RENTON -- With five additional selections on Saturday -- three of which they didn't even have when the draft began Thursday night -- the Seahawks rounded out their 11-man draft class.
The draft was heavy on defensive players, particularly in the secondary. Seattle selected six defensive players with two cornerbacks, two safeties and two defensive tackles. They also grabbed two wide receivers, two offensive linemen and a running back during their two days of selections.
Day three of the draft consisted of two more secondary additions, a questionable selection on a tackle, a small school receiver and a bruising running back.
Colorado safety Tedric Thompson was the first pick of the day for Seattle, just four picks into the fourth round.
Thompson is a 6-foot, 209-pound safety that was one of the key cogs in Colorado's stellar secondary. He was a second-team All-Pac 12 selection last season with 63 tackles, 3.5 for loss and seven interceptions. Thompson and fellow teammate Ahkello Witherspoon also tied for the FBS lead with 23 passes defended last season as well.
After sitting out over two full rounds of picks, the Seahawks grabbed Cincinnati safety Mike Tyson in the sixth round.
However, the Seahawks don't see Tyson as a safety. Instead, they view him as a cornerback. He'll begin with Seattle as an outside cornerback with the team feeling confident he can play in the slot already as well.
Senior was more productive as a junior than during his senior season at Mississippi State. He added significant weight, going from under 300 pounds to over 330, and lost effectiveness. The Seahawks believe he can play on both ends of the line, but they want him to get lighter. He's start out on the left side.
Moore played Division II football at East Central Oklahoma University. Despite played against a lower level of competition, Moore's 4.43 40-yard dash time at 6-foot-1, 219 pounds intrigued the Seahawks.
Carson had a fan in head coach Pete Carroll and brings a bruising, downhill running style.
The full transcripts of both Friday and Saturday's press conferences with head coach Pete Carroll and general manager John Schneider are included below.
The full list of Seahawks selections from this weekend are 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
4th (111) -- Tedric Thompson, S, Colorado
6th (187) -- Mike Tyson, CB, Cincinnati
6th (210) -- Justin Senior, OT, Mississippi State
7th (226) -- David Moore, WR, Central Oklahoma
7th (249) -- Chris Carson, RB, Oklahoma State
Photo Credit: WEST LAFAYETTE, IN - SEPTEMBER 10: Cameron Posey #18 of the Purdue Boilermakers goes up for the ball as Mike Tyson #5 of the Cincinnati Bearcats makes the interception at Ross-Ade Stadium on September 10, 2016 in West Lafayette, Indiana. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images)
Head Coach Pete Carroll and GM John Schneider
2017 NFL Draft Day Two
April 28, 2017
(Opening) Carroll: “What a great day, this is really fun. It’s great to have a chance to just take this kind of day, John [Schneider], all the options that he had, because of the dealings, just made for a really unique day. I thought he did great, it was awesome.”
(On if he got their man with their first pick) Carroll: “Yeah. We did. He was really the guy we were hoping to get and it worked out.”
(On Malik McDowell) Carroll: “He’s got a lot of flexibility, he’s played all across the board. He’s been a defensive end, he’s been a nose tackle, he’s been a three technique, which bodes well for us. We see a lot of flexibility in him, he’s a unique player, he’s a very young man, 20 years old, who has a lot of growing. We think he has great upside, he had a fantastic sophomore season that we weighted heavily and we think we have a really special player and we’re really happy to get him. Had a good visit when he came in, all that, and it paid off.”
(On Malik McDowell’s effort and consistency last year) Schneider: “He had some inconsistencies, he had some close buddies leave, fellow defensive linemen, he was banged up and I think he would tell you that there were a couple games he would want back. Maybe he already told you guys that, I’m not sure. But from a motor standpoint, he knows that he needs to keep going, and those are part of the discussions we had with him when he visited.”
(On how motor questions in the past factored into the evaluation) Schneider: “He’s too unique. We’ve been looking for a pass rushing three technique like Pete talked about, we’ve talked about this a lot, since we’ve been here together.
Carroll: “We really think he’s so young 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.”
Schneider: “He’s 300 pounds and 4.7, 4.8… Something like that.”
