Here’s a look at how GM John Schneider has done adding talent:

BY ROUND

First

Picks: LT Russell Okung, FS Earl Thomas, OT James Carpenter, LB Bruce Irvin, OL Germain Ifedi, RB Rashaad Penny, DE L.J. Collier, LB Jordyn Brooks, OT Charles Cross, CB Devon Witherspoon, WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba, DT Byron Murphy II.
Summary: Thomas became one of the league’s elite defenders during his nine seasons in Seattle before the Hawks let him leave in free agency. … Okung had one good year and four injured ones, and Carpenter (injuries) and Irvin (suspension) both were unavailable at times while also changing positions from the ones they were drafted to play. … Ifedi started at right guard as a rookie and had a rough season; he had an even tougher time at right tackle in 2017 before stepping forward under Mike Solari in 2018 and 2019. … Penny was never available until the last few games of his rookie deal; he earned a prove-it return in 2022 but got injured yet again and left for Philadelphia in 2023. … Collier did nothing as rookie, showed some ability in his second year and barely played in his final two years. … Brooks was a tackling machine and overcame an ACL injury late in his third season to earn $9 million a year from Miami. … Cross was stellar as a rookie and had to overcome an early injury in Year 2. Witherspoon made the Pro Bowl as a rookie, and JSN broke out in the second half of Year 2.
Success: 8/12

Second

Picks: WR Golden Tate, LB Bobby Wagner, RB Christine Michael, WR Paul Richardson, OT Justin Britt, DE Frank Clark, DT Jarran Reed, DT Malik McDowell, OL Ethan Pocic, SS Marquise Blair, WR DK Metcalf, DE Darrell Taylor, WR D’Wayne Eskridge, OLB Boye Mafe, RB Ken Walker III, OLB Derick Hall, RB Zach Charbonnet.
Summary: Schneider has had big hits on five of 17 players in this round. Tate took two years to get going and then gave the Hawks two solid seasons of contributions. … Wagner had a Hall of Fame career for 10 years, before being released in 2022, returning in 2023 and then leaving for good in 2024. … The team gave up on Michael after two seasons, brought him back late in 2015 and then cut him midway through the 2016 season. … Richardson did little over his first three years, due largely to injuries, before putting together a nice season in his contract year (he didn’t last long in Washington though). … Britt was a major reach in 2014 and struggled at right tackle and left guard his first two years before finding a home at center in 2016 and earning a new deal. … Clark, a very controversial pick, played well in the D-line rotation (19 sacks in 2016-17) before putting together a great year in 2018 (14 sacks) and being traded in 2019. … Reed quickly became a mainstay and showed unexpected pass-rush ability with 10.5 sacks in 2018, but he was suspended for six games in a disappointing 2019 and oddly forced a release after 2020. He returned in 2023. … The Hawks added to the trenches again in 2017, gambling on McDowell and adding the versatile Pocic. But McDowell never played for Seattle and Pocic was overdrafted; he replaced Britt as the starting center in 2020 and started 10 games in 2021 after initially being beaten out. … Metcalf set rookie records in 2019 and turned into a star in 2020 and earned a big extension in 2022. He was traded for a second-rounder in 2025. … Blair, overdrafted in the second round, showed promise as a rookie, then missed his second season and most of his third before he was gone. The Hawks already had given up on him in 2020, trading for Jamal Adams. … Taylor, a desperate draft gamble (a big move up for an injured player at a weak team position), didn’t play as a rookie but had 16 sacks in 2021-22 and was traded in 2024 after a poor 2023.

