As much as I was kind of “meh” about the pick of Curry at the time it was made, I realize now that it had to be done.

I’m also wondering about the more intangible factors at play here. Curry is such a huge name, considered by many the best player in the draft. Whether or not his presence on the field actually improves our defense, his presence on the team and in the organization is going to be huge.

This is a team that’s had the “soft” moniker on it for years, particularly in terms of defense. With Curry on the roster, whether he’s really that influential or not, a lot of people around the league are going to THINK we have drastically improved. This will not only be intimidating for a lot of offenses, who are now going to be scared shitless of passing to the middle or strong side of the short field, but it will bring defensive free agents to the team in droves over the length of his career.

Sometime in 2012 you’ll hear a Dorsey or a Landry or a Ware say “I wanted to play alongside that great duo of Lofa and Curry”.

Though Lofa Tatupu has an outside shot, Curry is the first Seahawk since Walter Jones to have a legitimate shot at Hall of Fame induction. He’s that talented.

Ugh, without meaning any offense I’m not a big fan of that kind of language. I agree Tats is not HoF so far, but he’s a 3 time pro bowler and 1 time All Pro. Curry has yet to play a down. Can we not do this hype thing until his first tackle?

Fine, he has the upside to be a HoFer. Calling him a legitimate shot before he’s played a game is just hype.

Do you think that the possible loss of Leroy Hill due to this makes this pick an A- or a B+ overall? I understand that Curry is an amazing talent that I will love to watch for years to come, but in grading the pick in the “now,” shouldn’t that come into play?

I’m also curious as to your final assessment of who Seattle should have picked when the #4 slot came available. Obviously Ruskell was unconvinced about the franchise qb potential of Sanchez, which is understandable, and he addressed it instead with the Broncos pick next season (one of my top-five all-time Ruskell moves, I loved it that much). To me, then, the only two picks that would have made sense at the #4 slot would have been Curry or Crabtree. Crabtree would have meant probably cutting Branch or Burleson, I assume, but WR is a more dynamic, team-impacting position.

Overall, while I wasn’t a huge fan of the pick when it happened, the 2nd round of intense awesomeness made up for most of that, along with Curry being Aaron F’ing Curry, but still wondering over whether Crabtree would have been a slightly better value pick at that slot.

John has (repeatedly) raised a great point about (non-rush) LBs. What they can aspire to is pretty dependent on what’s around them. A tackle who wreaks havoc makes other players better by breaking down an offense’s integrity. A LB does not. The Giants wouldn’t have been a great defense with Banks, Carson, and LT but without Jim Burt and Harvey Martin.

Having said that, the critical question is: can Ruskell acquire the talent that allows Curry (well, the LB group overall really) to a) reach his potential, while b) elevating this defense into the league’s elite?

That’s basically an empirical question. But, looking at how the offseason has unfolded thus far I feel much more confident that Ruskell will acquire that talent than I did at anytime over the past year, maybe year and a half. Here’s why:

1. He’s up for trying new things — I don’t know how this West Coast defense will play out, but clearly Ruskell, Mora & Associates are trying to take the Tampa 2’s strengths and deal with its weaknesses.

2. He’s using leverage much more wisely — If failing to use the tag on Hutch was Ruskell’s low point then taking the tag away from Hill was absolutely the right move. In a broader sense, Ruskell doesn’t over-sentimentalize.

3. He’s not overthinking it - You go get potential greatness-especially when it’s low risk—when you can it’s available at whatever position because competence is relatively easier (and often cheaper) to build.

is a very good possibilty, Kenny Lucas maybe