Welcome to our first annual Seattle Seahawks Draft Grading Thing-y. After every NFL draft, I will sit down with my expert panel, and we will discuss each pick made by the Seattle Seahawks, and then assign a grade. Full discloser, draft grades are meaningless. For example, Seattle’s legendary 2012 draft class that included Bruce Irvin, Bobby Wagner, Russell Wilson, and JR Sweezy got an F by some so called high profile national draft expert on one of those cable networks. Meaningless.

My expert panel includes myself, my orange tabby cat, Earl, and my black medium haired cat, Kam. Here are our meaningless draft grades. Yay!

LJ Collier, Defensive Lineman, TCU. Grade B+

Curtis: I mocked this guy to Seattle in our first mock draft. I’m smart. Seriously, though. This is the type of pick I thought Seattle would make. They needed pass rush, and Collier  dominated Senior Bowl practices going against top offensive linemen coming out of college. Carroll’s version of the 4-3 defense is a hybrid scheme that requires hybrid talent, and that is this guy. He can play all over the line. Solid pick. A-

Earl: I love that fact that they drafted a defensive lineman first. Every year they should take a defensive or offensive lineman first. That’s how you win in this league. But they traded away their top edge rusher in Frank Clark, and this guy looks like he is going to do most of his rushing inside. Isn’t Rasheem Green supposed to be that? Meh. B

Kam: This dude? This dude is a dude, dude. I mean, dude, when I look at this dude? I see strong hands that will strike you as he explodes out of his stance, long arms that will follow that with a heavy club, and then a nice low center of gravity that, if he gets inside you, you’re done. They might have him listed at a defensive end, but at 6-2 and 283lbs, I can see him maybe growing into a pass rushing defensive tackle. I like this dude. A-

Marquise Blair, Safety, Utah. Grade A-

Earl. Yes. That’s what I am talking about. The Seattle Seahawks gone out and got themselves a safety who loves to smack people into next week. Let’s face the facts, Jacks. Seattle’s secondary last year was not good. On one of their better days, you could maybe call them fair, but that’s not good. To make matters worse, they did Earl Thomas dirty, and didn’t bring him back. Now, they got this Blair kid, they’re starting to make amends. They still got a way to go, but I love this pick. A+

Curtis: I mocked him to Seattle a couple times. I’m smart. Definitely going to help Seattle in the run game. My only concerns is that at 6-1 195lbs, that feels slight. Does he hold up? Because your best ability is availability. I love that this is another pick to continue getting tougher on the defense, though. Blair is Seattle’s highest drafted DB since Earl Thomas. That says something to me. They like this guy a lot. A-

Kam: This pick is about beating the Rams. When the Rams played us last year, those receivers were running around not really all that scared, even though we knocked one of them out of a game and for the season, and their running backs were getting huge gains because we weren’t tackling well in space. What I love about this pick is that he is strong against the run, and he does is with a lot of speed. My only wee concern is that frame. A-

DK Metcalf, Wide Receiver, Utah. Grade A

Earl: Seattle got the steel of the draft right here at pick 64. A 6-3 228lbs Marvel character who can run 4.33 in a forty? Yeah, I don’t care if his college route tree wasn’t advanced. You’re pairing him up with arguably the best deep passing QB in the league in Russell Wilson. With this guy, you run the ball, run the ball, run the ball, then BOOM! – you hit ‘em with the play action. Defenses are always going to be thinking about that all game long. A+

Kam: Neck injuries scare me, and he had that in college. So, I see why he dropped. He also didn’t show great short area quickness, but that isn’t the style of receiver he is. This guy is a classic split end receiver whose job is to take the top off defenses. If he can stay healthy, and things click for this cat, good night Irene. The Seattle Seahawks are going to be a fun team to watch. A