(On thoughts on McDowell as a player) Schneider: “Similar to what Calais Campbell looked like, coming out of University of Miami. Just long, gets off the ball, can get skinny, uses his hands, covers a lot of ground.”
Carroll: “He’s really an instinctive player, feels the run really well. I keep saying this, he’s a really young kid too, so we think we can really build with him. He was dominant as a sophomore and he went in with a high ankle sprain the first game and some other things, just never got right. I thought it was a great job of evaluating his whole career and we think there’s a great upside. A very unique player.”
Schneider: “Yes, Jason Barnes and Ed Dodds spent a ton of time there with those guys and were really getting to know them. It’s a cool story. We had to sweat it out too, it was one spot.”
(On if the knocks on McDowell were why they kept trading down) Schneider: “No, we just had several guys. So we knew we were going to get one of those guys, and I forget who asked last night, but we just knew we could keep going.”
(On if McDowell’s skillset is more like Mebane or McDaniel) Carroll: “Oh no, he’s way different than that. He’s not a Mebane guy at all. Like John [Schneider] said, John had a great example of Calais. He plays real long and tall and will affect the passer in those ways, whether he gets there or not. I think he’s much different style-wise. He’s 6’6”, so he’s a big guy.”
(On where Ethan Pocic will play on the line) Carroll: “We think he’s the most flexible guy in the draft. He started a lot at center but he’s played at guard and he’s played tackle. He’s been a primary player for them in a great conference and just been steady as a rock. Really smart, intelligent, tough guy. Long, tall, he has all the right elements and the background was so versatile that we just thought that was a great opportunity. We really were hoping, there weren’t many offensive linemen in the draft as you’ve noticed that already, and we just thought he could fit into a number of spots and really help us out. We’ll see him at guard and tackle, knowing he can play center.”
Schneider: “He was the one guy that, quite frankly, we were really sweating out. We felt like we were drafting maybe two and a half players with one guy, so we debated whether to go up and get him or just sit and wait and sweat it out. I changed my shirt [laughing].”
(On if there is one ideal spot for Pocic) Carroll: “The place he has played the most is center, but he’s played everything. So we’re going to see how it fits and see where he fits in best for us, and we have some spots we’re trying to work out as we move guys around a little bit here, but we think he gives us a great upside.”
(On Pocic not meeting with Tom Cable before the draft) Schneider: “Like we said, we sweated it out with him. We thought he was so versatile, we just wanted to be very careful with how much interest we showed.”
(On if linemen is one of the harder positions to draft) Schneider: “It’s just a very hard position in general, in terms of quantity, in college football. We just run into that, that shows up. Rob [Rang] would know, Tony [Softli] would know, it’s not a position that’s real heavy.”
(On if zone blocking in LSU helped them draft Pocic) Carroll: “We know he can do it, yeah. We know he can fit in. We see that.”
(On Shaquill Griffin) Schneider: “You guys are going to love him, he is a fun kid. Really confident, really tough, really fast, 4.37. He had a couple rough situations, but he responded the right way and he’s just our kind of DB in my opinion.”
Carroll: “I think he’s going to be a special teams guy for us, too. You’ll see him on the perimeter, holding up guys and change and be the gunner and all that kind of stuff. Really good motor and the speed, you just can’t deny that it’s really there. He’s a terrific athlete.”
(On if they see Griffin as an outside guy or in the slot) Carroll: “I see him as an outside guy. We’ll start there and try to transition to our style of stuff. His ability to play the ball, really his ball sense too, we think he’ll be a really good fit.”
Schneider: “He’s a good athlete and he’s not afraid of anything.”
(On Griffin not playing much press) Carroll: “It doesn’t matter.”
(On if there was a play on film for Griffin that stood out) Schneider: “I think just that ability to respond, to get beat and come right back and compete. That’s one thing I loved about him.”
Carroll: “He had some big plays on the ball, he had plenty of good turnovers and stuff. He looks just like he’ll fit in just right.”
