Unheralded Seahawks roster has taken them to a Super Bowl
It's easy to look at the Seattle Seahawks now and see why they're in the Super Bowl. When you have solid quarterback play, a strong running game, and a great defense, it doesn't take Columbo to figure out why they finished 13-3 and made it to the big game.
Seattle's roster is littered with Pro Bowlers, but saying they were built by accumulating blue-chip prospects would be the furthest thing from the truth. General manager John Schneider has put together a group of players with several shrewd gambles that have paid off, and he deserves as much credit as anybody for the position they are in.
Schneider and head coach Pete Carroll were brought in after a 5-11 year in 2009, and since then the Seahawks have made the playoffs in three-of-four years. Schneider's first big splash came courtesy of the dreaded mid-season trade, when he plucked Marshawn Lynch from the Buffalo Bills in October of 2010 for a fourth-rounder as well as a conditional pick. If you are an Indianapolis Colts fan and had to endure the running game of Trent Richardson in 2013, you know what a disaster mid-season deals can be.
Lynch was a steal for the Seahawks though, a player the Bills were likely trying to just get rid off because of off-field issues, but even still you would think they could have received something more than a pair of late round picks. Even the Browns got a first-round pick in return for Richardson and with the way things have been going in Cleveland recently, that may go down as their smartest move for years to come.
Lynch hasn't necessarily been a model citizen in Seattle, but he's missed just one game since arriving and run for at least 1,200 yards in each of his three full seasons there, with 39 total touchdowns.
Getting Lynch gave some stability to the offense, but the Seahawks are built on defense and Schneider turned late round picks into major contributors. Before Richard Sherman became arguably the best corner and unequivocally the best post-game interview in the NFL, he was only a fifth-round draft pick in 2011. Not only that, but Sherman was a wide receiver up until his junior season at Stanford. Having the confidence to take a guy with that little experience at a difficult position to master was an ambitious strategy.
In fact, the majority of the Seahawks' vaunted secondary was made up of late round draft picks. Safety Kam Chancellor and corner Byron Maxwell were fifth and sixth round picks respectively from Schneider. That's not even mentioning corner Brandon Browner, who was spotted in the Canadian Football League and has 10 interceptions over the last three years. Browner would likely be starting right now if not for a suspension due to a violation of the league's substance abuse policy.
Schneider didn't build Seattle's entire defense through the draft, however. He also made savvy moves in free agency during the past off-season on the defensive line. Bringing in pass rushers Cliff Avril and Michael Bennett turned out to be a bargain, as they combined for 16.5 sacks and a massive sack-fumble of Colin Kaepernick in the fourth quarter of the NFC Championship game. Bennett was inked for one-year at $5M and Avril signed for two seasons at $13M. There were multiple teams with cap space that could have used help getting pressure on the quarterback, but Schneider convinced them to sign at a favorable rate in Seattle.
As good as the Seahawks' defense is, it's tough to win in the NFL without good quarterback play and the Seahawks certainly have that in Russell Wilson, who fell into their laps in the third round of the 2012 draft. Many organizations said they would have drafted the 5-foot-11 pivot in the first round had he been just a few inches taller, further proving the ridiculousness that often accompanies decision making around the draft.
To further illustrate how badly teams whiffed on the potential MVP candidate, consider the fact that the Jacksonville Jaguars took a punter five picks before Wilson. A PUNTER! I'm sure Jags fans are sleeping well knowing that Bryan Anger recorded a net-punting average of over 40 yards in his first two seasons and hey, it's not like Jacksonville needed a quarterback anyway.
As with any general manager, no matter how many good moves you make, there will always be one or two you want a mulligan on. If Schneider could go back in time and not sign Matt Flynn to a three-year deal worth $20.5M and $9M guaranteed, he probably would.
Be that as it may, missing on a personnel decision is going to happen from time to time in the NFL, but Schneider's hits far outweighed his misses. And above all else, that's the biggest reason why the Seahawks are playing in the Super Bowl.