Curtis: He’s a freak. Probably the freakiest player in this draft class, and the most boom or bust. I love the pick for the simple fact that Seattle swung for the fences here. They went yard for a guy who, if he develops, could become one of the absolute stars of the league. He has that kind of talent. The injury history scares me a bit, and I think fans need to be patient with the guy because receivers tend to take a while to develop. A-

Cody Barton, Linebacker, Utah. Grade B

Curtis: To be honest, I didn’t know who this guy was. I had to look him up. They moved up to take him at 88, and then afterwards the Colts took a linebacker with a more recognizable name. So, I’m guessing that the league was more in love with this guy than the experts. I love it when picks like this are made because it shows that the league knows more about football than the pundits. That said, Barton moves well in coverage and tackles well in space. Like him. B+

Earl: Would have liked to have seen edge rusher here. They traded Clark and then drafted a DE/DT hybrid. Clark was an edge. They need edge help. I’m not saying that Barton isn’t a good player. He might be really good. He might replace KJ or Bobby if they loose one of those guys to injury or free agency, and he might become the next pro bowl linebacker on the defense, but he is what he is, and that is a linebacker. There was that edge dude from the Old Dominion sitting right there, and they didn’t take him. C

Kam: How many pro bowl edge rushers have you seen coming out of Old Dominion? How many NFL players do you see coming out of there? This dude was a leader on a tough Utah defense that gave the PAC 12 fits last year. This dude is a big, quick linebacker that can cover, and he can tackle. I said it about Blair and I will say it again here. This pick is about beating the Rams. If you are going to beat the Rams, you have got to be a good tackling team in space. Period. That’s what this guy does. A-

Gary Jennings, Wide Receiver. Grade A-

Kam: The news about Doug Baldwin sucks. In fact, it also blows. It sucks, and it blows. It suck blows. Seattle needed to come out of this draft with multiple receivers. They got one guy in Metcalf take the top of the defense, but it looks like they double dipped here because this guy looks like he can take the top off the defense, too. Guess what? They got Tyler Lockett who can also take the top off the defense, as well. Now, they can’t all be doing that at the same time. Someone has to work underneath. I gotta feeling they are going to have this guy working underneath, or Tyler. I’m just thinking out loud here. I like his size. A-

Curtis: I mocked this guy to Seattle in our last mock leading to the NFL draft. I’m smart. Seriously, though. I think this guy feels like a Seahawk receiver. He actually kind of reminds me of Jermaine Kearse. He has decent size, he’s fast and athletic, can catch contested passes and turn up field. I like this pick a lot. A

Earl: Seattle needed another edge rusher, but it is true that the news about Baldwin possibly retiring is sucky. Just would have liked to have seen an edge rusher here. B

Phil Haynes, Guard, Wake Forrest. Grade A

Earl: Now this here is a pick. Get this big, bad, nasty road grater up here in the 206. This dude is built like a Sherman tank, and he moves like jeep. Sorry for the WW2 military mobile machinery references, there, but I can’t help myself. This is old school football. Seattle needed to draft another edge rusher, but Seattle got great value. He’s going to be a starter, y’all. If not this year, then next. And he’s going to be gooooooooood. A+

Kam: 6-4 333lbs of pure mass blocking in front of Russell Wilson. He’s strong and athletic, too. I’m good with it. A-

Curtis: Yeah, he’s another guy who’s name I wasn’t familiar with. Having said that, when I started looking at him online, he got me fired up. I think the safe bet is that he is a starter by 2020. Really like this pick. A

Ugo Amadi, Safety, Oregon. Grade B+

Curtis: Yeah, I gotta to be honest again. No idea who this was. That said, he’s the 2018 Lombardi winner, which is given to the college player best showing leadership. So, you got to think that the Seahawks got another alpha personality type here. At 5-9 199lbs, I wonder if he is a replacement for nickel corner Justin Coleman. I trust Pete Carroll on this one. B

Earl: Seattle drafted another safety. This goes back to all my points last year that the LOB was LOL. This cat is another sure tackler. He’s a leader. He plays the ball well. He can play nickel and safety. Needed edge rusher, but like this pick. B+