Third

Picks: OG John Moffitt, QB Russell Wilson, DT Jordan Hill, WR Tyler Lockett, RB C.J. Prosise, TE Nick Vannett, OL Rees Odhiambo, CB Shaq Griffin, SS Delano Hill, DT Nazair Jones, WR Amara Darboh, DE Rasheem Green, LB Cody Barton, OG Damien Lewis, RT Abe Lucas, OG Christian Haynes.
Summary: Schneider either hits home runs or whiffs magnificently in this round. Wilson and Lockett were stellar picks, and Griffin became an immediate starter in 2017 and went to the Pro Bowl in 2019 before earning a big deal from Jacksonville in 2021. … Lewis and Lucas were immediate starters, too. … But there are a lot of busts in this group. Vannett did well when given his chances, especially in 2018, but he was traded in 2019. Injuries doomed Jordan Hill and Prosise, and Moffitt and Odhiambo were simply bad picks. … Jones faded into oblivion after a good first season, and Darboh was a horrible bust. … Delano Hill did nothing in his first two years and then had a horrible 2019. … Green stepped up in his second season but struggled with injuries in 2020 before having a good 2021 (6.5 sacks) and leaving. … Barton showed promise in limited time as a rookie in 2019; he became a starter in 2022 after Wagner was cut, and he improved as the season went on — but not enough to be re-signed. … Lewis stepped right in as the starting right guard as a rookie and then was moved to left guard in his second year. … Lucas gave up 8.5 sacks as a rookie but otherwise drew good reviews for a first-year starter before injuries sidelined him for most of his second season and half his third season. … Haynes was a bench player as a rookie in 2024.

Fourth

Picks: CB Walter Thurmond, DE E.J. Wilson, LB K.J. Wright, WR Kris Durham, RB Robert Turbin, DT Jaye Howard, WR Chris Harper, DL Cassius Marsh, WR Kevin Norwood, LB Kevin Pierre-Louis, OL Terry Poole, OG Mark Glowinski, FS Tedric Thompson, TE Will Dissly, WR Gary Jennings, OG Phil Haynes, DB Ugo Amadi, TE Colby Parkinson, RB DeeJay Dallas, CB Tre Brown, CB Coby Bryant, OG Anthony Bradford, DT Cameron Young, LB Tyrice Knight, TE A.J. Barner.
Summary: Wright, drafted in 2011, easily was the best player from this round; he received a contract extension late in the 2014 season and turned in one of his best seasons in 2019 and another excellent year in 2020 before being allowed to leave in free agency in 2021. … There are not many other standouts from this disappointing round. Thurmond was oft-injured and also was suspended for four games in 2013. … Turbin was a solid backup before being released in 2015 (but making a late-season cameo in 2019). … Howard was a key player for the Chiefs for a bit. … After injury ended his rookie season early, Marsh turned into a special-teams demon in 2015 and a defensive contributor in 2016; he was traded in 2017 and brought back in 2019, though he did not make the team. … KPL could not stay healthy and also was dealt in 2017 (floating around the league into 2022). Glowinski ascended to a starting role in 2016, but the Hawks cut him late in 2017. He became a stalwart for the Colts instead. … Thompson played almost entirely special teams as a rookie before starting 10 games in 2018. He continued to struggle in 2019 before getting hurt and was gone in 2020. … Dissly was off to a great start as a rookie in 2018 before his season ended in Week 4, and then his 2019 season ended after just six games. The Hawks overpaid him to return in 2022 and he got injured again.

Schneider should avoid receivers in the fourth round; he has dumped all of them (Durham, Harper, Norwood, Jennings) without getting a thing from them. … Haynes could not stay healthy his first three seasons, but the Hawks tendered him as an RFA anyway and he rotated with Gabe Jackson in 2022 and was re-signed in 2023. … Amadi was a great special-teamer from Day 1 but he was inconsistent as the nickelback and was gone by 2022. … Parkinson was injured for the first half of his rookie season but turned into a solid No. 3 TE by 2022 and got a good deal from the Rams in 2024. … Dallas proved to be a good backup. Brown stepped into a starting role as a rookie, but injuries held him to just 39 games over his four years in Seattle. … Bryant forced four fumbles from the nickel spot as a rookie, then played well in Mike Macdonald’s first year after Bryant got a starting job due to injury.

