The first virtual NFL draft, which took place Thursday through Saturday, is in the books, and it ended up going as smoothly as the league could have hoped. There were no disastrous technical difficulties, it was a big ratings hit, and two quarterbacks from Snohomish County were selected as Lake Stevens High School graduate Jacob Eason was taken in the fourth round by the Indianapolis Colts and Marysville Pilchuck High School grad Jake Luton was selected in the sixth round by the Jacksonville Jaguars.
As for the Seattle Seahawks, we want to know how you think they did in the draft.
Seattle ended up taking eight players. They were (listed with round, overall selection, position and college):
- 1 (27), Jordyn Brooks, LB, Texas Tech
- 2 (48), Darrell Taylor, DE, Tennessee
- 3 (69), Damien Lewis, G, LSU
- 4 (133), Colby Parkinson, TE, Stanford
- 4 (144), DeeJay Dallas, RB, Miami
- 5 (148), Alton Robinson, DE, Syracuse
- 6 (214), Freddie Swain, WR, Florida
- 7 (251), Stephen Sullivan, TE, LSU
In some ways it was an unusual draft in that Seahawks general manager John Schneider didn’t trade down and used his own first-round pick for the first time since 2011. And while Schneider did engage in some wheeling and dealing, the deals netted just one more pick than Seattle began the draft with, rather than the multiple additional picks the Seahawks usually accumulate by trading down constantly.
In some ways the draft went as expected. Seattle’s biggest area of need was in the pass rush, and the Seahawks selected two edge rushers, including using a second-round pick on Taylor. The offensive line was an area many thought Seattle needed to upgrade, and the Seahawks hope they accomplished that with the selection of Lewis in the third round. And with question marks surrounding running backs Chris Carson and Rashaad Penny, both of whom are coming off season-ending injuries, Seattle added some insurance in the form of fourth-round pick Dallas.
And in some ways Seattle’s draft was a head scratcher. Seattle used its first-round pick on a middle linebacker in Brooks, despite the fact the Seahawks have the game’s best middle linebacker in Bobby Wagner, who just signed a three-year contract extension. Seattle drafted two tight ends, even though that wasn’t considered a position of need with the free-agent signing of Greg Olsen and Will Dissly returning from injury.
Most national analysts weren’t particularly impressed by Seattle’s draft, with the Seahawks largely receiving middling to low grades. But, of course, grading drafts in their immediate aftermath, before any of the players have set foot on an NFL field, is largely a fool’s errand — consider that Seattle was given the same type of grades following the 2012 draft, which produced both Wagner and quarterback Russell Wilson and cemented the Seahawks as an annual contender.
And yet, we’re going to ask you to put on your evaluation hat. What grade do you give the Seahawks for their 2020 draft? Hand out your mark here:
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