John Schneider, Pete Carroll say Seahawks’ energy is like it was for epic 2012 NFL draft
If this energy their general manager and coach say they are feeling is truly like they think it is, the Seahawks are about to have a draft for the ages.
Whether it’s sincerity or a sell job, John Schneider says there is a definite “juice” inside the team’s Renton headquarters heading into the draft that begins Thursday.
“You can really feel it. It’s exciting times we have. We currently have eight picks. We have four in the top 72, so there’s real excitement about that, and enthusiasm,” Seattle’s GM said.
“I don’t almost want to sound like I work out all the time, but I was getting a workout in yesterday morning watching TV, and they were talking about the NFC West and all the problems it has and everything. It just brought me back to this energy of the 2012 draft.”
Ah, yes. Nothing can get Seahawk minds and souls detached from the 7-10, non-playoff season Seattle is coming off of more effectively than thinking about the team’s 2012 NFL draft.
The Seahawks, Schneider and coach Pete Carroll owned the 12th-overall choice that year. They traded down, one of the nine trades of the last 10 first-round picks the team has had. At 15 they selected Bruce Irvin, a supposedly one-trick, one-year pass rusher from West Virginia who wouldn’t be able to do anything else in the NFL.
In the second round they drafted Bobby Wagner, whom experts said was too small to play middle linebacker in the league.
In the third round, Russell Wilson. He was supposed to be too short to be an NFL quarterback.
Running back Robert Turbin in the fourth round. Defensive back Jeremy Lane from overlooked Northwest Louisiana in round six. Defensive tackle J.R. Sweezy to be an offensive guard in Seattle.
Schneider, Carroll and the Seahawks got lampooned from Maine to Maui for that draft.
“We ‘over-drafted’ a pass rusher, and we drafted a linebacker that didn’t have any instincts,” Schneider said last week. “We drafted a quarterback that didn’t fit the height mold. We ‘over-drafted’ a nickel-back, ‘over-drafted’ a third-down back, and we converted a defensive lineman into an offensive lineman who was still playing for those who were keeping track, or was last year (in 2020, for Arizona).
“Then, afterwards, everybody was giving us Fs.”
That 2012 draft, so widely panned initially, cemented the Seahawks as eventual Super Bowl champions for the first time, in 2013. Seattle came 1 yard and a Wilson interception at the goal line in the final seconds of Super Bowl 49 from winning a second consecutive NFL title.
“The message is that in this building, we were super excited,” Schneider said last week. “We knew where we were headed. Pete and his staff had a great plan. It was loaded with competition.
“And we’re excited to see that competition (now).”
The competition is all over the roster again.
The 2022 Seahawks are coming off their most losses in a year since 2009. They missed the playoffs last season for only the second time in 10 years. They cut Wagner. They traded Wilson, to Denver.
Dealing Wilson gave Seattle five choices over the next two drafts. That includes the ninth pick in this draft that begins Thursday at 5 p.m.
It’s the highest pick the Seahawks have owned since 2010, the first draft Carroll and Schneider ran in charge of the team. Seattle has three of the first 41 choices in this draft.
How far they sank last season, then sending away the two franchise cornerstones in March, and the opportunity this draft presents are why Schneider spent the first five minutes of his and Carroll’s pre-draft press conference last week reassuring fans and those in his own building of the Seahawks’ direction.
The crux of Schneider’s and Carroll’s message since March is what the coach said last month: “We’ve been successful for a long time. ...We know what we’re doing.”
“We’re excited for the competition to be underway. To keep implementing our plan and to keep pushing forward with every avenue of acquisition, trying to do whatever we can to help out our staff, our coaching staff,” Schneider said.
“We’ll be competing every day. We’re excited to get everybody together, watch the coaches teach and develop.”
The GM then turned to the 70-year-old Carroll seated to his left.
“The man next to me, this is our 13th draft, and I have a ton of love and respect for the man next to me,” Schneider said.
‘I would say that adding all that together, I’ve never been around a person that instills confidence in any individual, not just football players than Pete Carroll.
“So that’s what I wanted to get off my chest.”
As in 2012 when they picked Irvin first, these Seahawks are in primary need of edge pass rushers.
This draft is full of them.
If Georgia’s wrecking Travon Walker or tall, fast sack man Kayvon Thibodeaux from Oregon is still available at nine, Schneider may be tempted to pick him instead of trading down yet again in round one.
The News Tribune’s Seahawks mock draft projects Walker and Thibodeaux won’t be there at nine — yet that Seattle will still get its pass rusher in round one. He will arrive later, after another Seahawks trade down to get more picks:
Round 1, ninth overall: Trade down (again), with New Orleans.
Seattle gets the Saints’ 16th-overall pick, plus #49 in round two and #161 in round four.
The Saints, even more needy than the Seahawks for a quarterback, get Seattle’s ninth-overall pick plus #109 in round four.
The trade gives the Seahawks nine picks in the draft, three in the second round, four in the first 49 selections.
