Seahawks' Roster By Draft Position

Field Gulls contributor and fellow obsessed Seahawk fan, Davis Hsu, just forwarded me an interesting list that takes a look at the projected Seahawks' roster and the Draft round that each player was taken in. Now, don't get too hung up on the 'projected roster.' We take some liberties with assumed free agent acquisitions and just in general who might make the final 53-man roster, but that's not really the point of the post. More so, we just wanted to get a look at some positional groups and the 'investment,' so to speak, at each spot.

Of course, not all of these players were drafted or acquired under the current regime, but it's interesting nonetheless. A couple of things pop out at you: First off, the O-line (projected O-line) could be made up of three first-rounders, a second rounder, and a third rounder. Not too shabby. That is, of course, assuming that Robert Gallery signs here - something that seems likely but naturally is up in the air at the moment. If he isn't signed, you're still looking at first round book-end tackles, a 2nd round center (or a first round center if Spencer is re-signed), a third round right guard, and a later round left guard. If Chris Spencer is retained and Gallery is signed, you're looking at four first round players on your line, plus John Moffitt. That would be an interesting look.

Anyway, point being: the offensive line has been invested in HEAVILY, or would at least contain very highly drafted players. 

The second thing that pops out to me would be the defensive line in stark juxtaposition to the O-line. Again, assumptions have been made here and exclude Brandon Mebane, but outside of Kentwan Balmer, Red Bryant is the highest selected player, chosen in the 4th round. Mebane, if re-signed, would represent a third-rounder, but you're looking at a defensive line made up of very late-round picks and UDFAs. Interesting.

The rest of the positional groups are more balanced, with players represented from all over the draft board, but one other notable position to look at is the cornerback group. Outside of Marcus Trufant and Kelly Jennings, two first-rounders, you've got three middle-round players and a gaggle of undrafted free agents in Brandon Browner, Josh Pinkard, and Roy Lewis. If you look past that and assume that more CBs will be kept to bolster the Bandit package, you'd be looking at 7th rounder Kennard Cox,  and UDFAs Jordan Babineaux and Marcus Brown.

Regardless, it's interesting to see just how many late-round players and UDFAs are key players on the Seahawks' roster. Keep that in mind as rookie free agency approaches; players signed may sit on the practice squad for a year or three, but eventually may contribute. Think about the fact that you're allotted 53 men on your roster and during a typical year may get 5-15 players on the Injured Reserve for various reasons. The Seahawks had twelve players on IR at the end of 2010. That leaves a lot of spots open for later-round and UDFA players to make their mark and get a chance to compete their way onto the field, especially on a Pete Carroll run team. 

Here's the list:

QB
*Carson Palmer-1 (Matt Hasselbeck-6, Kevin Kolb-2, Kyle Orton- 4)
Charlie Whitehurst-3
Josh Portis/Adam Froman/etc-U

TE
John Carlson-2
Anthony McCoy-6
Cam Morrah-7

WR
Mike Williams-1
Golden Tate-2
Deon Butler-3
Isaiah Stanback-4
Kris Durham-4
Ben Obomanu-7

RB

Marshawn Lynch-1
Chris Henry-2
Leon Washington-4
*Leron McClain-4
Justin Forsett-7
Jameson Konz-7

OL
*Robert Gallery-1
Russell Okung-1
James Carpenter-1
Max Unger-2
John Moffitt-3
Ray Willis-4
Mike Gibson-6
Paul Fanaika-7
Tyler Polumbus-U

DL
Kentwan Balmer-1
Red Bryant-4
Pep Levingston-7
*Raheem Brock-7
Dexter Davis-7
Chris Clemons-U
Colin Cole-U
*Cullen Jenkins-U
*Anthony Gray-U

LB
Aaron Curry-1
Lofa Tatupu-2
KJ Wright-4
Malcolm Smith-7
David Hawthorne-U

S
Earl Thomas-1
Lawyer Milloy-2
Kam Chancellor-5
Mark Legree-5

CB
Marcus Trufant-1
Walter Thurmond-4
Richard Sherman-5
Byron Maxwell-6
Brandon Browner-U (Pinkard-U, Roy Lewis-U, K Jennings-1)