RENTON — The Seahawks drafted eight players this weekend. None of them are quarterbacks.
Again.
Michael Penix Jr. never got to Seattle’s drafting place at 16 in the first round; Atlanta took the Washington Huskies’ Heisman Trophy runner-up eight spots earlier Thursday in the shock of the 2024 NFL draft.
Saturday, the Seahawks took a versatile linebacker, a run-blocking tight end, two offensive tackles and two cornerbacks from the same school, Auburn. But no quarterbacks.
Conspicuously, to some more than others, the Seahawks did not draft a QB for the sixth consecutive year. General manager John Schneider has drafted only two passers in 15 years as Seattle’s GM: Russell Wilson in 2012 and Alex McGough in 2018.
Schneider said before this draft he and the team are “not proud” of that.
So, The News Tribune asked Schneider after the 2024 NFL draft ended Saturday with the Seahawks having incumbent starter Geno Smith and backup Sam Howell, the Washington Commanders’ starter last season, both under contracts only through the 2025 season: What is your long-term plan beyond 2025 at the sport’s most important position?
“Are you being serious right now?” Schneider said. “That’s a serious question: ‘What’s your long-term plan?’
“Well, we just traded to get Sam Howell. He’s got two years left on his (rookie) contract. He’s, what, two years younger than a lot of these guys (quarterbacks in this year’s draft class). Geno’s here. We have a really cool room right now.”
Seattle’s GM added the team is trying to sign “a couple” quarterbacks in undrafted rookie free agency.
“We will continue to work it. So, we’ll see where it goes. We are always looking at that position,” Schneider said.
“I can’t tell you what our long-term plan is, because I honestly don’t know.
“But Sam is a huge part of it, because we made a major trade to get Sam before we got here (to this draft).”
Howell, 23, threw a league-high 612 passes last season for the Commanders, with 21 touchdowns, and an NFL-leading 21 interceptions during a 4-13 season that got coach Ron Rivera fired.
Through three weeks of team meetings and conditioning training, new coach Mike Macdonald likes what he’s seen from the 23-year-old Howell.
“I’m impressed with Sam, with how he operates,” Macdonald said of Washington’s fifth-round pick in 2022 out of North Carolina. “We’re building its flow offensively; the whole playbook’s not in. But his command of the huddle I’m impressed with. Obviously, he can spin it out there. That’s easy to see.
“I’m just getting used to his personality. I think he’s blossoming a little bit more. The personality is starting to come out. But, really excited about him. Like John said, it’s a cool combination of guys…
“It’s early. But the returns are very positive.”
Seahawks 2024 NFL draft class
Round 1 (16th overall): Byron Murphy, defensive tackle, Texas
As Baltimore’s defensive coordinator the last two seasons, Macdonald used multiplicity and disguise to confuse offenses. Last season the Ravens became the first team to lead the NFL in sacks, turnovers and fewest points allowed.
Macdonald said the beauty of Murphy joining his new defensive scheme in Seattle is similar to why the team made veteran defensive tackle Leonard Williams its top priority to retain this offseason with a new $64 million contract. The new coach said Murphy and Williams can play multiple spots along the defensive line for the Seahawks, sometimes over the guard, sometimes out by the offensive tackles, at times over the center.
Murphy impressively played some nose tackle for Texas while weighing less than 300 pounds.
“Both guys have position flexibility,” Macdonald said of Murphy and Williams. “I mean, Leonard can play all across the line. So can Byron.
“That’s one of the reasons I’m so excited about it, is you’re not going to know where guys are going to necessarily be all the time. We’ll have some really sweet ways to move guys around and have ‘em in different spots based on the teams we’re going to play. A lot of flexibility going in. A lot of pass-rush opportunities, match-ups, things we can manipulate. All that’s on the table.
Round 3 (81): Christian Haynes, guard, Connecticut
He started 49 consecutive games at right tackle for former Seahawks coach Jim Mora at UConn. Haynes, 24 with a master’s degree after six years at UConn, describes himself as “smart, and nasty.”
“This guy is going to come in and compete, now,” Schneider said. “He’s a solid dude.
“He’s played A LOT of football…He’s had 48 pressures in 1,687 snaps. The guy’s really, really experienced.”
Round 4 (118): Tyrice Knight, inside linebacker, Texas-El Paso
Knight was a tackling machine at UTEP, playing outside and, more recently, inside linebacker. He had 15 1/2 tackles for loss last college season.
