The NFL Draft is inching closer each day, filled with new faces and potential stars ready to be selected. However, it is important to remember not every franchise standout was picked. The league is littered with countless undrafted players, some who have even gone on to become franchise cornerstones.
After writing about each team’s best and worst draft picks, ESPN recently published an article about the best undrafted player from each team’s history. NFL reporter Brady Henderson selected quarterback Dave Krieg as the best undrafted Seattle Seahawk.
“Krieg gets the nod here,” Henderson argues. “Undrafted out of the now-defunct Milton College in 1980, the man nicknamed Mudbone owns the franchise record for wins (70) and touchdown passes (195). Among Seahawks QBs with at least 15 starts, his 82.3 career rating for Seattle edges out Matt Hasselbeck for the second best behind Russell Wilson.”
After securing a spot on the roster as the third-string quarterback in 1980, Krieg slowly but surely worked his way up the depth chart until finally earning his opportunity in 1983. Midway through the ’83 campaign, Krieg came off the bench to replace quarterback Jim Zorn and helped guide the Seahawks to their first ever playoff appearance.
Behind the arm of Kreig, the Seahawks went on to win their first two playoff games in franchise history. With a blowout win over then-division rival Denver and upsetting Dan Marino’s Dolphins in Miami, Seattle made it to the AFC Championship before falling to the Los Angeles Raiders – who later became Super Bowl Champions.
During his 11 years in Seattle, Krieg earned Pro Bowl honors three times and helped guide struggling Seahawk teams to the playoffs four times in the 1980’s. All while logging enough wins and touchdown passes to be the franchise leader in both. Not bad for an undrafted quarterback.
Brady Henderson gives wide receiver Doug Baldwin an honorable mention as the next best undrafted player in Seahawks history.
