With the Super Bowl now over, the sports media cycle will shortly shift to the offseason Super Bowl, or at least the crowning acheivement for the league's underacheivers, the NFL Draft.

Once Skipp Bayless and the rest can gush no more over the improbable comeback the Patriots made, or how the Falcons bumbled their shot or how Tom Brady may now legitimately be the best QB to ever live; we get to debate who deserves to be the first overall pick.

Since Pete Carroll and John Schnieder joined the Seahawks though, Seattle has been fortunate enough to stay out of the running for the first overall pick. Although in 2010 they did have two picks in the top-15, since then they have pretty much had early second round picks.

Their success in finding gems in the middle rounds and from the undrafted free agent pool is well documented. Russell Wilson came in the third, Kam and Sherman both came in the fifth, and Doug Baldwin and Thomas Rawls signed as undrafted free agents. Currently all those mentioned save for Rawls are signed to big money extensions, which is starting to bare its consequences in the form of a lack of depth. We saw how exposed the Seahawks were with Earl Thomas out, being just one prime example.

This current core is without a doubt the greatest era of Seahawks ever, but they are getting older, inching closer to that 30-year-old age mile marker. Which means now is the time to start grooming a new generation of stars that can step up when needed, and replace them when the time inevitably comes. Sooner rather than later for some.

Therefore in this 2017 draft, the Hawks can't afford to miss with many picks. Apart from that 2010 draft, when Earl Thomas and Russell Okung were as close to sure things as there are, the Seahawks brain trust has not had much luck hitting on selections in the first couple rounds. Paul Richardson is still with the team but yet to make an impact (one has to think this is a make or break year for him), and Christine Michael is the most shining example of a second-round miss there could be.

In the Seattle war room this year the first two rounds need to uncover our future core members. If Schnieder and Carroll can do that, combined with their uncanny ability to find and coach up those later picks and free agents, the Hawks will be well equipped to handle the transition smoothly.

Photo: Bleacher Report