No. 25 choice often falls flat
If the Seattle Seahawks opt to keep the No. 25 pick in the first round of this weekend’s NFL draft – and all indications are that the team is trying to move out of the spot in an effort to compile more selections – they hope to get a player who can be a fixture for the future.
If history is any indication, that might not be the case.
Many of the players picked 25th overall in the annual draft didn’t pan out. Then again, the last three No. 25 picks have worked out pretty well.
“He is going to be a fit,” Seahawks team president Tim Ruskell said when asked to describe the player Seattle is likely to pick. “He is going to be a fit in terms of coming in here and challenging for a job right away. We will not break from that profile. We are not gamblers. We don’t tend to do that.”
Picking this late in the first round, teams can usually afford to gamble a bit on a player who has dropped for one reason or another.
Or the drafting team can go for one of the top players from a position that hasn’t been hit too hard in Picks 1 through 24.
That was the case with the Carolina Panthers last year. Carolina nabbed Miami linebacker Jon Beason with the 25th overall pick, and he went on to lead the team in tackles.
The previous year, Pittsburgh took Ohio State wide receiver Santonio Holmes, who had 942 receiving yards and eight touchdowns last season.
Washington traded up to the No. 25 pick of the 2005 draft to select Auburn quarterback Jason Campbell, who has been injured but looks like the future of the franchise.
Not all No. 25 picks have turned out so well. In fact, the 25th pick has been pretty unlucky over the years.
The Green Bay Packers probably regret taking Arkansas cornerback Ahmad Carroll with the 25th pick in the 2004 draft. He’s already out of the league.
University of Miami defensive tackle William Joseph, the 25th pick in the 2003 draft, started just 17 games in five seasons with the New York Giants. He’s now playing for the Oakland Raiders after missing the entire 2007 season with a back injury (hey, he still has his Super Bowl ring).
Philadelphia’s choice of UCLA receiver Freddie Mitchell in 2001 didn’t work out well, as his most notable contribution was firing up the New England defense with some ill-timed quotes before Super Bowl XXXIX. Nor did picks like Green Bay’s choice of Clemson defensive back Antwon Edwards in 1999, Philadelphia’s selection of Virginia defensive end Jon Harris in 1997 and Miami’s decision to take offensive lineman Billy Milner of Houston in 1995.
Of all the No. 25 picks selected since the first round expanded past 16 picks in 1967, the most successful career belonged to New England wide receiver Stanley Morgan (1977).
None of that matters to Ruskell and the people making this year’s decision. If the Seahawks do hang on to the No. 25 pick, they’ll have plenty of options.
Defensive line appears to be the most likely position to be addressed, with players like USC defensive end Lawrence Jackson and North Carolina defensive end/tackle Kentwan Balmer likely to be around. Clemson’s Phillip Merling is also a possibility, although many mock drafts have him going a few picks earlier.
Well-regarded players at several other positions could also fall into the Seahawks’ laps.
A running back like Felix Jones of Arkansas, or maybe even local product Jonathan Stewart of Oregon, could be around to give Seattle a possible future replacement for Shaun Alexander.
Productive college wide receivers like DeSean Jackson (Cal), Limas Sweed (Texas), Malcolm Kelly (Oklahoma) and Early Doucet (LSU) have seen their stock fall in recent weeks and could be around at No. 25. The Seahawks lost D.J. Hackett to free agency and could be without Deion Branch (torn ACL) for the first couple weeks of the upcoming regular season.
The most intriguing position might be tackle, where as many as six players are targeted for Round 1. Seattle could be looking for an eventual replacement for aging Pro Bowler Walter Jones, and this might be the year that the Seahawks draft a young tackle.
Michigan’s Jake Long will go No. 1 overall to Miami, while Ryan Clady (Boise State) and Jeffrey Otah (Pitt) are also likely top-15 picks. Vanderbilt’s Chris Williams has a remote chance of lasting until No. 25, while Boston College’s Gosder Cherilus is a more realistic possibility.
The best offensive-line option for the Seahawks might be Virginia’s Branden Albert, who played guard in college but is projected as a tackle at the NFL level. Albert would be a nice fit because he could start out at guard and eventually replace Jones on the outside. But he has been one of the fastest risers of the first round in recent days, being targeted as high as the top 10.
Just as likely is a scenario in which the Seahawks trade down a few picks, possibly even into the second round, in order to add selections later in the draft.
“There’s a lot of activity from our pick down to the bottom of the first round,” Ruskell said on Thursday. “It’s between those teams and the teams in the top of the second round, wanting to come up.”