Byron Murphy said he loved watching the Legion of Boom Seahawks when he was a kid. (For some of us a decade is not that long ago, but for a 21-year-old it was half his lifetime ago.)

The LOB was a dominant defense with a core that John Schneider put together mostly through the 2010-12 drafts: Earl Thomas, Kam Chancellor, K.J. Wright, Richard Sherman, Bobby Wagner, Bruce Irvin. Cliff Avril and Michael Bennett (Murphy’s favorite player on that defense) were the only core outside additions. And that group of stars dominated the NFL from 2012 to 2016.

Schneider has not been able to replicate that magic over the past decade. He had the perfect chance to do it again in 2016 and 2017, but he absolutely whiffed on most of his 11 picks on Days 1 and 2. Ever since those failures, he has been patching together his defense with trades for veterans.

But, thanks to three straight years with high picks in the draft, maybe he finally is building another core – this time for Mike Macdonald.

From Schneider’s 2010-12 drafts, 7 of 19 (37%) defensive picks became starters for Seattle. But, in the next decade (2013-23), just 9 of 45 (20%) defensive picks became starters. Schneider missed on so many guys that he had to make up for it by trading for veterans — Jadeveon Clowney, Carlos Dunlap, Quandre Diggs, Jamal Adams and Williams.

Before he drafted Murphy with the 16^th overall pick Thursday, Schneider still had just three projected starters on this defense that he had drafted: Devon Witherspoon, Boye Mafe and Riq Woolen (assuming Macdonald has him penciled in as a starter). All of those guys came in the past two years.

Even when Schneider has found solid starters, he has not wanted to pay them. Since the 2013 draft, Jarran Reed is the only starter he has re-signed to a multi-year deal. Bruce Irvin, Frank Clark, Shaquill Griffin and Jordyn Brooks all got notable deals elsewhere. Reed also left – and then returned last year.

There just has been no continuity from within – and a constant flux of veterans coming in to make up for bad drafting.

Well, perhaps these past three drafts are changing that. Maybe there is a new homegrown core developing, and we’ll see whether Schneider starts paying some of these recent draft picks in a couple of years.

He has invested in some vets to help lead the way, so Macdonald now has a small core of four defenders signed through at least 2026: Murphy, Witherspoon, Leonard Williams and Uchenna Nwosu. Dre Jones, Mafe and Woolen (again, on the hot seat) have two years left, and new safety Rayshawn Jenkins is on a two-year deal as well.

Julian Love and new linebackers Jerome Baker and Tyrel Dodson are in one-year tryout mode, although Love might be in line for an extension based on his 2023 Pro Bowl season.

Derick Hall, a bad second-round choice by Schneider last year, needs to show something this year.

We’ll see whether Schneider adds a safety or linebacker in the rest of this draft to possibly become part of Macdonald’s defensive core.