The NFL draft takes place Thursday through Saturday, and Seahawks general manager John Schneider and coach Pete Carroll held their pre-draft press conference Tuesday afternoon. Unsurprisingly, the duo wasn’t giving up much information. There were a lot of sly grins in response to questions, and at one point Carroll quipped, “We’re not going to tell you a thing.”
But here’s a general overview of what Schneider and Carroll had to say:
– Schneider reiterated his stance that this year’s draft is a deep one. Schneider went as far as saying that it’s the deepest since he took over as Seattle’s general manager in 2010. He wouldn’t go into detail about which positions were the deepest, but did say it was largely across the board.
– One of Seattle’s positions of need appears to be the offensive line. Carroll and Schneider, while not saying whether they thought the Seahawks needed to draft offensive linemen, went into some depth about the challenge of drafting offensive linemen these days. Colleges have increasingly gone to spread offenses, meaning the offensive linemen have not been schooled in blocking out of a three-point stance. That’s one of the reasons why Seattle has experimented in converting defensive linemen to offensive linemen.
– Schneider clarified his thoughts about drafting for need versus drafting the best player available, explaining that the team’s need and a player’s fit is factored into the player evaluations. Therefore, Seattle’s draft board will be different from other teams’ draft boards.
– Carroll went out of his way to praise Schneider for his ability to predict what other teams are going to do, thereby giving the Seahawks a better handle on what they should do with their picks.
– Schneider emphasized the importance of signing undrafted rookies, saying it was as important as the draft itself. He said that the later rounds and the pursuit of undrafted free agents was his favorite part of the process because of how hectic it gets.
– In non-draft news, Carroll didn’t have any specifics with regards to the recoveries of tight end Jimmy Graham (knee) and running back Thomas Rawls (ankle). However, he did say that their progress is good.
– Seattle brought back two players from its 2013 Super Bowl season, signing free agent defensive end Chris Clemons and free agent cornerback Brandon Browner. Schneider suggested Clemons would be a situational pass rusher, and he talked about Browner being a good leader.
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