The Seattle Seahawks used two incredible draft classes to build one of the best secondaries in NFL history. Free safety Earl Thomas was selected by the Seahawks in the first round of the 2010 NFL draft, while strong safety Kam Chancellor was a fifth-round pick that same year.
Cornerback Richard Sherman joined the team in 2011 as a fifth-round pick. While it may be hard to fathom, the "Legion of Boom" could have been even better if Seattle made a different choice back in the 2006 draft.
Pro Football Focus writers Max Chadwick, Dalton Wasserman and Trevor Sikkema released a redraft of the 2006 draft class. The Seahawks originally selected Miami cornerback Kelly Jennings with the 31st overall pick in 2006.
In PFF's redraft, Seattle passed on Jennings to take four-time Pro Bowl cornerback Brent Grimes at the end of the first round.
"Jennings was a more-than-solid cornerback throughout his NFL career, but the Seahawks simply cannot pass up Grimes here," PFF's panel explained. "After going undrafted out of Division II Shippensburg, he became a star cornerback for the Falcons, Dolphins and Buccaneers. Grimes earned an elite 91.3 PFF coverage grade in his career and was a four-time Pro Bowler with 33 career interceptions."
Grimes would have been a perfect fit for the Seahawks. The former undrafted free agent didn't make his first Pro Bowl until the 2010 season, the same year that Thomas and Chancellor arrived in Seattle.
Jennings appeared in 78 games (44 starts) for the Seahawks from 2006 to 2010, recording 48 passes defended and two career interceptions. The Miami standout was serviceable and by no means a bust.
However, drafting Grimes instead could have made one of the greatest defensive units in NFL history even better. That's a scary thought.