Kam: I said it about Blair. I said it about Barton. I will say it about this dude. This pick is all about beating the Los Angeles Rams in 2019. You want to beat the Rams. You got to be a good tackling team in space, and you got to cover. Guess what? This guy can tackle, and cover, and he’s smart, and he’s a leader. I like that Seattle is going back to their DNA with picks like this. A-

Ben Burr-Kirven, Linebacker, Washington. Grade A+

Curtis: Seattle drafted Ben Burr-Kirven! Ben Burr-Kirven, y’all! Ben Burr-Kirven! A+

Kam: I love it when daddy is happy! Seriously, though. BBK is a baller. Dude is fast, can cover, and tackle. See the theme, here? This pick is all about beating the Los Angeles Rams. If you want to beat the Rams, you have to tackle and cover, and it helps when you got linebackers who can do that fast. I think this is the steel pick of the draft. A+

Earl: Seattle drafted Ben Burr-Kirven! Ben Burr-Kirven, y’all! Ben Burr-Kirven! A+

Travis Homer, Running back, Miami. Grade B

Earl: This is the pick that came in where I started resigning myself to the fact that Seattle was not going to draft another edge rusher, they would probably look to veteran free agency afterwards, and I was going to have to poop on your pillow. His college tape is fine. Kind of reminds me of Thomas Rawls a bit. B

Curtis: Pete Carroll knows running backs. I like this pick because Seattle lost Mike Davis in free agency, and CJ Prosise can never stay healthy. So, even though the team has Chris Carson and Rashaad Penny, depth is an issue. B+

Kam: I looked at his highlight tape while you were changing my litter box, and I really liked what I saw. Fast, decisive, has a nice extra gear. I wouldn’t be surprised if he found a role on this offense right away, maybe on third downs. B

Demarcus Christmas, Defensive Tackle, Florida State. Grade C-

Kam: He’s probably an early down run stopper type. Yeah. Honestly, I don’t know what they have here. Maybe they know something that we don’t. C

Curtis: I know the name because at one point he was thought be perhaps be a third or fourth round pick. But he never stood out in college, and was kind of a rotational player. He flashed a little bit of pass rush here and there. Maybe they think they can uncork something out of him. They needed DT depth, though. C

Earl: They needed an edge rusher, and when they took this cat. I admit it.. I pooped on your pillow at this point. They took a defensive tackle with no explosive traits. D+

John Ursua, Wide Receiver, Hawaii. Grade C+

Curtis: Yet another play that I will not pretend to know, but they were out of picks in this draft, they traded back into it in round seven to grab him. So, obviously, they felt that they needed him. He’s short. So he is probably the slot guy that they feel they need to help replace Baldwin. Interestingly, he led the nation in touchdown catches with a whopping 16. Not a track star. C+

Earl: Another signal to me that Angry Doug is probably Done Doug. It would be really amusing to me if looking back five years from now, this guy was the star of this draft class. Personally, that’d just amuse me. B-

Kam: It’s a scary thought having no more Doug in a Seattle uniform. I’m not ready for that, but if it’s coming, Seattle has to be ready. This little dude was a productive college slot receiver, so why not? Go Hawks. C+

Closing Thoughts, and Final Grade for the Seattle Draft Class. A-

Curtis: Seattle had to draft Collier, and I think they got someone who can be a solid piece of the puzzle moving forward. In fact, I think he could easily become a fan favorite. As the draft went on, Seattle got great value. Solid draft. A

Kam: Like this draft class. Didn’t see any reaches, and I think they got steels in Metcalf, Haynes, and BBK. Collier, though; that dude is a dude, dude. A-

Earl: I thought Seattle came up short at edge rusher, which is frustrating in a deep defensive line draft. I think the Barton pick should have been another edge rusher, but if Barton is better than the edge rushers that were available, I guess I’m okay with that. Metcalf, Blair, Haynes, and BBK excite me. B+