Round 1, 16th overall: Boye Mafe, edge rusher, Minnesota
The Seahawks’ biggest need is to pressure QBs into more mistakes. Seattle’s 18 takeaways last season were the fewest in team history. Carroll has said improving the pass rush is Job One this offseason. To do that, he’s changed defensive coordinators (Clint Hurtt replacing Ken Norton Jr.) and systems (to more of a speedy, varied 3-4 from his old 4-3).
The 6-foot-3 Mafe has speed, length and strength. He’s one of the raw wild cards in a draft loaded with top pass rushers seemingly ready to play in the NFL immediately.
Round 2, 40th overall:. Desmond Ridder, quarterback, Cincinnati
The pre-draft visit to Seattle pays off for Ridder. And for the Seahawks.
Carroll likes Lock. He really likes Smith. But both have failed as full-time starters for other teams. Again, neither is signed beyond 2022. Tall, athletic as a runner yet a pocket passer, Ridder can learn and grow this year, for Seattle’s 2023.
It’s time they draft a quarterback in the early rounds. They made it this way.
Round 2, 41st overall: David Ojabo, edge rusher, Michicagn
Six-five with speed, the native of Nigeria who grew up in Scotland before going to high school in New Jersey had 11 sacks with a school-record five forced fumbles last season. That was while he played opposite Wolverines’ sack sensation Aidan Hutchinson, who might be a top-three pick in this draft.
Ojabo likely would be a first-round pick, but he tore his Achilles tendon at Michigan’s Pro Day March 18. The Seahawks are so needy in pass rushers they go one-two on them in this draft, and are willing to wait for Ojabo’s recovery. Some hopeful estimates say he could return by November, though Achilles tears are no sure things to get past.
Round 2, 49th overall: Abraham Lucas, offensive tackle, Washington State
A pick to thrill many Seahawks fans. The 6-7, four-year starter from Everett showed elite pass protection for the Cougars’ offense. Wilson will tell you — has told you — elite pass protection is what’s what Seattle’s lacked in its offense for years.
Some criticize Lucas’ run blocking. New Seahawks offensive line coach Andy Dickerson would likely take less of a road grader, and more of stopper of edge rushers steaming at quarterbacks.
Lucas’ athleticism includes having been a basketball player at Archbishop Murphy High School.
The question on Lucas: Can he play left tackle in the NFL?
Round 3, 72nd overall: Jalen Tolbert, wide receiver, South Alabama
At 6-1, 195 pounds, scouts like how Tolbert was bullish getting through press coverage, and excelled against the best competition such as Southeastern Conference foes. He set South Alabama records in career receptions and receiving yards, plus season records of 82 catches and eight touchdowns in 2021.
Carroll has said Seattle is planning to re-sign DK Metcalf for top-of-the-market money this summer. The team has Tyler Lockett with him.
After that at wide receiver for the Seahawks it’s 2021 draft choice Dee Eskridge, who was hurt for much of his rookie season, and a lot of questions.
Round 5, 152nd overall: Rasheed Walker, offensive tackle, Penn State
The strong, 6-6, three-year starter at left tackle in the Big Ten could perhaps replace free-agent Brandon Shell as Seattle’s right tackle. He perhaps could replace still unsigned Duane Brown, the Seahawks’ best offensive linemen for years, at left tackle. (Did we mention this team has needs?) The Seahawks reportedly met with Walker before this draft.
Walker had problems against Ohio State’s edge rushers in an uneven 2021 season. That and what some see as a lack of athleticism could be why he’s still available here at another position of premium need in the league. He could be an NFL guard. That isn’t now one of the more pressing needs on Seattle’s line.
Round 5, 153rd overall: Thomas Booker, defensive tackle, Stanford
A three-year starter and Stanford captain. Some around the NFL see the 6-4, 309-pound Booker as a better fit for defenses using varied and multiple fronts.
That’s what Carroll and Hurtt are employing in Seattle in 2022.
Round 5, 161st overall: Joshua Williams, cornerback, Fayetteville State
A typically unconventional Seattle pick, compared to what the NFL may think. Williams is 6-3, with 32.9-inch arms. He’s a throwback to the long, Richard Sherman-like prototype Carroll drafted at cornerback for a decade for Seattle, until sub-6-foot D.J. Reed and 2021 rookie pick Tre Brown changed Carroll’s mind recently.
The Seahawks have had far better success drafting and developing their own cornerbacks in Carroll’s step-kick technique than signing free agents from other systems who have to learn Carroll’s ways. Williams, who got a Senior Bowl invite from Division-II Fayetteville State in North Carolina, would get the chance to develop Carroll’s technique.
Round 7, 230th overall: Tyler Allgeier, running back, Brigham Young
He’s 5-11, 220. He runs and looks the part, with four games of at least 190 yards rushing in 2021. He needs to improve his pass protection and receiving to be more than a special-teams contributor early in his NFL career.
But the Seahawks don’t know when or whether lead back Chris Carson will return from neck surgery. And they only re-signed late 2021 breakout rushing star Rashaad Penny for one season.
This story was originally published April 26, 2022 at 12:18 PM.
