By Bob Condotta / The Seattle Times
Just when Seattle Seahawks fans might have thought their team was done with the 2020 NFL draft, the Seahawks pulled them back in.
Mere minutes before the draft ended Seattle pulled off a trade with Miami, dealing a 2021 sixth-round pick for Miami’s choice at 251.
And the Seahawks then drafted a receiver — or maybe a tight end — in Stephen Sullivan of LSU.
Seattle is listing Sullivan as a receiver, but he played both spots in his time at LSU.
Sullivan, in fact, began his career as a receiver with the Tigers but then moved to tight end in 2019, and participated as a tight end at the Senior Bowl in January.
And according to Sports Info Solutions “his downfield athleticism was on display at the Senior Bowl working out of his new position, proving he can grow into a valuable weapon with time.”
Let’s take a closer look at the newest Seahawk:
Name: Stephen Sullivan
College: LSU
Height: 6-5
Weight: 248
The Skinny: Sullivan was the second LSU player drafted by Seattle, joining guard Damien Lewis who went in the third round.
He had 12 receptions for 130 yards last season with the Tigers and finished with 46 for 712 in his career.
But as noted, he arrived at LSU as a highly touted receiver before struggling to make a real home at that spot and moving to tight end as a senior.
Seattle, though, is listing Sullivan as a receiver, so that may be where the Seahawks will start him out.
NFL.com wrote in its scouting report: “Big receiver with the body type and contested catch toughness to make transition to a big slot or flex tight end role. He added weight and played tight end early in the year, but simply lacked the functional strength as a blocker. However, he’s an above-average blocker in space who can help spring receiver screens, jet-sweeps and outside runs. He finds traffic and coverage too often in his routes and needs to get better at using his burst and body to separate. He’s a developmental project worth a stash spot while teams keep tinkering and teaching to see if they have something.”
Sulllivan is from Donaldsonville, La. A story last August from TheAdvocate.com detailed how he overcame a childhood of poverty while his parents struggled with legal issues, spending time living with coaches and families of friends but overcoming that to graduate from LSU with a degree in interdisciplinary studies, becoming the first college graduate in his family.
It also marks the second straight year Seattle moved back into the draft by dealing a future sixth-round pick to take another player in the seventh round. Last year, Seattle dealt a 2020 sixth-round pick to Jacksonville for receiver John Ursua. Jacksonville used that pick Saturday on tight end Tyler Davis of Georgia Tech.
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