. Which of the non injured players did you actually expect to supplant a vested player on the team?

Also Remember, it's an exception to find a Richard Sherman in the 5th rd.

 

[bestfightstory]

I wish we had a heathy DT worthy of a rotation spot in the list above.

 

[Missing_Clink]

There were definitely some special circumstances with regard to the quality of the roster, but it will very interesting to see how many of these guys ever become starters. If Michael leads the league in rushing like i think he will in 2015, it will be A-Ok. I think he, Hill and Simon if he gets healthy have a good chance to be nice starters. Ware, Willson, Bowie and Williams if he gets healthy seem like they could be quality reserves eventually.

But any way you slice it, the returns are going to come much slower than most drafts.

 

[Basis4day]

I wish we had a heathy DT worthy of a rotation spot in the list above.

The Herald said they are hopeful that Jordan Hill can return to practice this week. Some upside there. Considering how the line held up on Sunday i'm actually pretty optimistic.

 

[Laloosh]

In all honesty, the only one that bothers me a little is Christine Michael.

Our very first draft pick of 2013 is one of the few guys who aren't even suiting up for games. Sort of bothers me. I'm not saying he should start, or be active. Just wonder how much sense he made as our first pick given the fact that we're playing a guard at LT now.

If Carp goes down, how is our left side going to look? Curious to hear thoughts from some football minds on the topic. We all know I'm worthless in this regard but perhaps someone will humor me and explain this.

 

[Basis4day]

In all honesty, the only one that bothers me a little is Christine Michael.

Our very first draft pick of 2013 is one of the few guys who aren't even suiting up for games. Sort of bothers me. I'm not saying he should start, or be active. Just wonder how much sense he made as our first pick given the fact that we're playing a guard at LT now.

If Carp goes down, how is our left side going to look? Curious to hear thoughts from some football minds on the topic. We all know I'm worthless in this regard but perhaps someone will humor me and explain this.

Small distinction. First pick in the 2nd round. According the Derek Stephen's sources, the grade on Michael and every other player available at that position wasn't even close. Lynch isn't going to be around forever. We don't want another Julius Jones/Edderean James/ Whomever situation. The way the team came together at the end of last year, was O-Line really the issue?

They were satisfied with the O-Line we could put together as McQuistan as proved a reliable and versatile lineman. Can you really judge his play at LT against a D-Line like SF when he prepared all week to play LG? See how he does at LT with a week to prepare. No one is saying he is as good as Okung, but i do believe he will be serviceable.

People freaked out the same way when Frank Omayale was going to play LT against the cowboys last year because they had DeMarcus Ware. We won that game and Ware didn't have any real impact.

 

[Popeyejones]

As has already been said, a great and deep team like the Hawks are going to have drafts that appear to be "weak" in the first year because they don't need anything from their rookies. When you're deep, you have the luxury of taking a good player like Michael who you don't actually need. You guys most likely won't be able to keep Lynch after next year, and you might already have his cheaper replacement in place. That's great draft strategy for a team that doesn't need anyone right now. TBH the only thing about the Hawks' draft that surprised me was how little they addressed the OLine, but save for that, I think it's fine.

 

[Basis4day]

As has already been said, a great and deep team like the Hawks are going to have drafts that appear to be "weak" in the first year because they don't need anything from their rookies. When you're deep, you have the luxury of taking a good player like Michael who you don't actually need. You guys most likely won't be able to keep Lynch after next year, and you might already have his cheaper replacement in place. That's great draft strategy for a team that doesn't need anyone right now. TBH the only thing about the Hawks' draft that surprised me was how little they addressed the OLine, but save for that, I think it's fine.

Bowie and Baily made the roster. Read their histories and you'll see there can be some real upside there. Cable turned a late round DT into a starting RG. Fans wanted us to cut Unger not too long ago because he didn't catch on right away. Have faith.

 

[kearly]

Michael would be playing and doing very well if the team wasn't trying to send a message about his pass blocking. Hill would be playing and doing somewhat well if he were healthy, which he should be any time now. I hated most of the rest of our picks the moment they happened, but I have optimism in the long term for Simon, Ware, Bailey, Bowie, and Brooks (PS). Jared Smith is interesting, sushi raw but he's a good athlete. Ty Powell is interesting. The team appears to like Willson and Lotulelei and will give them plenty of chances.

