5 Observations From Day 1 of Seahawks Rookie Minicamp
With the NFL draft in the books, the Seahawks kicked off their annual rookie minicamp on Friday with nine draft picks, 14 undrafted signees, and a bevy of tryout players taking the field with coach Pete Carroll and his staff for the first time.
"This is really the first shot that we can feel like it was a practice," Carroll said following the conclusion of practice. "These guys did really well today, they came in charged up and the coaches did a nice job in getting them out there so we could make it look like we could play some football, even though we only ran a couple of plays here and a couple of looks on defense. All in all, we had a chance to get on film, we will get a chance to look at them, and start the process of evaluating guys, and really, open up opportunities for guys to make it in the NFL. It’s a really exciting time, a lot of bright spots."
Here are five takeaways from Friday's first practice session at the VMAC courtesy of Carroll himself:
1. Charles Cross and Abraham Lucas look comfortable in their new surroundings.
Prior to last week's NFL Draft, the Seahawks had just three tackles on their roster with a combined five starts under their belt. Recognizing the need for long-term solutions at both left and right tackle, Schneider used a top-10 selection on Cross and later kept Lucas in the state of Washington by selecting him 72nd overall in the third round, giving the franchise a pair of young tackles to build their offensive line around.
Interestingly, Cross and Lucas both starred in Air Raid offenses that relied heavily on the passing game and didn't play out of a three-point stance, creating some questions about how well they would be able to adapt to playing with their hand in the dirt in Seattle's pro-style scheme. But Carroll already saw enough after one minicamp practice to believe such a change won't be a major challenge for either player.
"Shoot, you would never even have known," Carroll said of their lack of experience in a three-point stance. "They've been working hard at it and they look very comfortable. They'll get better. I saw a couple of small flinches and stuff, which is really normal, but these guys are too good athletically. They're really comfortable in their bodies and can move and they're well-proportioned and they're quick and they can run fast for big guys. It's just not gonna be a big transition."
Of course, until the pads come on in August, Carroll and the Seahawks won't truly know how well Cross or Lucas will adjust to playing in a run-centric system. So far, however, he's encouraged by what he's seen, which is a good sign as they prepare to battle for starting jobs as rookies.
2. Members of Seattle's 2022 draft class will have a prime chance to play early.
While the Seahawks have had their share of rookies become starters during the Carroll and Schneider era, it isn't easy for first-year players to crack the lineup right away. Last year, the team's three draft picks - Dee Eskridge, Tre Brown, and Stone Forsythe - combined to start three games. Undrafted rookie tackle Jake Curhan actually started the most games for the rookie class replacing Brandon Shell over the last five weeks.
But this year's draft class may be much better equipped for multiple rookies to see extensive playing time for multiple reasons. As Carroll acknowledged on Friday, the team hit heavy on critical positions of need that lacked proven veteran starters, setting up favorable situations for youngsters to compete for snaps with the first-team.
"It feels like little bit like that in that we really hit it with the guys we picked in spots that are available to compete for," Carroll commented. "It's not like there's a long-term incumbent guy at a couple of these spots, so I wouldn't be surprised to see some guys have a shot at pushing for a lot of playing time out of this class."
Aside from Cross and Lucas being front-runners to start at left and right tackle, running back Ken Walker III already has left a strong impression on the coaching staff with his athletic traits and football IQ. Coming from a pro-style offense at Michigan State, the second-round pick already familiar with much of the terminology and concepts, which has helped him literally hit the ground running.
“He took off now, he’s a rocket," Carroll said. "He caught the ball really well today too which we are really excited about... He understood the terminology to some extent too, so it’s really going to facilitate him being comfortable with the transition. We will expect no issues there at all, he will be able to go. He was very bursty, very quick.”
In addition, after starting the past three years at Cincinnati and winning the Jim Thorpe Award last year, cornerback Coby Bryant also turned in a fine first day at the office. Given his experience and football savvy, while Carroll said it's way too early to know if he will make an immediate impact as Brown did a year ago prior to injury, signs point towards him being in the mix to vie for snaps as a rookie.
