Can we re-grade the 2012 NFL drafts?

Seeing how players like Bobby Wagner, Russell Wilson, Bruce Irwin, Jeremy Lane, Sweezy have evolved the past 2+ seasons, I think it is time to declare the 2012 NFL draft a great one for Hawks.

It has produced starters on the best defense in the NFL. It has produced a great QB. It has produced the best Linebacker in football today.

It has produced very productive players like J.R. Sweezy (starter) and Robert Turbin (could be a starter and very productive player).

Does anyone remember when some news organization gave us an F for this draft? As recently as a year ago, people like Mel Kiper were saying that they were right to give us a bad grade for the 2012 NFL draft.

If you were asked to grade the 2012 NFL draft today, which grade would you give it? For me, a clear A. No doubt.

A+

Who cares how they grade us. Thinking outside of the box seems to be working.

Considering how much each of those guys is contributing and the level at which they are contributing...hard to give it anything other than an A. This may be the best draft class in Seahawks history, or it's at least in conversation.

This is why draft day grades are meaningless. :229031_shrug:

sutz":sh06w7vj said:

This is why draft day grades are meaningless. :229031_shrug:

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+1

My favorite thing about that time was when Brian Billick questioned Pete for the draft pick while saying that "Pete thinks he's smarter than everyone else in the room". Turns out Pete WAS.

NJSeaHawk":12rxp3kn said:

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I remember this quote, man he was wrong about everything. He still have a job there?

It is obviously the best draft of 2012. The question is, where does it rank all time among the best single draft classes for 1 team?

NJSeaHawk":bbv6tw6b said:

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Awesome. Whos quote is that?

My favorite (given that it's so horribly wrong): http://goo.gl/TvkXTC

Seattle Seahawks
Picks: OLB Bruce Irvin, ILB Bobby Wagner, QB Russell Wilson, RB Robert Turbin, DT Jaye Howard, LB Korey Toomer, CB Jeremy Lane, SS Winston Guy Jr., DT J.R. Sweezy, DE Greg Scruggs
Grade: D-
Analysis: I have a great deal of respect for the work of John Schneider, but I don't understand this draft. Of eight teams (five of which drafted after the Seahawks) that were surveyed, none graded Irvin as a first-round pick. Yes, he has talent, and he could become great. He also might be a guy who burns out in two years because there are plenty of people who question his dedication. After that, the Seahawks spent a third-round pick on Wilson even though the history of QBs under 6-foot is poor, to say the least. You don't spend a third-round pick on a guy who'll be lucky to be Seneca Wallace. You also don't do that after signing Matt Flynn as a free agent. The Seahawks are no closer to solving the QB situation now than they were before 2011.

Source of some of the most ridiculous quotes of the 2012 Draft Class with a response from Russell Wilson.

Not only do Pete and John have no clue when it comes to drafting future prospects, but that college rah rah stuff will never work in the NFL..!

Another Mel Kiper quote from a year ago, when he moved his grade from C- to A, but he still questioned Bruce Irvin. He had questions about the value of Bobby, then he questioned Bruce Irvin, of course ... (and many people did)


“I also had questions about the value of Bobby Wagner at No. 47 overall, but he was a home run, an impact starter and a guy who will be a fixture for years to come. Robert Turbin, Jeremy Lane and Greg Scruggs also look like great picks. The one pick I really questioned then and still feel the same way about is Bruce Irvin at No. 15 overall. There’s no question Irvin can rush the passer, but that’s really all he can do, and I still don’t see him as a good value at that spot because he’s so one-dimensional. I wrote then, ‘I wouldn’t be surprised if Irvin gets 10 sacks in 2012, but that’s really his game. He’s not a three-down player yet.’ He still isn’t, and is a total liability against the run, as we saw against Atlanta in the playoffs. He finished with 8.0 sacks, but has plenty of development left if he wants to become more than a situational player. I think you want more of a complete player at that point in the draft. Still, this was an exceptional draft, a very good one in terms of immediate value and likely a defining one for the franchise based on Wilson alone.”

More from Mel Kiper below:

“Give John Schneider and Pete Carroll all the credit in the world. I had major questions on value and even need with some of their picks, and in most cases, the Seahawks proved me wrong. At the time I wrote, ‘Let’s be clear: I think the Seahawks drafted guys they really wanted, and with a plan in mind for how to use them.’ Did they ever. Russell Wilson might be the defining pick of the draft, already a star and a guy Seattle got at No. 75 overall. I really liked Wilson as a prospect, and said on the set I thought he’d be ‘a great test case’ for short quarterbacks. My question of the pick also had to do with the fact that Seattle had acquired Matt Flynn. If Wilson had been 6-foot-2, I think he would have been a top-5 pick – said it then, say it now. Is that evaluation still reasonable? Has Wilson proven that short QBs can’t all be lumped together? Ultimately, evaluators will still have questions about whether short QBs can succeed because they simply have so few of them to evaluate. The sample size for guys at Wilson’s size who’ve succeeded as he has is so small that not only is Wilson almost unique, I don’t see a QB like him coming along for years. But there’s no way around the fact that he was a great pick, perhaps the best of the draft when you consider where he was taken.

that has to be one of the best draft classes of all time except for maybe the 1974 steelers draft class. although our 2010 class was pretty good as well. also the 2013 draft isn't looking as bad as many thought.

Although Jaye Howard didn't make it here, it looks like he had a decent year as a starter for KC in the 3-4.

Not even Seattle's best draft class let alone the rest of the NFL

Earl Thomas
Kam Chancellor
Russell Okung
Golden Tate
Walter Thurmond
Anthony McCoy

2012 vs 2010 ... wow ... look at this list.
I think our front office knows what they doing ...
Some front offices would love to have ONE of these every 5 years ... we had them almost back to back ...

Russell Wilson vs Earl Thomas
Bobby Wagner vs Kam Chancellor
J.R. Sweezy vs Russell Okung
Bruce Irvin/Robert Turbin vs Golden Tate
Jeremy Lane vs Walter Thurmond

Mick063":b2t4xcwc said:

Not even Seattle's best draft class let alone the rest of the NFL
Earl Thomas
Kam Chancellor
Russell Okung
Golden Tate
Walter Thurmond
Anthony McCoy

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Mel Kiper's hypothesis: short quarterbacks can not succeed in the NFL is disconfirmed by Russell Wilson, who already has succeeded.

The minimum sample size for a counter-example is one. Kiper's comment about sample size is ignorant.