Fifth

Picks: SS Kam Chancellor, CB Richard Sherman, S Mark LeGree, LB Korey Toomer, DT Jesse Williams, CB Tharold Simon, TE Luke Willson, DT Jimmy Staten, CB Tye Smith, DT Quinton Jefferson, RB Alex Collins, LB Shaquem Griffin, CB Tre Flowers, P Michael Dickson, OT Jamarco Jones, LB Ben Burr-Kirven, DE Alton Robinson, CB Tariq Woolen, DE Tyreke Smith, DE Mike Morris, C Olu Oluwatimi, CB Nehemiah Pritchett.
Summary: The fifth round is never a sure thing, but Sherman and Chancellor were the best fifth-round duo in the NFL in their seven years together. … LeGree and Toomer did not pan out, and Williams — a smart injury gamble — was never healthy. ,,, Simon had a horrid 2014 playoffs/Super Bowl and was always injured; the team finally gave up on him in 2016. ,,, Willson was a capable No. 2 tight end until he went to Detroit in 2018 (he returned in 2019 but struggled through injuries). Smith was with the team for only a year.

Jefferson spent his rookie year on IR, was cut in 2017 and then brought back and started most of 2018 and 2019, and then returned yet again in 2022. … Collins was the fourth running back for most of his rookie year and went on to have a very good season as Baltimore’s top back in 2017; he came back to Seattle in 2021. … Dickson was All-Pro as a rookie in 2018 and earned a contract extension. … Flowers (a converted safety) started in 2018 and 2019 but never developed into what the team hoped and was let go during the 2021 season. Griffin played mainly special teams his first year, offered some pass rush help late in 2019 but then was not retained. … Jones was injured his rookie year but showed great promise in relief work at guard in 2019 and 2020 (before getting hurt again). … In limited playing time in his first two seasons, Robinson showed promise — but a knee injury ended his time in Seattle. … Woolen picked off six passes as a rookie and made the Pro Bowl, and then he had a terrible second year in which he looked allergic to tackling and committed way too many fouls. He had a better third year under Macdonald.

Tyreke Smith missed his rookie year injured and played in just one games in 2023 before being let go. … Morris missed most of his rookie season and was mostly a special-teamer in 2024. … Oluwatimi ascended to the starting center at midseason of 2024. … Pritchett made it as a reserve in his 2024 rookie year.

Sixth

Picks: TE Anthony McCoy, CB Byron Maxwell, CB Jeremy Lane, S Winston Guy, RB Spencer Ware, OT Garrett Scott, DB Eric Pinkins, DE Obum Gwacham, OL Kristjan Sokoli, C Joey Hunt, DB Mike Tyson, OT Justin Senior, OLB Jacob Martin, RB Travis Homer, DT Demarcus Christmas, WR Freddie Swain, OL Stone Forsythe, S Jerrick Reed, OG Sataoa Laumea, CB D.J. James, OT Michael Jerrell.
Summary: Maxwell earned a big contract after starting 17 games and the playoffs in 2013 and 2014; he then returned for the end of 2017. … McCoy couldn’t stay healthy. Lane became a special-teams dynamo and solid nickel back, but he had trouble staying healthy and did not live up to the extension the Hawks gave him in 2016. … Guy flamed out fast, aided by a suspension in his rookie year. … Ware couldn’t stay healthy and also had a DUI; he turned into a flash in the pan for Kansas City before getting hurt in 2017. … Scott was an unlucky pick due to a heart issue, and Pinkins saw some playing time in 2015. The team kept Sokoli, a major project athlete, in 2015, but he didn’t make it past that. … The undersized Hunt became the backup center in 2016-19. Tyson didn’t stick, and Senior was a wasted pick.

Martin helped the pass rush a little as a rookie and then was traded in 2019. … Homer played well late in the 2019 season, was a non-factor in 2020 (sidelined by injury in the second half) but was huge on special teams in 2021. … Swain made a few plays as a rookie in 2020 and turned into a solid No. 3 in 2021, but he didn’t last past that and was out of the league after 2022. … Forsythe was a below-average swing tackle during his four-year stint. … Reed was hobbled by injuries his first two seasons. … Laumea was forced into action as the third right guard as a rookie, starting six games. James did not make the team. Jerrell was not good in his limited tries at right tackle as a rookie.

