The Super Bowl is over and teams’ attentions are now turning to free agency and the NFL Draft. But what about how last year’s classes stack up at the end of the season?
Around the NFL’s Jeremy Bergman took a look at the NFC West’s rookies and gave each team a grade. The Seahawks received a B-.
“It’s an odd year when the best performing member of your draft class is a punter, but that’s the deal in Seattle,” Bergman writes. “Dickson and his booming leg from down under made the PFWA All-Rookie Team, and deservedly so.
“Casual fans may only remember his sad onside kick attempt that signaled the end to Seattle’s season, but he’s so much more than that drop-kick dude.”
Seattle traded up for Dickson in the fifth round, and there’s no doubt the front office made the right decision. It’s the pick at the top of the draft – running back Rashaad Penny – that has Bergman scratching his head.
“The Seahawks reached on Penny the day they selected him, then saw a seventh-rounder from the year prior, Chris Carson, blow the rookie away and rush for the fifth-most yards in the league,” Bergman asserts.
He also acknowledged fifth-rounder Tre Flowers for his starting efforts in 2018 and tight end Will Dissly’s accomplishments before he landed on the injured reserve Week 4.
As far as the rest of the division, the Cardinals received a B+, the 49ers a B and the NFC-champion Rams only eked out a D grade.
