Which Players Have Seahawks Drafted After Top-30 Visit?

While top-30 visits are only a small piece of the pre-draft puzzle, Seattle has drafted and signed numerous players who they met with at the VMAC over the past 11 years.

With the 2022 NFL Draft only two weeks away in Las Vegas, the Seahawks and all 32 teams are scrambling to get their top-30 visits with a variety of prospects. These on-site meetings allow players to meet with coaches and personnel staff as well as undergo medical examinations and physicals.

In terms of relevance, the majority of players who fly out to Seattle for these top-30 visits won't be drafted by the team. However, history indicates at least one of them will receive a call from general manager John Schneider and coach Pete Carroll, while several others could be signed as priority undrafted free agents. For that reason, the significance of these visits shouldn't be understated.

Looking back at their past 11 drafts, with last year being excluded due to most visits being done virtually because of COVID protocols, which players who reportedly attended top-30 visits at the VMAC wound up being drafted or signing with the team?

*This is an unofficial account for previous top-30 visits. Some players drafted by Seattle may have visited and it wasn't reported.

2020

© Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the NFL shut down in-person visits in early March 2020 and few visits were made league-wide. But before that decision was made, Tennessee defensive end Darrell Taylor visited the Seahawks at the VMAC only a few months after undergoing surgery to repair a stress fracture in his leg. While he wound up not playing at all his rookie season due to a longer than expected recovery from the operation, Seattle's medical staff felt comfortable with him after he underwent a through medical examination. The team traded up and drafted him in the second round. Back healthy, he finished tied for second on the team with 6.5 sacks in 2021.

2019

In the last normal pre-draft cycle prior to COVID, the Seahawks met with several players who wound up being early draft choices. Among those, they used their 29th overall selection in the first round on TCU defensive end L.J. Collier, who had met with the team at the Senior Bowl as well as a top-30 visit at the VMAC. Unfortunately, through three seasons, that pick hasn't panned out for Seattle, as Collier has 33 tackles and 3.0 sacks in 37 career games. None of the other players who visited on top-30 visits that year were drafted or signed as priority free agents, though the team did recently sign running back Darwin Thompson and had tight end Jace Sternberger on the practice squad briefly.

2018

None of the players Seattle met with on top-30 visits during the 2018 offseason wound up being drafted by the organization. However, they landed a future starter in Texas defensive tackle Poona Ford, who somehow went undrafted before signing with the Seahawks. By the end of his rookie season, the South Carolina native was in the starting lineup and hasn't looked back, producing 146 tackles, 22 tackles for loss, and 4.5 sacks in 59 career games.

2017

While the results were mixed at best, the Seahawks drafted a pair of players early in the 2017 NFL Draft who previously met with the team on a top-30 visit. After trading down three times, they chose Michigan State defensive tackle Malik McDowell with their first selection early in the second round. After suffering injuries in an ATV accident prior to training camp, he never played a down for the team before eventually making a comeback with the Browns.

On the flip side, one round later, Seattle snagged a future Pro Bowl cornerback in Shaquill Griffin, who found his way into the lineup midway through his rookie season playing across from and eventually replacing Richard Sherman. In four seasons with the franchise, he started 53 games and produced 249 tackles, 48 passes defensed, and six interceptions. He joined the Jaguars as a free agent prior to the 2021 season.

2016

Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports

Seeking help in the trenches, the Seahawks used two early selections on offensive linemen who met with the team on top-30 visits in 2016. First, after trading down to 31st overall in the first round, the team selected Texas A&M tackle Germain Ifedi. While penalties and inconsistent play in pass protection were an issue throughout his four seasons with the team, he started 60 games at right guard and right tackle during that span, proving to be a serviceable starter.

Seattle also used one of its third round picks on Boise State tackle Rees Odhiambo, who stepped into the lineup as an injury replacement for left tackle George Fant at the beginning of the 2017 season. Struggling mightily in those seven starts, he suffered season-ending finger injuries and the team promptly traded for Duane Brown, securing an All-Pro blind side protector. Odhiambo was released at the end of the preseason in 2018 and played one more season with the Cardinals.

