Recently revealed Draft Musings

[tarlhawk]

Jerrick Reed II held in high regard by JS who at a top 30 interview asked him why he looks like an "angry elf" ...a reference he used the previous year in telling a reporter not to call Ken Walker "Kenneth" if he didn't want to get the ire of an "angry elf" hmmm.


Hmmm speaking of coincidences...Pete revealed getting a "sign" from the night before the draft while going to Popeyes. He noticed at a stoplight the car ahead of him had Illinois plates then as he was in the drive thru and noticed the car ahead also had Illinois plates (two different cars from almost 2000 miles away) coincidence?


Interesting tidbit Illinois Head Coach and John Schneider have a long lasting relationship since the drafting of Russell Wilson who he coached at Wisconsin and now drafting "Spoon"


The Illinois coach revealed JS/PC had contacted him the night before and he didn't reveal it to Devon but felt surreal when the cameras were focused on Jalen Carter as Seattle's fifth pick was on the clock...yet it was Devon's phone that "lit up".


“The cameras started to move to another prospect in the green room there that everybody thought was gonna go next, and I literally turned and I looked at Spoon and he wasn’t looking at me, but I saw him look at his phone, pull it over, look at it and start smiling and pick it up, and then I could begin to see what happened,” Bielema said Tuesday to Seattle Sports’ Bump and Stacy.

While few expected the Seahawks to take Witherspoon with the fifth overall pick, Bielema had a feeling it was going to happen as Seattle general manager John Schneider and head coach Pete Carroll reached out to him right before the draft.

“I actually got a call from John Schneider and Coach Carroll the day before, so I knew something was up,” Bielema said. “… When I got that text from John, I started smiling because I knew something was in the air.”

Being in the green room with Witherspoon as that all happened was “very surreal,” Bielema said, but in a good way.

[NorthHawk]

Interesting story about the draft room when Witherspoon was selected.
I wonder how much of a recruiting boost a top 5 pick does for a college program.

[tarlhawk]

Interesting story about the draft room when Witherspoon was selected.
I wonder how much of a recruiting boost a top 5 pick does for a college program.

No doubt...but Illinois can also boast of another member of their secondary Dwayne Brown (3rd round 66th pick) going to the other team that "killed" their draft...the Eagles.

[RiverDog]

Interesting story about the draft room when Witherspoon was selected.
I wonder how much of a recruiting boost a top 5 pick does for a college program.

I would imagine that it depends on the school. If you're an SEC school, a top 5 pick probably doesn't do a lot for your program as most of the conference has at one time or another had a top 5 pick. But if you're a school that doesn't have a lot of history, say like Trey Lance at North Dakota State, I'd think it would have one heck of an impact.

[NorthHawk]

Sounds reasonable.

[tarlhawk]

An interesting aspect of our recent free agent signings and successful draft is the theme Pete likes to emphasize "COMPETE". One year free agent signings seem destined to match-up/compete against a rookie eager to claim a starting role. Uluwatimi wants Evan Browns job at C. AB (Anthony Bradford) wants the RG spot next to Olu (currently held by Phil Haynes). Devon Whetherspoon will be taking either the corner spot (held by M-Jack) or the Nickel/Slot spot (held by Coby Bryant. Devin Bush wants to win the "other" off ball LB spot against whoever "loses" the Wagner/Brooks LB spot (upon Jordyn Brooks eventual return from injury). Jarren Reed (2 yr contract)/Mario Edwards as 5T/Big DE will fend off against Mike Morris. DJ Dallas must fend off losing RB snaps to McIntosh.

[NorthHawk]

Pete's always been about competing.
What's different in these last 2 drafts is CHARACTER. Most of the players we selected are true Alphas, leaders and players willing to make big sacrifices to be their best. We didn't do that for about 6 years and the talent pool suffered as a result.
It's part of why some of us think they passed on Carter. He might be the most talented DL in years, but he's not a leader and even the Georgia coaches were sour on his work ethic. That's not the type of player that fits who they want on the team.

