It’s draft season, and while the Seattle Seahawks are gearing up, it’s time to look back and have a discussion on who the biggest bust in franchise history truly is.
I know, I know… after reading this title you’re probably itching to tell me how wrong I am in the comments section, so let me get this out of the way first: I am not making the argument Aaron Curry *wasn’t* monumentally disappointing. When you have the No. 4 overall pick, and you draft a “can’t miss” prospect, you expect to have a difference maker for the foreseeable future. While Curry was far from that caliber of player, the Seahawks were able to recover from this stumble.
After two years, Curry was supplanted by a true franchise-cornerstone in K.J. Wright, then Seattle was able to get at least a draft pick back when traded to the Raiders. At the very least, Curry managed to see the field in a Seahawks uniform, which is a lot more than anyone can say about Malik McDowell. I cannot stress this enough: disappointing play is better than literally nothing.
Although he was a second round pick (No. 35 overall) McDowell was actually Seattle’s first pick in the 2017 NFL Draft. The Seahawks originally had the No. 26 pick, but instead of selecting available defensive players like T.J. Watt or Tre’Davious White, they continued to trade back to No. 35 for McDowell. For the record, Budda Baker was the very next pick, and Dalvin Cook went six picks later.
McDowell would go on to never see the field for Seattle. McDowell suffered injuries from an ATV crash before training camp which cost him his rookie season. The need at defensive line was so great for the Seahawks they traded franchise staple Jermaine Kearse and a second round pick (which eventually became tight end Dallas Goedert) to obtain defensive tackle Sheldon Richardson to fill McDowell’s role. Seattle was unable to re-sign Richardson the following offseason.
Additionally, by focusing on defensive line instead of the much-maligned offensive line, the Seahawks did not draft available linemen such as Ryan Ramczyk or Cam Robinson. Skipping Robinson directly hurt Seattle later in the year, as he sealed the edge on a crucial 3rd-and-long for running back Leonard Floyd to convert late in a Week 14 game, allowing the Jacksonville Jaguars to ice a 30-24 win over the Seahawks.
However, the need for offensive line was still very much present. Again, by ignoring this in the draft in favor of McDowell, Seattle was forced to trade for Houston Texans tackle Duane Brown for a second round and third round pick. Brown had a solid run in Seattle, but Ramczyk and Robinson are both bigger contributors in the NFL at this point in their careers.
Aaron Curry may not have been the player he was promised, but Malik McDowell cost the Seahawks far more in draft capital and set the team back. Ultimately, selecting McDowell cost Seattle three second round draft picks, a third rounder, and a fan favorite receiver. All this and the Seahawks never got one tackle out of him.
