Curtain may be closing on Seahawks’ 2017 Draft Class

The Seattle Seahawks’ Class of 2017 has gone through its full cycle. Everyone who’s still on the team is now set to become an unrestricted free agent in March.

If you need a reminder, here are the 2017 selections:

2nd Round: Malik McDowell, Ethan Pocic

3rd Round: Shaquill Griffin, Lano Hill, Nazair Jones, Amara Darboh

4th Round: Tedric Thompson

6th Round: Mike Tyson, Justin Senior

7th Round: David Moore, Chris Carson

We know McDowell’s unfortunate story. Jones, Darboh, Thompson, Tyson, and Senior are no longer with the Seahawks. That leaves you with Pocic, Shaq, Moore, and Carson.

The Moore and Carson picks clearly prevent this from being a redux of the 2013 Draft. Moore steadily developed into a more than capable WR3 and he just had his best and most efficient season to date. Carson has been one of the better running backs in the NFL when healthy. Unfortunately, the problem for Carson is that he’s had two season-ending injuries and other minor injuries that have caused him to miss time.

Griffin had plenty of promise in his rookie season when he replaced Jeremy Lane in the starting lineup. By the end of 2017 he went from CB2 to CB1 after Richard Sherman’s Achilles tear, so he had to do a lot of growing up and fast. He had an up-and-down 2018, a better 2019 which led to a Pro Bowl alternate appearance, and another up-and-down 2020 with hamstring injuries mixed in. It’s grossly unfair to expect Griffin to be Sherman 2.0 but it’s safe to say he’s not shown enough to belong in that upper echelon of outside corners.

Pocic began his Seahawks tenure at guard and made the PFWA All-Rookie Team that year, but when Mike Solari replaced Tom Cable his playing time disappeared when J.R. Sweezy briefly returned to the team. Injuries robbed him of most of his 2019 before he became the Seahawks’ starting center in 2020. I’m not qualified enough to determine whether he was an upgrade over Justin Britt but he didn’t stand out as a glaring weakness on the OL.

As for Lano Hill, he was absolutely a liability as a safety and his game speed was just not fast enough to really be a reliable starter. He carved out a role on special teams but needless to say if he was viewed as a potential Kam Chancellor successor, it didn’t go very well. Hill also has been on season-ending IR twice. You could argue that the Hill and Thompson picks necessitated the Seahawks trading for both Quandre Diggs and Jamal Adams.

I think the Seahawks could upgrade from Pocic at center. Corey Linsley is a free agent and maybe he’ll be this year’s T.J. Lang aka the Packers OL whom Seahawks fans clamor over before not signing him. Austin Blythe is also a free agent and may take interest in joining either the Chargers (coached by Brandon Staley) or the Seahawks (new offensive coordinator Shane Waldron and Andy Dickenson as run game coordinator).

The wide receiver market is stacked and there will surely be teams interested in Moore’s services. Carson has “Pittsburgh Steeler” written all over him with his running style but who knows what his value is given yet another injury-riddled season in which the team clearly had to manage his snaps. I’d say he’s the most likely of the five to be re-signed. Not re-signing Griffin would almost have to necessitate re-signing Quinton Dunbar or else the Seahawks don’t have a #1 corner next season and suddenly Tre Flowers is the top guy on the depth chart. They could get one through free agency (Richard Sherman? Patrick Peterson?) or through the draft but they have to tread water there. There’s definitely no reason to believe Lano will stay with the team unless they want to re-up on a one-year deal and compete for a roster spot.

But it’s very possible that none of the five players I’ve mentioned is a Seahawk in 2021, which would close the chapter on a draft that was hardly a full-scale disaster but certainly not one of Seattle’s best.