[tarlhawk]

Pete's always been about competing.
What's different in these last 2 drafts is CHARACTER. Most of the players we selected are true Alphas, leaders and players willing to make big sacrifices to be their best. We didn't do that for about 6 years and the talent pool suffered as a result.
It's part of why some of us think they passed on Carter. He might be the most talented DL in years, but he's not a leader and even the Georgia coaches were sour on his work ethic. That's not the type of player that fits who they want on the team.

Good strong points! Our Defensive hey day character was similar as reflected in Sherm/Kam/ET/Bennett and Avril...replaced by new blood whose character exudes confidence/intimidation...offensive nightmares as experience builds. Go Hawks

[NorthHawk]

Derick Hall might be this years poster boy for leadership. When things fell apart at Auburn and they fired their HC on Halloween, it was reported that Hall was the leader on Defense who kept the players focused. That’s the type of player JS and PC really look for in combination with talent and scheme fit.

[tarlhawk]

Derick Hall might be this years poster boy for leadership. When things fell apart at Auburn and they fired their HC on Halloween, it was reported that Hall was the leader on Defense who kept the players focused. That’s the type of player JS and PC really look for in combination with talent and scheme fit.

Spot on with your Derick Hall assessment...his tape and film study match his very athletic performance at the combine. The only "knock" I've heard is he lacks counters to support his power to speed rush technique...but we hired BT Jordan ( respected Pass Rush specialist) to coach up our D-Line youth!
Go Hawks

[NorthHawk]

I'm surprised we didn't do something like that before since we've been trying to improve our pass rush for 5 or 6 years now.
Let's hope he can teach all of the DL enough techniques to improve it as a whole and give the young players a big step forward early in their careers.

[RiverDog]

Pete's always been about competing.
What's different in these last 2 drafts is CHARACTER. Most of the players we selected are true Alphas, leaders and players willing to make big sacrifices to be their best. We didn't do that for about 6 years and the talent pool suffered as a result.
It's part of why some of us think they passed on Carter. He might be the most talented DL in years, but he's not a leader and even the Georgia coaches were sour on his work ethic. That's not the type of player that fits who they want on the team.

I tend to agree with this thought. It's likely one of the reasons why we passed on Jalen Carter. I just wish they would have adapted that mode of operation years ago when we brought in Percy Harvin, who had obvious character red flags. Perhaps that's one of the reasons why they seemed to have adapted their current policy.

We'll see how it goes with this group. I'm still in a wait-and-see mode.

[NorthHawk]

I've always said the draft is about selecting potential as nothing and nobody is a sure thing.
But there's a lot to be encouraged by this group along with last years draft. They seem to have the right mindset and some of them look like they have some untapped talent that can be developed.
There's a lot to be encouraged by this past draft, but only time will tell if they can reach their potential.

[tarlhawk]

As a note of interest I saw a video from the Seahawks.com website that our team got awarded as having best NFL draft class in 2022...maybe we'll get to keep that award with our 2023 draft? Go Hawks

[NorthHawk]

We were also given one of the worst grades for the draft when we selected Wilson and Wagner, so I take these statements with a grain of salt.

[tarlhawk]

We were also given one of the worst grades for the draft when we selected Wilson and Wagner, so I take these statements with a grain of salt.

"worse grade" Opinions are not a fair comparison to actually being given an award not driven by a single opinion.

[NorthHawk]

It was almost universal in the assessment of our draft in 2012. I can't remember any article that rated us highly, yet it was one of our best years in selecting talent. It set the stage for 2 Super Bowl appearances and 1 win.

[RiverDog]

It was almost universal in the assessment of our draft in 2012. I can't remember any article that rated us highly, yet it was one of our best years in selecting talent. It set the stage for 2 Super Bowl appearances and 1 win.

Although the top 2 turned out to be flubs (Carpenter and Moffit), the 2011 draft was very good in the middle and lower rounds, with KJ Wright being taken at #3, Richard Sherman at #5, Byron Maxwell at #6, and Malcom Smith at #7. And, of course, the 2010 draft wasn't bad either, with Russell Okung, Earl Thomas, Golden Tate, and Kam Chancellor being taken.

Those were three straight drafts that had at least one legitimate HOF candidate and a slew of multi year starters. Compare those results with that of the following 8-9 years and it's pretty easy to see how our teams waned after our LOB years.