2015

Though the selection was a controversial one at the time due to domestic violence allegations, after meeting with the team on a top-30 visit, Michigan defensive end Frank Clark wound up being one of Seattle's better draft picks in the Schneider/Carroll era. He had to wait his turn behind Michael Bennett and Cliff Avril, but he broke out with 10.0 sacks in 2016. Taking over as a full-time starter the next year, he produced 22.0 combined sacks in 2017 and 2018 before being traded to Kansas City for multiple draft picks.

In that same draft, the Seahawks selected three other players - guard Mark Glowinski, tackle Terry Poole, and center Kristjan Sokoli - who had private visits at the VMAC during the pre-draft process. Poole and Sokoli played in one combined game with the organization, while Glowinski started all 16 games at left guard in 2016 before inexplicably being waived midway through the 2017 campaign. He quickly latched on with the Colts and became a full-time starter in 2018. He recently signed with the Giants and remains in the league.

2014

After meeting with him in a top-30 visit, the Seahawks tabbed Colorado receiver Paul Richardson as their first draft choice at No. 45 overall in the second round. The speedy wideout battled injuries during his first three seasons before finally turning the corner in 2017, producing career-highs with 44 receptions for 703 yards and six touchdowns. He played two seasons in Washington and only lasted a few days after being re-signed by Seattle in training camp in 2020.

Among other players who had top-30 visits that year, the Seahawks used a sixth-round pick on San Diego State safety Eric Pinkins, who dressed for six games and produced a pair of tackles in his brief tenure with the organization. The team also signed Montana linebacker Brock Coyle, who produced 33 tackles in three seasons as a key special teams contributor and started five games as an injury replacement.

2013

Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports

The Seahawks only selected one player who met with them on a pre-draft top-30 visit back in 2013, but it ended up being a notable selection that didn't pan out as planned. Texas A&M running back Christine Michael put on a show at the NFL combine that year, running a 6.69-second 3-cone drill and posting a ridiculous 43-inch vertical jump. Possessing rare athletic traits, the team invested a second-round pick on him believing he would be Marshawn Lynch's heir apparent. But that never came to fruition, as he barely eclipsed 1,000 rushing yards for his entire career and failed to play to his potential in two separate stints in Seattle.

2012

Headlining one of the best draft classes in NFL history, the Seahawks met with Utah State linebacker Bobby Wagner for a top-30 visit. In fact, the future Hall of Famer told reporters at one point the visit was "the worst" and he got into it with linebacker coach Ken Norton Jr., who decided to showcase most of his bad plays in film review. Nonetheless, they loved him as a prospect and the decision to pick him in the second round worked out beautifully for all parties as he set a team record for tackles, led the team to a Super Bowl win, and earned eight All-Pro selections in 10 seasons with the franchise among other accolades.

Wagner wasn't the only notable player from Seattle's Super Bowl squads who made a top-30 visit either. Cornerback Jeremy Lane arrived as a sixth-round pick out of Northwestern State and immediately became a key special teams player before eventually earning a spot as a starter in the slot. He produced 146 tackles, 15 passes defensed, and two interceptions in six seasons with the franchise. The team also signed Portland State safety Deshawn Shead as an undrafted free agent after a top-30 visit and after several seasons thriving as a special teams ace, he became a full-time starter at cornerback in 2016.

2011

Seattle only invested one selection on a player who met with the team on a top-30 visit in 2011, but he turned out to be one of the best value picks in franchise history. Reuniting with Carroll, who previously coached him at USC, linebacker Malcolm Smith joined the team as an unheralded seventh-round pick. Mostly playing special teams, he had 16 tackles as a rookie before taking on a larger role over the next couple of seasons. He made his mark returning an interception of Peyton Manning for a touchdown in Super Bowl XLVIII, eventually earning MVP honors in a 43-8 throttling of the Broncos. While he's bounced around with four teams since, he remains in the league and had 51 tackles for the Browns in 2021.