A New Class: Comparing Seahawks 2022 Draft Picks With Iconic Star Wars Characters

In honor of the holiday bearing the name of the famous franchise from a far, far away galaxy, reporter Corbin Smith breaks down each of Seattle's nine draft choices with a Star Wars-centric spin.

May the Fourth Be With You!

While it may not be as important as Christmas, Thanksgiving, or even Halloween - I personally think it belongs in that discussion - Star Wars day has quickly become one of the most memorable holidays in honor of the pop culture phenomenon. Many fans will be binging on movies and television shows or playing video games to commemorate the occasion.

More than happy to confess my personal nerdism, merging football analysis with the beloved franchise from a galaxy far, far away created by George Lucas, I broke down the tape on each of the Seahawks' nine new draft picks in the 2022 class and created comps for iconic Star Wars characters.

Which characters wind up making the cut? Without further ado, here's who each draft choice would be if thrown into the Star Wars universe:

Charles Cross: Obi Wan Kenobi

It's only fitting that Cross - who became the first top-10 pick by the Seahawks since 2010 - draws comparisons to the most trusted Jedi protector in Star Wars lore after allowing only two sacks as a junior at Mississippi State. Forced into exile after the rise of the Galactic Empire, Kenobi watched over young Luke Skywalker from a distance on Tatooine, ensuring the boy's protection from the Empire and his father Darth Vader. Later on, with the help of Skywalker, Han Solo, and Chewbacca among others, he was entrusted with bringing R2D2 to Bail Organa on Alderaan, though that never happened with the planet being blown up by the Death Star. Seattle will be putting the same faith in Cross to prevent defenders from blowing up Drew Lock or whoever is under center at left tackle for years to come - he's their only hope.

Boye Mafe: Luke Skywalker

After finishing near the bottom of the NFL in sacks and pressure rate, the Seahawks need a savior to spark their pass rush and Mafe may be the chosen one. While he’s a bit older for a rookie and will be 24 by the time the 2022 season starts, he was the only prospect at 260-plus pounds at the NFL combine to run the 40-yard dash in under 4.55 seconds and post a 38-inch vertical jump, so he has rare physical tools for his position to hunt down the Sith – er, I mean NFL quarterbacks. Like Skywalker, he’s also highly intelligent and exhibits great leadership skills as a former team captain for Minnesota, but the young pass rushing apprentice still has much left to learn from Master Clint Hurtt and needs to complete his training to reach his potential.

Kenneth Walker III: Mace Windu

Though he's quiet and all business, Walker packs quite the punch out of the backfield. Boasting 4.38 40-yard dash speed, underrated power, and precise ball carrier vision, he's a handful to contain once he gets the football in his hands and inflicts damage on defenders in a variety of ways. He'll lower the shoulder when he has to, he can make tacklers whiff in space, and he has the burst to go the distance on any carry. Like Windu was with anti-traditional Jedi viewpoints, he wasn't a fan of a non-traditional offense starting his college career at Wake Forest and found his greatest success once he landed in a pro-style scheme at Michigan State. A disciplined runner who remains steadfast in his approach, he will get to enjoy running in a similar scheme in Seattle. In another similarity, neither conquered their greatest rival, as Walker's Spartans got spanked by Ohio State and Windu got thrown out of a window by Darth Sidious.

Abraham Lucas: Chewbacca

An experienced warrior in the trenches, Lucas served as a four-year starter and a captain at Washington State, earning the trust of every quarterback he kept clean. While he's a man of great faith and by all accounts a good man off the field, he turns on a different switch between the lines when an opponent threatens those behind him in the backfield. He plays the game with an edge not expected from an Air Raid or Run N' Shoot offensive lineman, regularly driving defenders into the turf. While the Seahawks will be keeping their fingers crossed he doesn't rip off any arms in the process, he will do whatever needs to be done to spring running backs and protect quarterbacks that he's loyal to as Chewy did for Han Solo and company.