Macdonald said Knight is likely to begin playing outside as he works on “squaring up” to blockers and ball carriers and using his hands better inside. The Seahawks’ coach with a linebacker-coaching background says Knight eventually could be an inside linebacker for Seattle.
The two veteran ones the team signed this offseason, Jerome Baker from Miami and Tyrel Dodson from Buffalo, are on one-year contracts. They will replace departed Bobby Wagner (to Washington) and Jordyn Brooks (to Miami) as Seattle’s starters for 2024.
Round 4 (121): AJ Barner, tight end, Michigan
A smashing blocker.
That fits what the Seahawks need after they cut rugged tight end Will Dissly this spring to save money against the league’s salary cap.
Barner also played on all four special-teams units last season for national-champion Michigan and coach Jay Harabugh, Seattle’s new special-teams coach.
“I’m a football player,” Barner said Saturday after the Seahawks drafted him. “If you ask me to go out there and catch 10 passes a game, I’ll go do that. If you ask me to man up the C gap (between the tight end and tackle) and be physical, I’ll go do that.
“If you ask me to play on every special team, I’ll go do that. I love strapping up the helmet. I love playing physical football.”
Round 5 (136): Nehemiah Pritchett, cornerback, Auburn
The 6-foot, 190-pound Pritchett played primarily press coverage and man-to-man coverage at Auburn. He calls those his specialties. His junior year he played primarily inside as a slot cornerback.
He led Auburn in 2022 with eight pass break-ups while covering slot receivers. He ran the 40-yard dash in 4.36 seconds at the NFL scouting combine in early March.
He was disappointed with that zooming time. He said he ran a 4.28 in training.
Macdonald said Pritchett projects as primarily an outside cornerback in Seattle. That means he will compete with starters Devon Witherspoon and Riq Woolen, plus Tre Brown, Michael Jackson and Artie Burns for playing time.
Round 6 (179): Sataoa Laumea, offensive tackle, Utah
The veteran of 44 career starts, three years at right guard and last season at right tackle, at Utah is the second guard Seattle took in three rounds of this draft.
The Seahawks get instantly more competitive with Laumea.
How competitive?
He is one of 10 children, age 36 to 21, the third-youngest child and youngest boy. What was it like growing up with nine siblings?
“Very competitive,” Laumea said Saturday on the phone from a draft party in Fontana, California.
Kids were running around clanging in the background as the newest guard spoke.
“Shoot, getting food was competitive,” he said. “Eating cereal, they’d be finishing the box before I even grabbed my bowl and spoon. It was very competitive.”
Round 6 (192): D.J. James, cornerback, Auburn
Schneider said it was coincidence the league’s draft board fell the way it did, and that Seattle drafted both of Auburn’s starting cornerbacks.
The 175-pound James is likely to practice inside as a slot cornerback as well as outside, Macdonald said.
Witherspoon made the Pro Bowl as a rookie last season starting at outside cornerback then moving inside to nickel back on passing downs in games.
James said on a phone call from Gulf Shores, Alabama, he enjoyed Auburn’s man-to-man coverage and “challenging receivers to get in their face. It’s fun getting in other receiver’s faces.”
He said he’s thrilled to be coming to the Seahawks with Pritchett. They often switched sides during games as Auburn’s two starting cornerbacks.
“What a great guy, a great locker-room guy who brings his own brand of juice,” James said of Pritchett.
Round 6 (207): Mike Jerrell, offensive tackle, Findlay
The 6-5, 309-pound Jerrell impressed Schneider when Seattle’s GM attended Ohio State’s Pro Day. Jerrell drove two hours from Division-II Findlay to participate. He played exclusively at right tackle in college.
“Dominant,” Schneider said. “He’s a monster of a dude.”
Macdonald said Jerrell will stay at tackle only, not guard, “for now.” The Seahawks don’t know when starting right tackle Abe Lucas will be back on the field following offseason knee surgery. That injury limited him to six of 17 games in 2023.
Jerrell had a pre-draft prospect visit at Seahawks headquarters, among the 30 prospect visits the team was allowed this spring.
What was impression of Seattle on his pre-draft visit?
“Very green. Beautiful city,” he said Saturday by phone from his hometown in Indianapolis at a draft party with 20 people at his home. “Amazing to see the mountains, see the trees. The buildings.
“It’s like God and man met together and just made a beautiful city.”
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