Seahawks Official 30 Visits

[Irish Greg 2.0]

By my count, they are up to 21 that I have been able to track. Who on this list intrigues you the most? I highlighted mine.

Nathaniel Watson, LB, Mississippi State
Grayson Murphy, DE, UCLA
Malachi Corley, WR, Western Kentucky
Tyrice Knight, LB, UTEP
John Rhys Plumlee, QB, UCF
Khristian Boyd, DT, Northern Iowa
Bo Nix, QB, Oregon
Spencer Rattler, QB, South Carolina
T’Vondre Sweat, DT, Texas
Chop Robinson, DE, Penn State
Theo Johnson, TE, Penn State
Jared Verse, DE, Florida State
Travis Glover, OL, Georgia State
Byron Murphy II, DT, Texas
Cooper DeJean, DB, Iowa
Kamren Kinchens, S, Miami (FL)
Matt Goncalves, OT, Pitt
Michael Dowell, DB, Miami (OH)
Qwan'Tez Stiggers, CB, CFL
Mike Jerrell, OT, Findlay
George Holani, RB, Boise State
Carlton Johnson, CB, Fresno State
Maason SMith, DT, LSU


Also, here are the players they met with at the Scouting Combine:

LSU QB Jayden Daniels
UNC QB Drake Maye
Washington EDGE Bralen Trice
Alabama EDGE Dallas Turner
Florida State DL Braden Fiske
Michigan LB Junior Colson
Western Michigan EDGE Marshawn Kneeland
Illinois DT Johnny Newton
Michigan DT Kris Jenkins
Kentucky LB Trevin Wallace
Texas DT Byron Murphy II
Florida State TE Jaheim Bell
Michigan CB Mike Sainistril
Michigan QB JJ McCarthy
Tulane WR/KR/PR Jah’Quan Jackson
Duke G Graham Barton
Michigan G Zak Zinter

[Oly]

I'm not following super closely (the end of the semester is a brutal time for professors), but the player who most intrigues me from that list is Zak Zinter. I know the Hawks need a plug-and-play starter, and Zinter probably won't be ready, but he's a nasty, tough SOB and I'd love to see him in Seattle. Unfortunately, I think that he'll be gone by the R3 pick, but if JS can recoup a R2 in a trade, I think the Hawks would be in the perfect spot for Zinter.

I'm also interested in DeJean as a safety. I'd want to know how his closing speed compares to Earl, but there is something about his intelligence and ball skills that is reminiscent of Earl. Regardless, I can easily see Macdonald finding creative uses for a versatile player like DeJean.

I'm intrigued by lots of DE, but for some reason that's one of the hardest positions for me to evaluate. Guys you think will be great just flop. That's true everywhere, of course, but for me if feels like I'm so bad and seeing potential that I never bother to get interested in a DE. In any case, I don't think DE is a R1 priority. Nwosu and Mafe are solid enough that I think they should be filling needs elsewhere. Then again, if Macdonald thinks he can identify The Guy, then I wouldn't complain about a DE pick.

[Aseahawkfan]

Given the state of the defense and having hired a new defensive coach, I'm hoping the new blood provides quality insight into defensive drafting to get this defense turned around.

My feeling is the 16th pick is not a good place to pick a QB. I wouldn't mind a good guard either. But my feeling is this draft needs to bring in some quality defensive talent to give Mike the ability to truly get this defensive ship righted.

So I'm hoping a few quality defensive players are available to us in the first and third.

[Irish Greg 2.0]

I'm not following super closely (the end of the semester is a brutal time for professors), but the player who most intrigues me from that list is Zak Zinter. I know the Hawks need a plug-and-play starter, and Zinter probably won't be ready, but he's a nasty, tough SOB and I'd love to see him in Seattle. Unfortunately, I think that he'll be gone by the R3 pick, but if JS can recoup a R2 in a trade, I think the Hawks would be in the perfect spot for Zinter.

I'm also interested in DeJean as a safety. I'd want to know how his closing speed compares to Earl, but there is something about his intelligence and ball skills that is reminiscent of Earl. Regardless, I can easily see Macdonald finding creative uses for a versatile player like DeJean.