Seventh

Picks: DE Dexter Davis, TE Jameson Konz, DE Pep Levingston, LB Malcolm Smith, OG J.R. Sweezy, DE Greg Scruggs, OG Ryan Seymour, LB Ty Powell, OL Jared Smith, OL Michael Bowie, FB Kiero Small, SS Ryan Murphy, WR Kenny Lawler, RB Zac Brooks, WR David Moore, RB Chris Carson, QB Alex McGough, WR John Ursua, TE Stephen Sullivan, WR Bo Melton, , WR Dareke Young, RB Kenny McIntosh.
Summary: The seventh round is such a crap shoot, but Schneider has about a 25 percent success rate — with Super Bowl MVP Malcolm Smith, Carson, Sweezy, Scruggs, Moore and Bowie contributing to varying degrees.

Carson had turned into the top back as a rookie, until he suffered a broken leg. But he came back with 2,381 yards over the next two years (though he was hurt again at the end of 2019 and had more injury trouble in 2020 and 2021). The six players since 2018 have done nothing, although McIntosh finally got some action in 2024 and looked quite good.

BY POSITION

QB (2): The Hawks traded picks to get Charlie Whitehurst, but Wilson was the only pure draft pick at the position until McGough in 2018.
RB (14): High picks Michael, Prosise and Penny were all busts — and that makes this the worst drafted position in the Schneider era. Even seventh-rounder Carson, the best pick of the lot, was not able to stay healthy. … Turbin was a good backup before he was waived-injured in 2015. Ware and Small didn’t make it. … Michael was traded in 2015, brought back amid a roster emergency and then cut during the 2016 season. … Prosise showed his skill in a couple of games as a rookie but was hurt throughout his too-long stay in Seattle. … Collins came on late as a rookie, was let go in 2017 camp and went on to play well in Baltimore before returning to Seattle in 2020. … Penny was overdrafted in 2018 and never stayed healthy until a stellar finish to 2021 prompted the team to bring him back on a prove-it deal. … Homer saved the club amid injuries late in his rookie year, but he and Dallas were pure backups. … Walker ran for 1,050 yards as a rookie despite starting just 11 games. Injuries held him to less than 1,500 yards total over the next two years. … Charbonnet was a surprise second-round pick the year after Walker, but he played well in 2024 when Walker was injured. … McIntosh was injured as a rookie and didn’t see the field much his second year.
WR (17): Doug Baldwin was not drafted, but he clearly is among the top three receivers Schneider has added. The best picks have been Lockett and Metcalf, with JSN having a good shot at joining them. … Lockett rebounded from a 2016 broken leg and hobbled 2017 to have a breakout season in 2018 and his first millennial season in 2019 — the first of four straight. He was let go in 2024 after a 10-year career that saw him become the second-best receiver in team history, behind Steve Largent. … Metcalf turned into a star in 2020 after a great rookie season, earned a big contract in 2022 but then was traded in 2025. He left as the No. 6 WR in franchise history. … Second-rounders Tate and P-Rich did not really develop until their third seasons — just in time to earn big contracts elsewhere. … Schneider should never draft a receiver in the fourth round again. He missed on Durham and Harper, traded Norwood after one year and waived Jennings in his rookie season. … Darboh was a surprise third-round pick who couldn’t stay healthy in his first two years and was replaced by fellow 2017 draft pick Moore. … Eskridge is a notable second-round bust because Schneider could have had a franchise center instead (Creed Humphrey). … Jaxon Smith-Njigba is Schneider’s highest-drafted WR and proved worth it with a breakout second season (100 catches).
TE (8): The Seahawks have never drafted an impact tight end (Schneider traded for Jimmy Graham instead). … McCoy was inconsistent and then injured a lot until the Hawks gave up on him. Willson was a solid fifth-round backup who was forced into the starter’s role a lot and kept finding his way back to Seattle. … Vannett was a solid third-round pick in 2017 who was traded in 2019. … Dissly showed promise but suffered gruesome injuries in both 2018 and 2019; the Hawks way overpaid him to come back in 2022. He was cut after 2023 and landed with the Chargers. … Parkinson was not used much in his four years but earned a nice “he has promise” contract from the Rams in 2024. … Barner had a promising rookie season.
