If the 2011 NFL Draft was a final exam, the Seattle Seahawks would be forced to retake the class. ESPN's Mel Kiper handed out his 2011 NFL Draft grades on Saturday and the Seahawks checked in with the lowest marks and picks that seemed to leave Kiper befuddled. Kiper felt Seattle reached consistently with its picks, ignoring the traditional sense of value and picking as if the draft was a giant dartboard.
Overall, Kiper gave the Seahawks a D+, the lowest grade of any. Seattle got a C for need-based drafting and a D for value. In his explanation, Kiper said the early rounds doomed Seattle, but the Seahawks did receive a little redemption as the draft wore on.
The Seahawks then made some sensible picks in the secondary, but at what impact that late? They did nothing really to help the defensive line and their sense of value was questionable. The positive might be that this is a very young team, and you suspect Pete Carroll expects improvement. I just don't know if he added much this weekend.
The low marks are to be expected as the Seahawks passed on impact players for safer, system players. Kiper, like many others, is still hung-up on Seattle passing on Andy Dalton, though he wonders if Kevin Kolb or Carson Palmer may be in the Seahawks future. Both, in my opinion, would be leaps and bounds better than Dalton, but I never understood the serious infatuation with the TCU quarterback.
Now that the draft is over, we can crawl back into our cozy world up here in the Northwest, allowing the national media to forget we exist again for another few months.
For even more on the draft, head on over to Field Gulls. Check out the rest of our 2011 NFL Draft grades to get caught up on all the picks. We'll be covering the latest news and rumors throughout the entire process in our 2011 NFL Draft StoryStream. Stay with us for more on the draft as it becomes available. Check out our 2011 NFL mock draft StoryStream for even more predictions and projections.