As John Schneider gets ready to run his first draft without Pete Carroll at his side, plenty of fans think everything is suddenly going to change – because of course Carroll was pulling all of the strings and was the reason the Seahawks were in the bottom third of the league in drafting success over the last decade.

Schneider debunked that idea earlier this month on his radio show, confirming Carroll had the power to “put his foot down” but he “rarely, rarely, rarely did that.”

“John was in control on draft day and will continue to be,” said Nolan Teasley, Seattle’s assistant GM. “The process stays consistent, so I don’t foresee a lot of change in that regard.”

That’s bad news for fans who thought Carroll was running the draft show all these years. Schneider has been pretty subpar at drafting ever since the historic 2010-12 run. According to a 2022 ESPN study, the Seahawks ranked first in the league in draft value since 2012.

But, if you take out that 2012 draft that netted Russell Wilson and Bobby Wagner and start with 2013, the Hawks ranked just 21^st in the league. The last 11 drafts have been middling or worse: The 2013 draft ranked in the bottom 11, the 2014 draft bottom eight, and the 2017 and 2019 drafts were not good either (DK Metcalf notwithstanding).

The last two draft classes have featured some high picks thanks to the Wilson trade, and now Schneider is picking 16^th – which puts him in a prime spot to get a true first-round talent for a third straight year.

Continue reading Will Schneider make the right choice at 16? →