Reviewing Seattle’s draft: Why did they do that?

By Chris Cluff  |   Thursday, May 10, 2007  |  Comments( 1 )

Seattle Seahawks
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Tim Ruskell, the Seattle Seahawks' president, and his scouts obviously know their craft when it comes to the draft -- a fact that has been proven with the savvy selections of starters like Chris Spencer, Lofa Tatupu, Leroy Hill and Rob Sims over the past two years.

So -- especially at this early juncture, just days after the draft -- it seems folly to question their picks. Certainly no one knows better than Ruskell whether certain players would fit the team's schemes; but, for the sake of argument, it's worth posing some possibly foolish questions.

1) With bigger needs at guard and defensive tackle, why did the Seahawks pass on USC center Ryan Kalil and N.C. State tackle Tank Tyler and take Maryland cornerback Josh Wilson with the 55th overall pick?

Kalil was considered a high second-round value, so when he slid down the round and was there when the Seahawks were picking, it looked like a very fortuitous fall for Seattle. But Ruskell decided to continue to upgrade his secondary by adding a cornerback with the team's top pick for the second straight year.

The Seahawks obviously had Wilson rated higher than Kalil, but why? Perhaps it was because they felt Kalil would not make a good guard in the NFL. At 291 pounds, he would be a little light for the position. And with Spencer set to start at center, Kalil would have had to make the move to guard. Of course, in light of the news that Spencer's shoulders could hinder him all the way to training camp, passing on Kalil still looks like a questionable move. Kalil didn't last much longer than the 55th pick; Carolina took the center four selections later.

The Seahawks already like the man they got at 55. Wilson showed well in the recent mini-camp and is expected to replace Kelly Herndon immediately as the nickel back and could challenge Kelly Jennings, Seattle's first-round pick in 2006, for the starting gig at right cornerback.

Tyler was rated as a second-round talent by non-NFL evaluators, but he ended up going in the third round -- just three picks before the Seahawks grabbed California defensive tackle Brandon Mebane. So why wasn't Tyler worth Seattle's second-round pick? Because he failed the character test -- he carried the baggage of off-field issues and lack of maturity and motivation. Ruskell has made character and integrity a prime requisite for anyone the Seahawks sign or draft, and Tyler didn't pass muster.

2) Mebane did, but the question is: Why did Seattle rate him higher than Ohio State's Quinn Pitcock, who was generally rated a better third-round value?

Because the Seahawks ignored Mebane's lack of height (he's just 6-foot-1) in favor of his production -- another typical Ruskell strategy. Pitcock was considered an unathletic underachiever, while Mebane is not as strong but is more explosive and appears to be a better fit as a run stopper in Seattle's scheme.

The Seahawks obviously had Mebane rated higher than any of the remaining guard prospects; Marshal Yanda and Andy Alleman went in the next three picks, and Manuel Ramirez was picked in the fourth round. The Seahawks probably had little interest in any of them for various reasons.

3) Why in the heck didn't the Seahawks draft a tight end?

Delaware's Ben Patrick was lined up as a potential third-round pick for the Hawks, but the non-NFL evaluators apparently had him rated way too high because he was not drafted until Arizona took him in the seventh round.

If Zach Miller had fallen to the 55th spot, the Seahawks surely would have taken him. But he was picked by Oakland at 38. And the Seahawks obviously didn't like any of the remaining tight ends enough to grab one until after the draft was over, when they signed Oregon State's Joe Newton.

Thus, the tight end spot is in the 35-year-old hands of Marcus Pollard in 2007.

4) When the Seahawks finally did draft a guard, they chose a big-time project in Mansfield Wrotto over a more established blocker in Josh Beekman. Why?

Wrotto, a former defensive lineman, played right tackle as a senior at Georgia Tech, and he will require some major coaching to become any good at guard. Beekman, meanwhile, had started 39 games at Boston College, and his only shortcoming seemed to be the fact that he comes up a little short for a guard (6-2). The Seahawks probably thought Beekman was purely a center type in the NFL and apparently prefer the potential (and maybe the funky name) of Wrotto.

In the end, the Seahawks stocked up their defense with their first three picks (Wilson, Mebane and defensive end Baraka Atkins) and basically have the same unresolved future at tight end and guard that they had going into the draft.

And it won't be until the future that we know whether the Seahawks' answers to the above questions are the right ones.

Got a bone to pick with a newspaper columnist, talk show personality or television analyst? E-mail us at mediawatch@realfootball365.com. For more information, visit our Media Watch info page.
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About Chris Cluff

Chris Cluff spent 10 years as an editor and sportswriter for The Seattle Times. He was a key figure in the newspaper's coverage of the Seahawks, particularly during their Super Bowl run in 2005. He also has written two books on the Seahawks: "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: Heart-Pounding, ...
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