Drafting Charles Cross first, Pete Carroll goes back to his Seahawks (re)building roots
A dozen years ago, Pete Carroll took over the Seahawks. He set out to rebuild the dipping franchise.
The first draft pick he made in his first draft: a stud left tackle. Russell Okung became that for Carroll and Seattle. He was a Super Bowl champion and Pro Bowl selection while starting for the Seahawks as a rookie in 2010 through 2015.
Now the always-sunny, 70-year-old Carroll is rebuilding this team again — though you’d find him wearing UCLA gear and the dreary expression of Eeyore sooner than him using the “R word” this offseason.
Thursday, the first draft pick Carroll made since after he and general manager John Schneider traded away franchise quarterback Russell Wilson: a stud left tackle.
Seattle used its highest pick since Okung at sixth overall in 2010 to choose Mississippi State pass protector extraordinaire Charles Cross with the ninth choice in the 2022 NFL draft.
“A little irony, there, yeah,” Carroll said inside Seahawks headquarters Thursday night after the first round ended.
Seattle picked Cross over available top edge rushers such as heralded Jermaine Johnson II from Florida State and George Karlaftis of Purdue at another Seahawks position of dire need. In doing so, Carroll got back to his roots.
His roots of (re)building an offense and team.
“It’s a great place to start, it really is, for when you are trying to build an offensive line, always. That left-tackle spot is so crucial and all of that,” Carroll said.
“So, it’s a nice pick.”
It almost didn’t happen.
Trades fell through
The Seahawks had been getting calls all week, through their time on the clock Thursday, about trading that ninth pick. Schneider had traded nine of Seattle’s previous 10 first-round picks.
“Yeah, there was an opportunity to move up that just disappeared,” Schneider said. “(There were) a couple of opportunities to go back that disappeared, as well.”
So, they made Cross the fourth offensive tackle they’ve taken with a first pick in their 12 years running the team. The others: Okung, James Carpenter in 2011 and Germain Ifedi in 2016. Seattle moved Carpenter to guard.
The Seahawks decided if any of Cross, Ikem Ekwonu from North Carolina State or Evan Neal from Alabama was available to them at nine, they weren’t trading. They didn’t say it, but they likely felt the same way about Oregon pass rusher Kayvon Thibodeaux.
Thibodeaux was the fifth consecutive defensive player selected to begin the draft, to the New York Giants at five. Ekwonu was the first offensive player drafted, at sixth overall to the Carolina Panthers. He was rated as the top overall offensive tackle in this draft, as a pass and run blocker. Neal went to the Giants at seven.
Seattle took Cross two picks later.
“He came to us,” Schneider said, “and we were really pretty blessed that he was there.”
Schneider said Cross being available at nine was about the line past which the Seahawks would otherwise have traded back. His inference: if Atlanta had drafted Cross at eight, Seattle would have traded their first round pick for the 10th time among the last 11 top picks.
“Cross, just 21 years old, is already the cleanest pass-blocker of this class,” Tacoma-based NFL draft guru Rob Rang of Fox Sports said.
Cross played basketball
Carroll and Schneider both raved about the 6-foot-4 1/2, 315-pound Cross’ athleticism and quick feet. He used those to get outside to speedy edge rushers in the mighty Southeastern Conference. The Seahawks love that Cross grew up in Laurel, Mississippi (population: 17,161) 30 miles northeast of Hattiesburg, playing basketball.
That athleticism is what makes Carroll, Schneider, offensive coordinator Shane Waldron and new Seahawks offensive line coach Andy Dickerson unconcerned about the fact Cross is coming from coach Mike Leach’s pass-a-rama, Air Raid offense at Mississippi State. Because he didn’t block for many running plays, Cross’ run blocking is seen by some as a weakness.
Carroll and Schneider said while the team will focus on Cross’ run blocking to start to “catch him up and all that,” his new team isn’t worried about it because the tackle’s feet are so quick.
“When you are thinking left tackle you are thinking pass protection. That’s really your first thought,” Carroll said. “He has had as much work as that as you can have. Mike runs a system that’s going to demand it. And he was out there by himself out there a lot, out there on an island, just like a guy has to be (in the NFL). He had no problem with any of the movement. And he is stout enough. And he runs really well, too. He is a fast kid.
“You just see all of that athleticism — back to the hoops. He just seemed to fit.”
Fit the way Carroll has built the Seahawks in the past.
This story was originally published April 28, 2022 at 10:13 PM.
