kearly
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How did your draft day grade compare to your retrospect grade each year? Which draft was better than you thought it would be, which one was worse? I'm going to factor in UDFA as it is part of the draft process and I'll include players who became minor stars after leaving Seattle (Carp, Parker, Howard) since it at least proves that Seattle's talent evaluation was on the mark. Whether you want to or not is up to you.
Personal draft grade at the time / Personal draft grade in retrospect. (Notable draftees / UDFAs) Trades.
2010. A+ / A+ (Okung, ET, Tate, Thurmond, Kam.) Traded for Leon Washington
2011. B- / A+ (Carp, Wright, Sherman, Maxwell, Smith | UDFA | ADB, Johnson, Lockette, Morgan, Parker)
2012. A+ / A+ (Irvin, Wagner, Wilson, Howard, Lane, Sweezy | UDFA | Kearse, Shead)
2013. B- / D (Michael, Hill, Willson, Simon, Ware | UDFA | Bailey) Traded for Harvin.
2014. D / D- (Richardson, Britt, Marsh, Pinkins | UDFA | Gilliam, Coyle)
2015. A / A (Clark, Lockett, Glowinsky, Smith | UDFA | Rawls.) Traded for Graham.
Most pleasant surprise: 2011.
I felt underwhelmed with the way the draft started, and at the time we had no idea the kind of magic that Seattle could work in late round / UDFA. This was the year that Seattle killed it more on day 3 / UDFA than any other year in team history. KJ Wright is one of the best 4-3 OLBs in the game, and Sherman is arguably the best corner in the game. Baldwin is among the best slot WRs in the game. Carp is a pretty good guard for the Jets. Maxwell was a very good corner and got paid like it before turning into Nnamdi Asomugha 2.0 in Philly. Malcolm Smith was an excellent situational defender who lucked into a SB MVP. Parker turned into a stud, sadly Seattle didn't quite hold onto him long enough.
Biggest letdown: 2013.
Seattle swung hard for the fences in 2013, loading up on explosive play makers with Harvin, Michael and Willson, and generally spent their draft picks on guys who projected as high upside 3 down starters. Harvin was a disaster, the less said the better. Michael has struggled to get with the good graces of his coaches despite a career YPC of 4.7. He may soon be on his way out (again), fairly or not. Willson has been a fast JAG who can't pass block. Bailey looked good early on, then gradually lost motivation and is now off to Cleveland. Hill has been okay.
Recent drafts:
The 2014 draft still has another year or two to redeem itself, but as of right now it looks pretty bad. It very well could be that Gilliam might be the only member of the 2014 draft class to get a 2nd contract with Seattle. And Gilliam is currently a replacement level left tackle. I like Richarson's potential, but can he stay healthy? Britt has been a disaster so far. Marsh has been pretty good as a special teams contributor, but pretty bad at everything else. Pinkins looks interesting as a LB, but as of now he's a roster bubble guy. Brock Coyle is essentially the Chris Maragos of the LB corps- it's a credit to his work ethic that he's even in the NFL at all, but he often looks shaky and overwhelmed when replacing one of our starting linebackers.
The 2015 draft. Normally I don't like grading a draft after just one year, but the 2015 draft class got off to such a great start that it would be a bit of an upset if this draft didn't end up with an A grade. In a lot of ways it is ahead of schedule, and that's not even considering the Thomas Rawls surprise. It has a good chance to end up as an A+, especially if Rawls and Graham recover from their injuries.
Personal draft grade at the time / Personal draft grade in retrospect. (Notable draftees / UDFAs) Trades.
2010. A+ / A+ (Okung, ET, Tate, Thurmond, Kam.) Traded for Leon Washington
2011. B- / A+ (Carp, Wright, Sherman, Maxwell, Smith | UDFA | ADB, Johnson, Lockette, Morgan, Parker)
2012. A+ / A+ (Irvin, Wagner, Wilson, Howard, Lane, Sweezy | UDFA | Kearse, Shead)
2013. B- / D (Michael, Hill, Willson, Simon, Ware | UDFA | Bailey) Traded for Harvin.
2014. D / D- (Richardson, Britt, Marsh, Pinkins | UDFA | Gilliam, Coyle)
2015. A / A (Clark, Lockett, Glowinsky, Smith | UDFA | Rawls.) Traded for Graham.
Most pleasant surprise: 2011.
I felt underwhelmed with the way the draft started, and at the time we had no idea the kind of magic that Seattle could work in late round / UDFA. This was the year that Seattle killed it more on day 3 / UDFA than any other year in team history. KJ Wright is one of the best 4-3 OLBs in the game, and Sherman is arguably the best corner in the game. Baldwin is among the best slot WRs in the game. Carp is a pretty good guard for the Jets. Maxwell was a very good corner and got paid like it before turning into Nnamdi Asomugha 2.0 in Philly. Malcolm Smith was an excellent situational defender who lucked into a SB MVP. Parker turned into a stud, sadly Seattle didn't quite hold onto him long enough.
Biggest letdown: 2013.
Seattle swung hard for the fences in 2013, loading up on explosive play makers with Harvin, Michael and Willson, and generally spent their draft picks on guys who projected as high upside 3 down starters. Harvin was a disaster, the less said the better. Michael has struggled to get with the good graces of his coaches despite a career YPC of 4.7. He may soon be on his way out (again), fairly or not. Willson has been a fast JAG who can't pass block. Bailey looked good early on, then gradually lost motivation and is now off to Cleveland. Hill has been okay.
Recent drafts:
The 2014 draft still has another year or two to redeem itself, but as of right now it looks pretty bad. It very well could be that Gilliam might be the only member of the 2014 draft class to get a 2nd contract with Seattle. And Gilliam is currently a replacement level left tackle. I like Richarson's potential, but can he stay healthy? Britt has been a disaster so far. Marsh has been pretty good as a special teams contributor, but pretty bad at everything else. Pinkins looks interesting as a LB, but as of now he's a roster bubble guy. Brock Coyle is essentially the Chris Maragos of the LB corps- it's a credit to his work ethic that he's even in the NFL at all, but he often looks shaky and overwhelmed when replacing one of our starting linebackers.
The 2015 draft. Normally I don't like grading a draft after just one year, but the 2015 draft class got off to such a great start that it would be a bit of an upset if this draft didn't end up with an A grade. In a lot of ways it is ahead of schedule, and that's not even considering the Thomas Rawls surprise. It has a good chance to end up as an A+, especially if Rawls and Graham recover from their injuries.