Coby Bryant: Hondo Ohnaka

Being compared to a pirate or smuggler may not seem ideal, but in the case of Bryant, the qualities he shares with the notorious Ohnaka give him the best chance to be an impact player in the NFL. Though he's far from an elite athlete - Bryant's 3-cone drill time of 4.33 seconds ranked in the eighth percentile among cornerbacks - he compensates with elite instincts and excelled at playing the role of robber in the secondary for Cincinnati. Opportunistic and efficient jumping routes, he picked off nine passes in four seasons while also producing 26 pass breakups and won the Jim Thorpe Award in 2021. While Ohnaka didn't always get the treasure he sought, he maintained a leadership role for one of those most feared pirate cells in the galaxy and pulled off plenty of heists along the way. Seattle will be hoping to see Bryant make similar magic happen after the team finished 25th in turnovers last season.

Tariq Woolen: K-2SO

There's never been an athlete enter the NFL like Woolen, who at 6-foot-4 ran a 4.26 40-yard dash and jumped 42 inches in the vertical jump at the scouting combine in March. No player of that size had ever posted such ridiculous testing numbers, making it seem as if he had been created in a droid factory. In "Rogue One," K-2SO is an Imperial droid who undergoes a substantial reprogramming to become an asset for the rebellion. Much to the dismay of his human comrades, he rarely follows orders, but his skills prove invaluable saving Cassian Andor and Jyn Erso in tough situations on numerous occasions. In the case of Woolen, he reprogrammed moving from receiver to cornerback midway through his college career at UTSA and while he's a major work in progress learning his new position, his sheer athleticism and physical gifts could wind up helping Seattle's secondary sooner than expected. Let's just hope the coaching staff doesn't have to deal with too much sarcasm along the way...

Tyreke Smith: Garazeb Orrelios

Looking at Smith's college statistics at Ohio State, he didn't bring down quarterbacks often. However, he was far more valuable to the Buckeyes' defense than his sack numbers suggest, much as Orrelios was a key cog for the Lothal rebels without always getting proper recognition for his efforts. Per Pro Football Focus, he finished with a pressure rate north of 20 percent each of his final two collegiate seasons and had 36 total pressures in 2021, showing himself to be highly disruptive without sacks. Smith and Orrelios compare favorably as warriors with excellent hand-fighting technique, an underrated first step, and plenty of power at the point of attack and both are willing to play through pain. If Smith can emerge as a viable rotational pass rusher for the Seahawks, he could be a unsung hero just as Orrelios proved to be in the rebellion against the Empire.

Bo Melton: Darth Maul

Starring at Rutgers, Melton didn't have a chance to shine as he may have with other programs due underwhelming quarterback play. Still, the speedy wideout and return specialist did everything he could to command respect in the pre-draft process, including running the 40-yard dash in a blazing 4.34 seconds at the combine. This was expected to vault him up draft boards, but in similar fashion to how Maul got dumped by Darth Sidious - aside from the fact he wasn't cut in half by a light saber, of course - he was betrayed by NFL teams as he waited and wait to hear his name called deep into day three of the draft. Finally, the Seahawks picked him 229th overall in the seventh round and now, Melton will have a chance to reveal himself to the NFL and at last have a chance to enact his revenge on the rest of the league.

Dareke Young: Qui-Gon Jinn

Like Woolen, Young possesses outstanding size and athletic traits entering the league, but what sets him apart from the rest of his draft peers is his academic prowess. While starring as a receiver, running back, and returner at Lenoir Rhyne, a Division II university in North Carolina, he also excelled in the classroom, graduating with a degree in engineering and physics. Even while trying to make it in the NFL, he's gunning for his MBA. Likewise, Jinn was one of the wisest, most intelligent Jedi, but since he was a free thinker who thought outside the confines of the order's strict rules, he preferred to remain in the periphery and wasn't part of the council. Young could be a player who breaks the rules as a seventh rounder from a small school with immense athletic tools, positional versatility, and smarts.