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How was 2018 Seahawks roster built compared to NFL

NFL: NFC Wild Card-Seattle Seahawks at Dallas Cowboys Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports

Under Pete Carroll the Seattle Seahawks have long had a reputation for being willing to not just give a roster spot to an undrafted player, but to afford that player an equal opportunity to earn playing time. The team has seen multiple undrafted players take on significant roles over the years, from Doug Baldwin and Jermaine Kearse to George Fant and Poona Ford, and it’s been no secret around the league that the team will give a youngster a chance to sink or swim, and that it is up to the player to show what they can do when given the chance to shine.

However, how has the team actually stacked up compared to the rest of the league? I’m not going to go into seasons past right now, but let’s go ahead and take a look at how things were for 2018. As of the end of the 2018 season, here is how things looked in terms of roster construction across the league.

How did things look for the Seahawks? Well, not to get too far away from the exact same measure as Mr. Allbright shared in his tweet, but the following is the breakdown for the Seahawks by round for every player who appeared in at least one game for the Hawks during the 2018 season per Pro-Football-Reference.com.

  • First Round: 8
  • Second Round: 6
  • Third Round: 9
  • Fourth Round: 6
  • Fifth Round: 4
  • Sixth Round: 3
  • Seventh Round: 6
  • Undrafted: 20

So, to look at both of these breakdowns in terms of percentages, here is a table with all of the data.

Seahawks roster composition by draft round versus NFL

Round NFL NFL Percent Seattle Seattle Percent
Round NFL NFL Percent Seattle Seattle Percent
1 242 14.28% 8 12.90%
2 181 10.68% 6 9.68%
3 181 10.68% 9 14.52%
4 151 8.91% 6 9.68%
5 158 9.32% 4 6.45%
6 136 8.02% 3 4.84%
7 95 5.60% 6 9.68%
Undrafted 551 32.51% 20 32.26%

To no one’s surprise, the Seahawks are a little bit light on first round picks on the roster, while they’ve found a couple more bodies in the third round compared to the rest of the league. I’d guess that likely has to do with the fact that the team has traditionally traded down in order to pick up more mid-round picks, as well as having received comp picks for departing free agents such as Bruce Irvin and Russell Okung.

In any case, it’s certainly interesting to see how the team’s roster composition breaks down compared to the rest of the league.