KIRKLAND – Always a master of game-day adjustments, Mike Holmgren called an audible midway through his five-year rebuilding project.
Then the Seattle Seahawks’ general manager, Holmgren admitted in 2001 that his plan may have been flawed in building the team through an experienced defense and young offense.
The Seahawks have adjusted on the fly, as shown by the past two drafts.
Now all grown up on offense, Seattle continued to rebuild its defense through the draft on Saturday. The Seahawks spent their top two picks on defense for the second consecutive year, marking the first time they’ve done that in back-to-back years since 1978-79.
Defensive tackle Marcus Tubbs (first round) and linebacker/safety Michael Boulware (second round) joined last year’s top two picks – cornerback Marcus Trufant and safety Ken Hamlin – as cornerstones of the future.
“I have been a little disappointed in our defensive progress,” Holmgren said Saturday. “At the same time, I will tell you that we were going to take the best player available (in the first two rounds of the 2003 draft). It just worked out really well for the defensive players.”
The Seahawks’ young offense has grown up over the past two years, while the defense has gotten a little long in the tooth. Instead of continuing to stockpile offensive talent, as they did in the past, the Seahawks have now gone for defense two years in a row.
Tubbs, a 324-pound Texas product, is expected to be part of a three-man rotation at defensive tackle. Boulware is trying to make the adjustment to strong safety after playing outside linebacker in college.
“I am very excited about our first two picks,” Holmgren said. “We’ve added speed to our defense, (and) we have shored up a couple of areas that we needed to address.”
Tubbs was the third defensive tackle selected, behind No. 14 Tommie Harris (Chicago) and No. 21 Vince Wilfork (New England). The Seahawks liked Tubbs’s potential as both a run stuffer and pass rusher, so they made him the franchise’s first defensive tackle selected in the first round of an NFL draft since 1994.
“It was one of those instances in the draft where you compare a need player versus the best player on the board, and the two things just kind of came together,” Holmgren said.
The Seahawks have both returning starters back from last year in Rashad Moore and Cedric Woodard, but they had a need at the position because of John Randle’s retirement and the releases of Chad Eaton and Norman Hand. Tubbs will probably work in a rotation with Moore and Woodard.
The rookie knows that there will be expectations because of where he was drafted, but he’s not making any promises.
“A lot of people want me to come in and be an instant starter, come in and be a spectacular player,” he said. “I want people to realize that I am human, too, and that I’m going to come in and give the best of my ability, but that I am playing against people who have been in the league 15 years.
“I just want people to have realistic views and understand that I’m going to give it my all on every play that I am out on the field.”
In the second round, the Seahawks took a pass-rushing linebacker that they project to safety. Florida State’s Boulware has never played the position before at any level, but he believes he’ll be able to make the adjustment.
“I’m really excited about the move,” said Boulware, who is 6-foot-2, 223 pounds and runs the 40-yard dash in 4.4 seconds. “I really think it is very fitting to my body type. I love to run and I do very well in space, so I think I’m going to do pretty well there.”
Boulware worked out as a defensive back during the scouting combine, and Seattle defensive coordinator Ray Rhodes was impressed with what he saw.
The Seahawks envision Boulware as a prototypical nickel back in their defensive system and believe he can battle for a starting spot at strong safety as a rookie. Carnell Lake, Adam Archuleta and recent war casualty Pat Tillman are among the college linebackers who have made the transition to strong safety in the NFL.
“He has all those attributes that you look for in a safety, or even a corner,” general manager Bob Ferguson said. “The fact that he can run fast, and he can close and tackles well, gives him an advantage over some of those guys (who have made the transition before).”
Seattle finally addressed the offensive side of the football in Round 3, taking lineman Sean Locklear of North Carolina State. The 6-foot-4, 301-pound Locklear can play both guard and tackle.
Locklear, who was ranked by multiple draft services as the third-best guard available, can provide depth at both positions and may eventually compete for a starting job.
These Seahawks don’t have room for someone like Locklear in the starting lineup because the offense has already gone through its maturing process.
Having learned from the past, Seattle is willing to match up its experienced offense with a young defense.
“I like the way we are building the defense; I really do,” Holmgren said. “We’re still very young over there.
“You get young guys going 100 miles per hour, if they’re willing to be coached, that’s a good situation. Then, hopefully, we can score some points.”
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