Seahawks get Russell Wilson protection help: huge Stone Forsythe from Florida in round six
Russell Wilson wanted better pass protection.
The Seahawks traded up to make another move to give him that.
Seattle traded up with the Chicago Bears in round six of the NFL draft Saturday then selected huge offensive tackle Stone Forsythe from the University of Florida.
How huge?
Forsythe is 6 feet 8 inches tall and 307 pounds. He towered over linemen in the mighty Southeastern Conference.
He was known as an elite pass blocker in the SEC.
That’s what guard Gabe Jackson has been for the Las Vegas Raiders the last half-dozen years. Seattle traded for Jackson in March.
Forsythe allowed just two sacks on 488 drop backs to pass with Florida and new NFL quarterback Kyle Trask last season.
“Really, unique player,” Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said.
Forsythe called that assessment of his being strong in pass protection, weaker in the run game accurate.
That’s college football in the 2020s. Teams just don’t run that much.
“I know I definitely need to work on the run game,” Forsythe said.
Asked on a Zoom call Saturday after he got drafted what he knows of Seattle and the Seahawks, Forsythe said: “I know they’ve got a great quarterback, and a need for some offensive-line help.”
So he’s a quick study. Or he can read and hear all the bedlam over Wilson saying in February: “I’m frustrated with getting hit too much.”
Forsythe also said he is already looking forward to learning from Seahawks 35-year-old veteran left tackle Duane Brown. Brown is entering the final year of his contract, and Seattle had no clear replacement for him beyond 2021.
It may now.
To move up nine spots and draft Forsythe, Seahawks general manager John Schneider gave the team’s seventh-round pick to Chicago, at 250th overall later Saturday.
So that was it for Seattle, three picks. That’s the fewest in Seahawks history, by two selections, and the fewest in the NFL since the 2009 New York Jets had three picks.
Then again, Schneider had traded back into the seventh round in each of the last two drafts.
But not this one. He and Carroll ended early, spoke to the media before 3 p.m. Saturday—then went back into their work rooms to sign the many undrafted rookie free agents Seattle will add the next couple days. More than ever in a year in which they had just three picks.
In fact, the overall pick the Seahawks used to select Forsythe was the same one they traded last year to Miami to get back into the draft and select tight end Stephen Sullivan in the seventh round in 2020.
The three picks this year was by Seattle’s design.
Carroll and Schneider decided beginning last summer with their trade for All-Pro safety Jamal Adams to acquire veterans including Jackson and defensive end Carlos Dunlap in lieu of selecting rookies in as uncertain and limited a draft as the NFL has ever had, because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Yes, he’s a sixth-round pick. But the Seahawks traded up to get Forsythe. He’s one of only a franchise record-low three picks, and he’s an offensive tackle, a position that needs reinforced. They will give Forsythe many and long chances, especially for beyond 2021.
“We tried trading up forever to get him,” Schneider said. “Monster of a man. All business...super-long arms. ...
“The guy tracks especially well with our new offense.”
This story was originally published May 1, 2021 at 2:27 PM.