"He has a feel and sense, you can tell, and you just can’t hide that. That just gives him a leg up on getting started, there is no transitioning going here, it’s going to be very smooth for him I think.”
3. The Seahawks got their first look at a pair of undrafted signal callers.
Under usual circumstances, undrafted rookie quarterbacks wouldn't be drawing much attention, if any, during a three-day minicamp. They certainly haven't over the past decade in Seattle with Russell Wilson under center. However, the team didn't draft one after trading Wilson to Denver in March, which has created a bit of unexpected excitement from the fan base about Levi Lewis and Kaleb Eleby.
With limited reps in a borderline walkthrough practice session, it's difficult to assess players on the field, but Lewis and Eleby did get to make plenty of live throws to running backs and receivers. Though he didn't dive into their specific skill sets, Carroll liked what he saw on Friday and he's looking forward to seeing how they perform over the next few days.
"Both are leaders, they did a nice job in their programs. They're strong people," Carroll said of Lewis and Eleby. "They handled what we asked them to do well today, threw the ball around the yard pretty well. But both of 'em you can see are good, competitive guys and that came through clearly."
While Eleby may be able to play himself into a contract this weekend after a stellar career at Western Michigan, Lewis already signed with the Seahawks after throwing a school-record 74 touchdowns and rushing for over 1,000 yards as a three-year starter at Louisiana. Despite being under 5-foot-9, his dual-threat capabilities and quick release could make him a name to keep tabs on as the offseason program progresses.
4. Seattle loaded up on undrafted safeties in part due to players recovering from injury.
With Jamal Adams and Quandre Diggs both under contract through at least 2024 and the trio of Ryan Neal, Marquise Blair, and Ugo Amadi behind them, safety stands out as one of the Seahawks' best position groups in terms of talent and depth. Not surprisingly, they didn't invest a draft pick on a safety last week.
However, the Seahawks were aggressive adding a quartet of undrafted rookies at the position - Bubba Bolden, Joey Blount, Scott Nelson, and Deontai Williams - and for good reason. Per Carroll, the team simply wanted to take a close look at several prospects and with Adams, Diggs, and Blair all still working their way back from surgeries, signing additional depth heading towards organized team activities and mandatory minicamp made sense.
"There's not a real design to that," Carroll explained. "However, there are a couple guys hurt that are coming back... We just gotta have good numbers, but it's not by design that we're trying to load it up."
When asked which players stood out to him in the first practice, Carroll referenced Idaho product Tyrese Dedmon, who wasn't one of the four safeties signed to a contract prior to Friday, "jumping out a little bit" as a tryout player. He also cited the play of Blount, who did sign as a priority undrafted free agent out of Virginia, and he's interested to see how the group performs in coming weeks with ample opportunities to see the field.
"These guys, they've got some good film on them. We gotta see how it translates here, but it'll be a good, active group and we'll see how they go."
5. All eyes shifted to a mountain of a man in the defensive line group.
In a comical moment during Carroll's press conference, a reporter inquired about Northeastern State product Nick Paul, who was listed on the rookie minicamp program as 6-foot-4, 385 pounds. After playing offensive tackle in college, Seattle brought him in for a tryout as a nose tackle on defense, which garnered plenty of attention from onlookers on the sideline drawn in by big No. 66.
"This is the biggest man I ever saw now," Carroll declared. "He did okay. I saw him down there when we were doing the [agility] bags and I was thinking about Nick and he was looking at those bags like 'Oh man, that's a long ways down there.' Take those four bills plus and go show what he can do."
When asked for the reasoning behind moving Paul to the defensive side of the ball, Carroll cited his sheer size and said "you can't tell what gap he's lining up on," which creates obvious issues for the offense right off the bat. As for the listed weight, the coach simply laughed and motioned upward with his thumb.
"Take it up a bit. I don't think the scale even registered what he was. We went to an alternate scale."
As a tryout player, Paul may not wear a Seahawks uniform past Sunday. But like many players partaking in the minicamp, he will have a great story to tell his friends and family if he doesn't get a contract for the remainder of the offseason program and reporters will remember his presence as well.
