How Grey Zabel broke several Seahawks draft trends under John Schneider

The Seahawks went against historical standards by picking Zabel in the first round.

With their first pick of the 2025 NFL Draft, the Seattle Seahawks selected North Dakota State OL Gray Zabel with the 18th overall pick. Most recent mock drafts had Zabel as a target for the Seahawks. However, when looking at the track record of John Schneider and the team as a whole, the pick seemed unlikely.

Breaking Taboos

Here are some taboos broken by the Zabel pick. It wasn’t written in stone. The team had already gone against its tendencies a few years ago. Seattle hadn’t selected a cornerback in Rounds 1 or 2 since 2007, until Devon Witherspoon arrived in 2023 at No. 5 overall.

Grey Zabel is the first non-quarterback to be selected in the first round of the NFL Draft in NDSU history. Carson Wentz and Trey Lance were the most recent QBs selected on Day 1.

John Schneider has never picked an IOL in the first round

Schneider drafted James Carpenter in the first round and he played guard at some point, but he was drafted as an OT and played RT in Seattle. Germain Ifedi also played guard, but he was also drafted as an OT and played RT in Seattle.

So far, here’s a list of Schneider’s highest-rated iOLs:

• John Moffitt, third round pick in 2011, at No. 75. Started 9 games as a rookie, suffered an injury, was suspended, and eventually traded to the Broncos;
• Justin Britt, at No. 64 in 2014, though he was an OT, and only later did Tom Cable move him to center;
• Ethan Pocic, at No. 58 in 2017;
• Damien Lewis, third round pick, at No. 69 in 2020;
• Christian Haynes, third round pick, at No. 81 in 2024;

John Schneider said Grey Zabel was the Seahawks’ highest-rated inside player, indicating they would have taken him over Tyler Booker, who went No. 12 overall for Dallas. Mike Macdonald confirmed he’ll play guard, though it’s not yet known which side. At No. 18, Grey Zabel is the highest guard drafted by the Seahawks since Hall of Famer Steve Hutchinson was drafted 17th overall in 2001. Hutchinson, now part of Seattle’s scouting department, helped evaluate Gray (and other OLs).

The Seahawks’ first-round iOL additions include:

• Pete Kendall in the 1996 first round (21st overall), who was an OT at Boston College but played as an LG during his time in Seattle;

As a sidenote, Andy Heck was drafted in the 1989 first round (15th overall) and played as an LG in 1992, but that was his only season; the rest of his time with the Seahawks was an OT.

John Schneider almost never drafts players from the FCS

John only drafted four players from FCS:

• Mark Le Gree (S) in 2011 5th round;
• Jeremy Lane (CB) in 2012 6th round;
• Jared Smith (DT) in 2013 7th round;
• Tye Smith (CB) in 2015 5th round;...