Seahawks make six picks on day two of NFL Draft

RENTON -- The Seahawks wrapped up day two of the NFL Draft with six new members of their team.

Seattle made two selections in the second round and four in the third round after trading out of the first round on Thursday. The Seahawks made four picks on the defensive side of the ball and two on offense to round out their six-man group from day two.

Some of the selections have incredibly interesting back stories. The list is as follows:

2nd (35) -- Malik McDowell, DT, Michigan State
2nd (58) -- Ethan Pocic, OL, LSU
3rd (90) -- Shaquill Griffin, CB, Central Florida
3rd (95) -- Delano Hill, S, Michigan
3rd (102) -- Nazair Jones, DT, North Carolina
3rd (106) -- Amara Darboh, WR, Michigan

Here's a few quick notes on each player:

-- McDowell is a 6-foot-6, 299-pound defensive tackle that fills a need as an interior pass rusher for Seattle.

"He's too unique," Seahawks G.M. John Schneider said of the decision to draft McDowell. "We've been looking for a pass rushing 3-technique since we've been here together."

Added head coach Pete Carroll: "He's so young (20 years old) that we can develop the things that aren't quite right yet. We think we can mold him into a really good role player for us and fit him into a number of different spots."

-- Pocic is a 6-foot-5, 317-pound lineman that played primarily center during his time at LSU. However, he's also played both tackle positions and guard as well.

"We think he's the most flexible (offensive lineman) in the draft," Carroll said. "... There wasn't very many offensive linemen in the draft as you've noticed that already and we just thought he could fit in to a number of spots and really help us out."

Schneider: "He was the one guy that, quite frankly, we were really sweating out because we felt like you're drafting maybe two-and-a-half players with one guys. We debated whether to go up and get him or just wait and sweat it out."

-- Griffin is a 6-foot, 216-pound cornerback that has long arms and ran a 4.38 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine.

Griffin's brother, Shaquem, won AAC Defensive Player of the Year honors as a linebacker at Central Florida. And he managed to do so despite having his left hand amputated at the age of 4 due to a condition experienced during birth.

-- Hill has played both safety positions at Michigan and played some nickel cornerback as well.

"He looks more like a hitter," Carroll said. "He's really physical. Might be a little more like Kam (Chancellor)'s style. So we'll see, but he's done everything. Their scheme showed all of that. Was really a good evaluation for that and we've got a lot of hopes for this."

-- Jones experience Complex Regional Pain Syndrome while he was 16-years old, which left him unable to move. The story is detailed well here by Bleacher Report's Ty Dunne.

It took two months before Jones received a diagnosis and it took several years before he felt like he regained his strength and moved beyond the effects of the condition.

"(CRPS) is so different and it is so uncommon that some of my doctors had never head of it and had never diagnosed anyone with it," Jones said. "It took me a long time to do that, but it wasn't until my freshman year at North Carolina where I felt back to 100 percent."

-- Darboh fled a war-torn Sierra Leone at 7 years old after the death of his parents. He settled in Des Moines, Iowa and became a U.S. Citizen last September.

"I feel very blessed," Darboh said. "Although I went through some difficult times in my life I think God has also blessed me and I've had some great people to help me throughout my life."


Photo Credit: COLUMBUS, OH - NOVEMBER 26:   Mike Weber #25 of the Ohio State Buckeyes is tackled by Delano Hill #44 of the Michigan Wolverines during the second half of their game at Ohio Stadium on November 26, 2016 in Columbus, Ohio.  (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)


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