When the Seahawks drafted Michigan State defensive lineman Malik McDowell with their first pick last April, they had not only the future in mind but also their own past.
What the Seahawks hoped to do by drafting McDowell was again assemble the kind of deep defensive line that was an underrated key to the 2013 Super Bowl champion team — one in which seven defensive linemen played 47 percent or more of the snaps but no one played more than 57 (Michael Bennett). One in which the relatively unheralded Clinton McDonald could play 65 percent of the snaps in the Super Bowl win and be viewed by some around the team as having played as much of a role in the defensive dominance that day as anybody.