I'm intrigued by lots of DE, but for some reason that's one of the hardest positions for me to evaluate. Guys you think will be great just flop. That's true everywhere, of course, but for me if feels like I'm so bad and seeing potential that I never bother to get interested in a DE. In any case, I don't think DE is a R1 priority. Nwosu and Mafe are solid enough that I think they should be filling needs elsewhere. Then again, if Macdonald thinks he can identify The Guy, then I wouldn't complain about a DE pick.

DE isn't just hard for you to evaluate - it was an issue for John and Pete, too. *Signed, LJ Collier and Darrell Taylor*

[River_Dog]

I'm not following super closely (the end of the semester is a brutal time for professors), but the player who most intrigues me from that list is Zak Zinter. I know the Hawks need a plug-and-play starter, and Zinter probably won't be ready, but he's a nasty, tough SOB and I'd love to see him in Seattle. Unfortunately, I think that he'll be gone by the R3 pick, but if JS can recoup a R2 in a trade, I think the Hawks would be in the perfect spot for Zinter.

I'm also interested in DeJean as a safety. I'd want to know how his closing speed compares to Earl, but there is something about his intelligence and ball skills that is reminiscent of Earl. Regardless, I can easily see Macdonald finding creative uses for a versatile player like DeJean.

I'm intrigued by lots of DE, but for some reason that's one of the hardest positions for me to evaluate. Guys you think will be great just flop. That's true everywhere, of course, but for me if feels like I'm so bad and seeing potential that I never bother to get interested in a DE. In any case, I don't think DE is a R1 priority. Nwosu and Mafe are solid enough that I think they should be filling needs elsewhere. Then again, if Macdonald thinks he can identify The Guy, then I wouldn't complain about a DE pick.

DE isn't just hard for you to evaluate - it was an issue for John and Pete, too. *Signed, LJ Collier and Darrell Taylor*

Agreed. Collier, Taylor, and even Brooks were defensive reach picks that surprised a lot of people. Those picks, combined with the Adams debacle, is what clued me into the fact that Pete had lost his eye for defensive personnel and caused me to fall off the Pete bandwagon.

It's hard to get a handle on what these visits mean. Is it a smoke screen designed to hide our intentions, or are we really serious about these guys? There's not a single player from Michigan or Washington on the official visit list yet they're littered about the ones we met with at the scouting combine. Mac was the DC at Michigan 3 years ago and our OC is from the Huskies, so there's not really a need to waste the limited number of visits meeting with any of them.

[Irish Greg 2.0]

Updated: LSU DT Maason Smith visited

[NorthHawk]

I've heard a couple of former GMs and executives say that the visits are to confirm or challenge what they think of a player or with smaller schools find out more about them.
For the players they have high on their boards, they don't usually include them on their Official 30 Visits because they have extensive knowledge about them, but others who may have had off field problems or inconsistent play, they will try to get more information on them to see if they might fit their system/team/needs.

[Irish Greg 2.0]

I've heard a couple of former GMs and executives say that the visits are to confirm or challenge what they think of a player or with smaller schools find out more about them.
For the players they have high on their boards, they don't usually include them on their Official 30 Visits because they have extensive knowledge about them, but others who may have had off field problems or inconsistent play, they will try to get more information on them to see if they might fit their system/team/needs.

Let's look at last year. Of the official 30 visits ahead of the 2023, they ended up drafting 3 and signing another off waivers:

DRAFTED
Devon Witherspoon - CB
Jarrick Reed II - DB
Anthony Bradford - OL

SIGNED
Drake Thomas - LB (UDFA with Raiders, but Seahawks claimed him at start of the season)

Considering that they used the fifth overall pick on Witherspoon, we can assume he was at the top of their board.

[Irish Greg 2.0]

UPDATED

Of the 30 visits and combine meetings, the Seahawks signed the following:

30 VISITS
Byron Murphy
Tyrice Knight
Mike Jerrell
George Holani (UDFA)
Carlton Johnson (UDFA)

Combine Meetings
Murphy

For this cycle, at least, the 30 Visits bore more fruit.