Monday, April 28, 2008

At Look At the Former Seahawks Drafts

by: Michael Steffes

With a little rest under my belt, I thought it would be worth looking at some other teams drafts a bit. Specifically, the former Seahawks who have been given GM roles around the league. Who would have thought the Seahawks would have a personnel tree, but I guess that is what a little success does for you, huh. To see the breakdown....


First, Scot McGloughan and the SF 49ers....



There is also Mike Reinfeldt, and the Tennessee Titans....



Finally, Ted Thompson and the Green Bay Packers



First off, Scott McGloughlan was given full control over personal for the first time this year. Not surprisngly, San Francisco had a very strong draft. For one, you can see the influence of even the one year he spent with Ruskell. All big school guys. Not only that but they used top picks to strengthen the lines. That tells me that he probably had a pretty strong voice, as Mike Nolan and Mike Martz have often drafted skill guys very high. Overall, I think McGloughlan did a very nice job and didn't let others talk him out of his plan. San Fran will be better for this, and it may be possible for him to survive, even if Nolan/Martz do not.

Next, Mike Rienfeldt. Oh Mike, how you have lost your way. Just taking over in Tennessee before last years draft, not much influence from the current Seahawks regime is present. Look at all those small school guys. Also, taking Stanford Kelgar is an odd choice. He has a criminal proceeding against him yet to be resolved. If you are Tennessee do you really need that, after Pac Man. Anyway, likely Jeff Fisher still controls most of the decisions. He has had a lot of success with small school guys, most notably Steve McNair, so Reinfeldt either doesn't subscribe to the "Seahawk way", or his voice is being drowned out by those who have been there longer.

Finally, Ted Thompson. Ted was more influenced during his time here by Coach Holmgren. He was out before Ruskell joined. One thing he and Ruskell do share in common is the high value they place on draft picks. Thompson more so than anybody in the league. He completely skips free agency most years and accumulates as many picks as he can. It has worked. It allows him to do somethings that one can only wonder if he picked up from Holmgren. Taking two QB's would be a classic Holmgren move. I am sure he would have loved to do that, he just never had the roster Thompson does right now. Also, look at the focus on the offense. Offensive players are less likely to contribute right away, but GB took 7 out of 9 on that side of the ball. Also, only one player not from a major school, which shows some belief in the big school is best mentality, even though in the past he has gambled on lesser known college players.

Just another interesting way to look at some of the Seahawk story lines of the draft. If the success keeps up, it won't be long till Ruston Webster is getting talked about as a possible GM. Lets hope we can keep him around. I really like the way things are working right now.