Fearless And Stupid 2002
NFL Draft Review

Click here for the Seahawks 2002 draft preview. Click here for the 2001 NFL Draft Review.

* = Junior declaration

The 2002 NFL draft was a mixed bag for Seahawks fans once again. In what has become a disturbing pattern in the Mike Holmgren era, the Seahawks made some good moves accentuated by what appear on the surface to be absolutely bone-headed selections.

The Seahawks draft process actually got started early with the trade of QB Brock Huard to Indianapolis for a fifth round pick. Huard had become the odd man out in Seattle, and wisely requested a chance to start over elsewhere.  He must have known that Holmgren was not going to give him the chance to embarrass the coach by beating out Matt Hassel-Mirer in training camp for the back-up QB job, so he asked for a trade. Behind a solid pass blocking line in Indy, Huard should flourish. At least the Seahawks got something for him.

Frustrated in their attempts to move up and get one of the impact players in the top 15 picks, the Seahawks stood by while a number of quality defensive players were taken right in front of them. When their turn did come about at #20 in the first round, the Seahawks surveyed the landscape and determined that the best fit for their choice, Colorado TE Daniel Graham, could possibly be had further down. They traded their selection to the Packers, who were looking to move up and grab Florida State WR Javon Walker. The Seahawks got a second round pick in the deal, which initially looked like a bit of a coup.

The plan was foiled however when the Patriots traded up to the 21st pick to grab Graham, the Ravens snapped up Miami FS Ed Reed, and the Saints took Georgia DE Charles Grant. Faced with having lost his three targeted players, Holmgren went to his back-up plan and selected University of Washington TE Jerramy Stevens. Many felt this was a reach as Holmgren dipped into what was considered the second round talent pool to grab Stevens with the 28th pick overall. However, the Seahawks had Stevens rated on a par with Graham in terms of physical skills, his second round grade being derived mostly from his well publicized off-field problems. In fact, some analysts feel that Stevens is a better athlete than Miami's Jeremy Shockey, who went 15th overall to the Giants. The Seahawks were obviously satisfied that Stevens off-field problems were behind him and that he represented a reasonable risk at 28 in the first round. So far, so good.

Having filled his roster's most glaring hole with his first round pick -- and having added a valuable second round pick in the process -- Holmgren had seemingly gotten off to a solid start on his fourth draft as Seahawks GM. But, when it came time to actually execute the picks he had garnered in the second round, Holmgren suddenly went in MOAA, mode -- Most Obscure Athlete Available.

As pick after pick went by the boards in round two, the Seahawks sat on their plethora of second day picks and failed to move up in the round even when value players like Clinton Portis and Anthony Weaver fell into striking range. Instead, they reached -- seemingly round after round -- for players that were rated far below where they were picked and had no established college reputations.

Assessment

It was obvious from the selections they made that the Seahawks draft board was completely out-of-whack with almost every other team's. Besides thinking that Graham would last until the 28th pick when they traded down, they totally overvalued the players they took in the second round.

By passing on Graham and thinking he would last until they picked at 28, the Seahawks were forced into the far more risky position of having to reach for Stevens. Holmgren followed that by reaching in the second round for Oregon RB Maurice Morris at #54. Morris was rated as no better than the 10th best RB on most draft sites, and was expected to be around when the Seahawks selected at #85 in the third round. The advantage gained of getting a high pick in return for dropping eight spots in the first round  -- the Packers choice at #60 -- was squandered when the Seahawks wasted it on unknown Nevada Las Vegas DE Anton Palepoi. Palepoi was ranked the 24th best DE on Mel Kiper's value board, 18th by the Sporting News, and was not even rated on several respected draft sites. Coming off a 2001 knee injury, Palepoi was considered a second day pick by almost all competent draft evaluators -- if they even rated him as draftable. Palepoi would have raised a lot of eyebrows if he was taken in round three, but the idea of him going #60 in round two was unthinkable to seemingly everyone but the Seahawks. The pick was even more inexplicable given that a number of higher ranked DE's were still available, namely BYU's Ryan Denny, Tennessee's Will Overstreet, and Kentucky's Dennis Johnson. The word is now that there were a couple of teams that wanted Polepoi in round three, but that "word" is apparently being spread by the Seahawks. The best hope is that Polepoi ends being this years Derrick Burgess, not this years Paul Toviessi.

Complicating the selection of Palepoi is the fact that because he passed on several quality DE prospects in the third round last year, Holmgren was forced to reach in a high round this year. Instead of having DeLawrence Grant, Karon Riley or Cedric Scott entering their second year and getting ready to contribute, the Seahawks are stuck with an obscure player from a small school who is coming off a major knee injury a few years ago. Essentially, the Seahawks paid the price of wasting their third round pick last year on fullback Heath Evans. For their part, the Seahawks insist that Palepoi is an explosive pass rusher, although his career numbers do not reflect that. Whatever the case, there is little doubt that he could have been had in a later round, if not deep into day two.

Things did not get a lot brighter as the rounds wore on. Holmgren insisted he was following a strategy, looking at weak spots on his roster where he felt they had marginal players and drafting to create competition with specific players. If my name were Ike Charlton, John Hilliard, Paul Miranda, or Jeff Feagles, I'd start looking for another job. Still, some of the choices were so obscure it's pointless to even list them. Seahawk fans are obviously hoping that Holmgren knows something the rest of the league does not, or it could be that we look back on this draft as lost opportunity. In Holmgren's case, that might be from the comfort of his new digs in Cincinnati.

Had we been running the Seahawks war room, we would probably have done the same thing as far as trading with Green Bay and picking up the extra second round pick. But with all those second day choices we would have definitely tried to trade up in round two and get our hands on Portis and Weaver. There is no indication that the Seahawks attempted to do this, simply because they evidently liked Morris and Polepoi better. Time will tell if this is a stroke of genius or another botched draft.

For the record, here's how we would have played it with the picks the Seahawks had:

1. (28) Jerramy Stevens - TE - Washington - Fills a need area.

2. (54) Michael Lewis - SS - Colorado - Lewis can step in for Marcus Robertson in a year, moving Reggie Tongue to FS.

3. (60) Ryan Denny - DE - BYU - Denny is a more solid choice than Polepoi. Has the size to eventually play around 300. Better against the run.

4. (85) Bryan Westbrook - RB - Villanova - If Morris is still around, Holmy can have him. But Westbrook if he isn't.

5. (120) Ron Johnson - WR - Minnesota - Catches anything near him and is always open. Great size and adds depth in case there are any injuries to Seahawks WR corps.

Now, lets take a look at how the rest of league did.