DRAFT COUNTDOWN: 4 weeks. Every Friday until the April 27-29 draft, we look at draft topics related to the Seahawks.
Thanks to two very good years of compensatory picks, the Seahawks are in the middle of some of the best draft positioning they have ever had.
It comes at the right time as John Schneider faces a key reload period over the next couple of years. With about a dozen core players due to become free agents in 2018-19, Schneider needs to fortify his roster.
As much as Schneider has been lauded for his Day 3 draft finds, Day 2 is where teams really are built. Schneider’s Seahawks are no different.
Most of their best players were found on Day 2. Of the team’s top 17 returning players, just two were first-rounders while eight were Day 2 picks (six by Seattle). That doesn’t include the three third-rounders from last year. And the Hawks are currently slated to add four more on Day 2 in this draft.
The Combine is over and the league year (i.e., free agency and trading) is about to start, so it’s a perfect time to do a status check on the Seahawks, including free agency rumors and mock drafts:
Everyone always laughs at the instant draft grades handed out by analysts — the argument being that it is impossible to know how well a team did until its draft class has shown itself over a couple of years.
How many running backs does it take to replace Marshawn Lynch while he rides off into the sunset on a camel? Apparently three.
John Schneider has built a reputation as a draft pick collector. He’s such a pick hoarder that he had surrendered picks to move up just twice in his first six drafts. 
