Keeping in mind that an injury-plagued career is not an actual reflection on the quality of a player, here are the five biggest Seattle Seahawks draft busts, the players who simply didn't measure up.

One can debate the fifth-biggest draft bust in Seahawks history, but the top four should be unanimous choices, and the worst bust should also be unanimous. The envelope, please:

5. Lawrence Jackson, defensive end (No. 28 in 2008 draft)

Though busts are best reserved for top-10 or top-20 picks, it's not an absolute requirement. Top-35 picks can be busts, and the Seahawks have two of them on this list. One is indisputable. This is the bust which can be debated at greater length.

One has to reiterate that injury-shortened careers can be viewed as busts, but shouldn't be viewed as harshly as careers in which players simply didn't make the cut. One kind of shortened and unrealized career is very different from another. It is recommended to assign the “bust” label — and the disappointment it conveys — primarily to players who simply weren't good enough. Jackson fits that bill.

Jackson played college ball at USC. As you can see, he was taken in 2008, which was two years before Pete Carroll left the Trojans to coach the Seahawks. The simple fact that Carroll could not and would not put up with Jackson upon arriving to Seattle should tell you how little he thought of Jackson's performance.

Jackson was no longer a member of the Seahawks in 2010. His NFL career ended in 2012 after only 69 games without a single Pro Bowl or All-Pro season.

Now, we move to the undisputed top four NFL Draft busts in the history of the Seahawks. No one can question these selections, only their order:

4. Malik McDowell, defensive tackle (No. 35 in 2017)

McDowell was a known character risk coming in, a player with great upside but a lot of volatility. Pete Carroll has been willing to take chances on players such as Bruce Irvin and Frank Clark. Picking McDowell was a big whiff for the Seahawks.

McDowell signed his rookie contract and then suffered an injury in an ATV (all-terrain vehicle) accident. He never got on the same page as management; their relationship was contentious and bitter. McDowell has still never played a live down of NFL football — not for the Seahawks or anyone else. Yep, that's a bust.

3. Rick Mirer, quarterback (No. 2 in 1993)

The Notre Dame golden boy was one of a few quarterbacks the Seahawks pursued in the 1990s to bridge the gap between Dave Krieg (1980s) and Jon Kitna (1999), leading to Matt Hasselbeck (2005 Super Bowl season) and then Russell Wilson (two Super Bowls and seven playoff appearances in the past eight seasons).

Mirer's career was cut short by injury, but he wasn't very good when he played, throwing 76 interceptions in 80 games. (His touchdown-interception ratio was 2-to-3, 50 touchdowns to 76 picks.) I was in the Kingdome in November of 1994 when Mirer lost to another mediocre quarterback, Jeff Blake of the Cincinnati Bengals. Groans were frequently heard in the Kingdome during the Mirer era, believe me.

2. Aaron Curry, linebacker (No. 4 in 2009)

Curry didn't make a single Pro Bowl for the Seahawks despite being a top-five pick. He was out of the NFL by 2012.

The agony of this selection is rooted in the fact that Pete Carroll came to the Seahawks one year later. Had Carroll joined Seattle in 2009, not 2010, Pete probably wouldn't have taken Curry. He would have taken a linebacker who played for USC: Brian Cushing, who went at No. 15 in the 2009 draft… to a team other than the Seahawks.

1. Dan McGwire, quarterback (No. 16 in 1991)

This is the draft bust which casts a long shadow over the Seahawks even now.

This was “only” a No. 16 pick, but then-Seahawks coach Chuck Knox, one of the best NFL coaches to never make the Super Bowl, knew football inside and out. He wanted another quarterback, not McGwire. Team owner Ken Behring — one of the worst owners in NFL history, and a man who knew nothing about football — wanted McGwire.

As it turned out, McGwire started only five NFL games and played in only 13 before vanishing in a puff of smoke.

The quarterback Knox wanted to take at 16 for the Seahawks? Brett Favre.