RENTON — John Schneider and Pete Carroll weren’t giving anything away.
The Seattle Seahawks’ brain trust is playing things coy in advance of the NFL draft as Schneider, Seattle’s general manager, and Carroll, Seattle’s head coach, met with reporters at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center on Tuesday in advance of the draft.
Most of the draft-related questions were met with sly grins and evasive answers. At one point Carroll quipped, “We’re not gonna tell you a thing.”
While Schneider and Carroll weren’t sharing any secrets, what we do know is the Seahawks have nine picks in the draft’s seven rounds, including the 26th pick in Thursday’s first round. Seattle owns one second-rounder and two third-rounders, giving the Seahawks four selections in the first 100 for the first time since 2005. Seattle also has one pick in the fourth, fifth and sixth rounds, as well as two in the seventh.
That volume of picks may play to Seattle’s advantage, as Schneider reiterated his stance that this year’s draft is a deep one.
“This is our seventh draft (since becoming Seattle’s GM), and to us it’s the most impressive one so far in terms of the sheer numbers of players,” Schneider said.
“We think it’s strong all the way through,” Schneider added. “There doesn’t seem to be as many huge drop-offs along the way. There are a couple of positions, but not as bad as it has been in the past.
“It hopefully sets up well (for us). A lot of hard work, a lot of prayers, and we hope that everything falls in our favor.”
Conventional wisdom suggests the Seahawks will be looking for help on the offensive and defensive lines.
Seattle lost two starters on the offensive line, left tackle Russell Okung and right guard J.R. Sweezy, to big-bucks free-agent contracts to Denver and Tampa Bay, respectively. The only offensive linemen the Seahawks imported were budget free-agent signings J’Marcus Webb and Bradley Sowell. Left tackle would seem to be a particular priority as Garry Gilliam, a first-year starter last season at right tackle, and Sowell, who hasn’t started a game since 2013, are the leading candidates to protect quarterback Russell Wilson’s blind side.
On the defensive line the Seahawks could use help on the interior following defensive tackle Brandon Mebane’s free-agent departure for San Diego. Seattle could also be in the market for a pass rusher, considering defensive end Michael Bennett’s dissatisfaction with his contract, along with the possibility backups Frank Clark and Cassius Marsh will be converted to strong-side linebacker to replace Bruce Irvin, who signed as a free agent with Oakland.
While Schneider and Carroll weren’t providing any hints on what they may do with their picks, they did provide some insight into the process the team uses in creating its draft board.
“Basically, how we do it is we don’t grade for the league, we grade for our team,” Schneider said. “And when you do that, that represents what your board ends up looking like. You’re going to have specific needs at different positions based on people that you’ve lost in free agency, or if a guy who you drafted isn’t coming through at a specific position. It’s really a combination of the two. This isn’t something we developed. This is Dick Steinberg, Ron Wolf, Al Davis. We’re just carrying it on.”
Carroll then took up the conversation.
“It’s really specific, our board is,” Carroll said. “We don’t look at how a player would fit in to the draft projections at all. That stuff doesn’t even register. John is so far in depth with connecting what we’re hoping to get as coaches and what fits in our organizational thinking, so our board may look different than other teams’. We don’t really care. We have it the way we like it. What John has done a fantastic job of is projecting where guys will go so we can get the guys that we want. The coaches are committed to it. We’re really connected on this, so it’s a fascinating process. We wish we could take you inside, but we can’t.
“We do have a long-standing philosophy: We’re going to try to find the special traits that players have and accentuate that and coach to their strengths whenever we can,” Carroll added. “In essence, we recruit to that, we draft to that, but we’ll see things differently maybe than other people. We won’t try to make a guy be the program guy. He’s going to be what he’s best suited to do and situated that way, and then we’ll adapt him as he gains confidence and wins playing time with us.”
The first round of the draft begins at 5 p.m. Thursday, with each team allowed 10 minutes to make their pick. Rounds 2 and 3 are Friday evening, with the teams having seven minutes to select. Rounds 4-7 are Saturday, with team having five minutes to make picks in rounds 4-6 and four minutes in Round 7.
Extra points
In non-draft-related news, Carroll provide a brief update on the recovery of tight end Jimmy Graham (knee) and running back Thomas Rawls (ankle) from the injuries that ended their 2015 seasons, saying they’re progressing well but putting no timetable on their returns. “Everything’s going well, yeah,” Carroll said. “Everything’s really in good shape. It’s just when they push to get back we are going to have to see what the timeline is.” … Tuesday gave Schneider and Carroll a chance to comment on the free-agent signings of defensive end Chris Clemons and cornerback Brandon Browner, both of whom returned to the team after departing as free agents following the 2013 Super Bowl-winning season. Schneider said he envisioned Clemons as a situational pass rusher, taking some of the snaps previously played by Irvin, and he talked about Browner’s leadership skills.
Check out Nick Patterson’s Seattle Sidelines blog at http://www.heraldnet.com/seattlesidelines, and follow him on Twitter at @NickHPatterson.
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