This draft could develop into an "A" draft in retrospect but only if the team gives these guys a chance to play. Bailey should be groomed to start (RT of the future)- and it should begin this week at LT if they are smart. Turbin has played well but when Michael does finally play he'll be making an impact. Hill would be a big upgrade over D'Anthony Smith as a 3rd down DT.

Team has a tough choice to make when Simon returns. If they can viably IR him, it should be considered their first option.

 

[Throwdown]

Team already is extremely young and extremely deep and talented, this was a draft class that was going to be hard to break in, you literally had to bring something very very very unique to the table if you were to make this team unless you were the first 2 picks (Michael & Hill)

Next years draft class its going to be even more tough

 

[Basis4day]

Michael would be playing and doing very well if the team wasn't trying to send a message about his pass blocking. Hill would be playing and doing somewhat well if he were healthy, which he should be any time now. I hated most of the rest of our picks the moment they happened, but I have optimism in the long term for Simon, Ware, Bailey, Bowie, and Brooks (PS). Jared Smith is interesting, sushi raw but he's a good athlete. Ty Powell is interesting. The team appears to like Willson and Lotulelei and will give them plenty of chances.

This draft could develop into an "A" draft in retrospect but only if the team gives these guys a chance to play. Bailey should be groomed to start (RT of the future)- and it should begin this week at LT if they are smart. Turbin has played well but when Michael does finally play he'll be making an impact. Hill would be a big upgrade over D'Anthony Smith as a 3rd down DT.

Team has a tough choice to make when Simon returns. If they can viably IR him, it should be considered their first option.

IIRC we placed Obamanu on IR last year for a wrist injury when he felt he could easily still play. Considering our current depth at the position i agree this would be the FO's best option if they do really like Simon.

 

[therealjohncarlson]

"The foundation for sustained success in the NFL is the ability to stack quality drafts on top of each other year after year. A weak link in the chain hampers a teams long term success severely."

You shouldnt make sweeping statements like this, especially the latter sentence, if you're not going to back it up with hard facts.

 

[Popeyejones]

Bowie and Baily made the roster. Read their histories and you'll see there can be some real upside there. Cable turned a late round DT into a starting RG. Fans wanted us to cut Unger not too long ago because he didn't catch on right away. Have faith.

Might not wanna brag about Sweezy quite yet, as he's also looked like a 7th rounder converted from DT.

Seriously though, in the long run it might pay off, but OLine (and TE) were the only possible immediate concern on the whole roster (IMO), so I was surprised at the strategy they employed. I guess we don't know what their draft board looked like, though, and the value could have just not been there.

Even with that though, I think Hawks fans should get used to their rookies not contributing right away (because they don't have to), at least until next off-season when they have to start thinking about clearing money for Russel's big contract. It's a great problem to have.

 

[Sarlacc83]

Ah, Seahawks fans. Declaring the draft a complete bust after 2 games. Never change.

 

[Johnny]

Just rebuilding the roster from within, just look at what happens when you start to get lazy at it, example - The Steelers!... Larry Foote goes down and they have no one as his back up, so they sign some guy off the streets to play in the game last night.. They have a starting o-line that wouldn't even be back ups on most teams...

 

[Basis4day]

Bowie and Baily made the roster. Read their histories and you'll see there can be some real upside there. Cable turned a late round DT into a starting RG. Fans wanted us to cut Unger not too long ago because he didn't catch on right away. Have faith.

Might not wanna brag about Sweezy quite yet, as he's also looked like a 7th rounder converted from DT.

Seriously though, in the long run it might pay off, but OLine (and TE) were the only possible immediate concern on the whole roster (IMO), so I was surprised at the strategy they employed. I guess we don't know what their draft board looked like, though, and the value could have just not been there.

Even with that though, I think Hawks fans should get used to their rookies not contributing right away (because they don't have to), at least until next off-season when they have to start thinking about clearing money for Russel's big contract. It's a great problem to have.

No bragging necessary. Sweezy is a starting RG in the NFL. It's a simple fact. I'll brag when he makes a pro-bowl.

 

[Basis4day]

Ah, Seahawks fans. Declaring the draft a complete bust after 2 games. Never change.

In which we had no 1st rd pick no less.