OL (26): The Seahawks just haven’t had much luck (or skill or good coaching) at this spot. Okung was a no-brainer as the sixth pick in the 2010 draft; he was solid when he played, but he had all kinds of injury issues in his six years. … Carpenter struggled throughout his time in Seattle, though he played better in his other stops (which speaks to the poor coaching/fit in Seattle). … Moffitt simply was a horrible pick. Britt finally found a spot (center) where he played pretty well and earned a rare extension by a lineman. … Ifedi improved under Mike Solari in 2018 but never lived up to his first-round pedigree. Pocic was a bad second-round investment in a busted 2017 draft; he finally stepped up in his fourth year and came back for one more. … Sweezy was an unlikely success as a DL/OL convert and returned in 2018, usurping Pocic at left guard. … Lewis started as a rookie, switched sides in his second year and earned a nice contract from Carolina in 2024. … Schneider added eight more OL over the next four drafts, and the team was counting on most of them to step up in 2025. Cross and Lucas were the only sure things, and Olu Olu, Laumea, Bradford and Haynes were being overly relied on.
DL (29): Schneider has hit on about eight of these picks, with second-rounders Clark and Reed his biggest success stories. Clark didn’t play much as a rookie, but he tallied 33 sacks in the next three seasons before being traded to KC. … Reed was stellar inside next to Clark in 2018, had a troubled 2019 and bounced back in 2020 before forcing the team to cut him in 2021. He returned in 2023 and had a good 2024 that prompted Macdonald and Schneider to re-sign him. … Of Schneider’s 11 Day 1-2 picks, seven have given some decent return. Four of them became linebackers (Irvin, Taylor, Mafe, Hall). Mafe and Hall were college ends who turned into rush linebackers after being picked in the second round in 2022 and 2023. Mafe went seven straight games with a sack in 2023, finishing with nine. Hall stepped up in 2024 with eight sacks. … Murphy will be expected to take a big step in his second season. … The only Day 3 guys who gave Seattle much were Jefferson and Marsh. … McDowell, the team’s top pick in 2017, was one of the biggest busts in franchise history. … Jones was good as a rookie but then oddly disappeared in 2018 and 2019. … Green emerged as a nice rotation guy in 2019 but struggled with injuries again in 2020 before rallying with a nice 2021. … As for the other picks, only Hill showed any promise, but the Hawks finally got tired of his injuries. … Taylor was a big trade-up gamble that did not really pay off. He missed his rookie season with a college injury. He had 21.5 sacks in 2021-23, but he was a huge liability vs. the run and Macdonald didn’t see him as a fit and he was traded in 2024.
LB (12): Schneider has not drafted many linebackers, but he has hit on almost all of his picks in the first four rounds. … Wagner was one of the elite defenders in the NFL for years, and the always steady Wright (a fourth-rounder) was voted to the Pro Bowl in 2016, too. … Irvin converted from pass rusher and turned into a decent linebacker before moving on to Oakland and then Atlanta in 2018. … Smith was a great No. 3/4 LB who owns a Super Bowl MVP award. … Barton was a solid backup and got a shot to start once Wagner was let go. … Brooks set a team record for tackles in his second year and eclipsed 100 tackles for three straight years, which earned him a nice contract from Miami. … Knight stepped up as a rookie.
DB (23): Pete Carroll built a historic defense from the back up, turning out three Pro Bowl players from the 2010-11 drafts. … He tried to set up another ace secondary with homegrown picks Griffin, Flowers, Hill, Thompson and Blair, but it did not work out and he and Schneider instead switched to veterans (Bradley McDougald, Quandre Diggs and Jamal Adams) at safety. … As Griffin left for a big deal with Jacksonville, the Hawks drafted Brown, Bryant, Woolen and Witherspoon. The latter two made the Pro Bowl in their rookie seasons, and Witherspoon looks like a forever star. … Woolen had a horrible second season and was only marginally better in 2024 — he does not seem to be a keeper for Macdonald.