What did the Seattle Seahawks lose in forfeiting a fifth-round draft choice for violating rules against excessive contact in offseason workouts? Considering some fifth-round picks get released or find themselves on the Week 1 practice squad as rookies, the draft element of the Seahawks' penalty might not seem too steep.
However, a look at their recent draft history shows that they could be giving up a chance to land a great talent.
Since coach Pete Carroll and GM John Schneider arrived in Seattle in 2010, the club has gleaned extensive value from the fifth round, beginning with safety Kam Chancellor in the 2010 draft. A year later, the Seahawks grabbed another key member of the Legion of Boom in Richard Sherman, who was a fifth-round pick from Stanford. In 2013, Seattle selected TE Luke Willson in the fifth round, and he's collected 26 regular-season starts since then, making 62 receptions.
A look at the Seahawks' fifth-round history under Carroll:
2010: DB Kam Chancellor, Virginia Tech
2011: DB Richard Sherman, Stanford; DB Mark LeGree, Appalachian State
2012: LB Korey Toomer, Idaho
2013: DL Jesse Williams, Alabama; CB Tharold Simon, LSU; TE Luke Willson, Rice
2014: DT Jimmy Staten, Middle Tennessee State
2015: CB Tye Smith, Towson
2016: DT Quinton Jefferson, Maryland; RB Alex Collins, Arkansas
The Seahawks didn't strike gold with all these fifth-round picks, but overall, it's an impressive track record. The biggest steal of the group would have to be Sherman, who is one of the game's elite cover men.
As for the 2017 draft, Seattle now has a two-round hole, as the club traded its 2017 fourth-round choice to the New England Patriots on the final day of this year's draft. However, the club could be in line for compensatory choices that would help fill that gap. The NFL announces compensatory picks each year in March.
*Follow Chase Goodbread on Twitter **@ChaseGoodbread*.
