Rob Rang is an NFL Draft analyst for FOX Sports and is returning for his fifth year of contributing to Seahawks.com's draft coverage. He began covering the NFL draft in 2000, with work published at FOX, Sports Illustrated, CBSSports.com, USA Today, Yahoo, NFL.com and NFLDraftScout.com, among others. He also works as a scout with the BC Lions of the Canadian Football League. Rang's opinions and evaluations are his own and do not reflect those of the Seahawks. Follow him on Twitter @RobRang.
In hindsight it is easy to understand why the Seahawks grew into the best team in the NFL last season as the core values shared by John Schneider and Mike Macdonald almost demand it.
The Seahawks are looking for players who are tough, smart, physical and reliable. Last April, the Seahawks' GM and president of football operations described Seattle's draft class as, "smart, tough, reliable, swaggy, athletic, speed," and that group included multiple rookies who played a big role in the team's Super Bowl-winning season, led by guard Grey Zabel and safety Nick Emmanwori.
On the surface, this seems far too simple. Every team is looking for players who fit those descriptions, after all.
In reality, while many teams may claim they want players who check these boxes, a lot of NFL clubs forget these principles once the draft begins.
When I evaluate the prospects in this draft, I'm, of course, looking through an entirely different lens than the Seahawks. However, there are certain players who stand out along the way as definitely having a "Seahawk-y" vibe to them.
Listed below - in alphabetical order – are ten players who fit these qualifications.