The Ten Best Seattle Seahawks First Round Draft Picks of All Time
By Ben Renner
1. Walter Jones
Not only was Walter Jones the best player on the team during the glorious Mike Holmgren years, he made it possible for everyone else on the offense to perform at optimal levels. Similar to Steve Hutchinson, Big Walt was a big reason why Shaun Alexander won a rushing title and scored an insane number of touchdowns. Again, it’s difficult to show Jones’ impact on the Seattle Seahawks vaunted offense of the Holmgren era with statistics, but here are a few stats to blow your mind:
Jones started 180 games in his 12-year career, all for the Seahawks. In those 180 games, he allowed 23 sacks. He was called for holding nine times. Nine. The Seahawks threw the ball over 5,500 times in that span. Nine holding calls on Jones. Nine.
Walter Jones was selected with the sixth overall pick in the 1997 draft. He was inducted to the Seattle Seahawks Ring of Honor and had his jersey number 71 retired in 2010. He has just the third number the Seahawks have retired in their history, along with Steve Largent’s 80 and Cortez Kennedy’s 96 (and the number 12, of course). He raised the 12th Man flag before the Beastquake game against the Saints in the 2011 playoffs and was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2014. He made the Pro Bowl nine times with All-Pro distinction four times. Holmgren called him the best offensive player he’d ever coached, and he might be right.
Maybe we can sign a petition to force Tom Cable to bring in Jones as a consultant.
Next: Wrapping it up