(On where he sees Delano Hill fitting) Carroll: “That’s a good question. We know he can play safety. He’s played a lot and he’s very physical. He’s just right in the right framework of our style that we love to see. Tough and also, he’s played on the slot a lot, so he’s played kind of the nickel position quite a bit, which has shown the ability to cover receivers, which is good. As always, we’ll check our guys out see what the expanse of his play will bring us. We won’t be hesitant to see how he matches up with wide receivers. That’s a good thing for him, but there’s no question he can play safety. We would say strong and free, he looks more like a hitter, he’s really physical. Might be a little more like Kam [Chancellor] style, so we’ll see. He’s done everything their scheme showed, all of that, so it really was a good evaluation for us, we have a lot of hopes for this.”
(On the low salary of the O-line) Schneider: “I think we completely the understand the importance of the position, we’ve just made what we think are the appropriate decisions in managing our cap along the way, and trying not to overspend at certain positions and it just so happens that we’ve had pro-bowl, top 5 guys on defense and we ended up trying to keep those guys. But yes, every year we spend so much time and we’re going to do it tomorrow, too. We’re going to try to find out what somebody can bring us. What intangibles do these guys have and what can we work with to see if we can develop somebody.”
(On if drafting another center is because of Justin Britt) Carroll: “Not at all. We think Justin played great last year, and really in his first year there, he did a really good job. I think the comment I would make about this, is if you noticed when guys came to their next contract, we had to move along. And that’s happened a few times to us because of the cap issues and we like the guys that we’ve picked over the years, but they’ve had to move on just because of the numbers they were able to generate in the free market. That’s what happened to Russell [Okung] and Sweez (J.R. Sweezy) and Max [Unger], we’ve seen they get to a point where we’ve had to move. But that’s because of other decisions we made and you have to give and take a little bit. We would like really, would hope with this young group we have right now, we would like to keep these guys together and really build with them, see if we are able to do that, because we think we really have a nice nucleus right now. They’re just so darn young. This is the youngest offensive line in the NFL last year, and we might still be the youngest as we move just one year ahead, but at least we are banking a lot of good experience for these guys and continuity that it takes. We really think we can develop these guys. We’re really excited about it.”
Schneider: “Pete brought up a good point, when we were doing exactly what you were talking about, looking at our offensive line board, like George Fant, where would he go in this draft? It’s amazing when you think about, if you put him right now into that, we couldn’t have projected that.”
(On four of the first five picks being defense) Schneider: “We followed the board. We spent a long, long time, we spent a lot of long hours, in that room building the board, and you have to try to stick with it.”
Carroll: “We also made two statements to go get Luke Joeckel to play for us in the offseason and [Oday] Aboushi also, those were big deals to us to get those guys in and bring some experience and bring some know-how. Those were the first things we did in the offseason was address that, so that gave us some freedom to do what we had to do, and really that was not a big year for offensive linemen. There were not many players, as you saw.”
Schneider: “And that’s why, again, with Ethan [Pocic], that’s why he was so important to us, because it’s almost like he had a couple guys.”
(On Ethan Pocic comparing himself to Justin Britt) Carroll: “Yeah, they’re about the same size, they got the same kind of quickness the same kind of smarts. They really are very close and we’ve already seen Justin’s ability to play spots. That’s a big deal to us right now and we’re really excited about it.”
(On why Pocic didn’t rise up earlier) Carroll: “I don’t know. We just felt fortunate that he didn’t. As John said, we were all just hanging on to our opportunity and the hopes that we could get him. It was as really big deal for us to get him.”
(On Shaquill Griffin insisting his brother get a scholarship) Carroll: “He didn’t bring it up on the phone call for us. This guy is a really unique person and like John said, the attitude and his approach to he game, his approach to life, it comes through. For him to make that kind of statement, he has a big heart and it makes sense.”
Schneider: “I think he had like 14 visits or something like that, so we were really worried about if he was going to make it to us. It’s like trying to figure out where we could take him. The kid is like, he’s pretty cool.”
(On if they saw the combo of size and speed in Griffin in many other cornerbacks) Schneider: “Well he was one of the faster ones, for sure. Delano, he’s shoot, 220 pounds, he ran like 4.44 at the combine and has really good movement skills. Really good ball skills.”
(On Nazair Jones) Carroll: “Really fired up about that pick. John did a great job to nail him. He’s a big, if you look back at the guys we’ve had, we’ve had a lot of big three techniques. That‘s because we load up and play that running game in our division in particular. We’re hoping he’s going to fit that mold. You go back, you got some names that you can dig out that are big guys. He’s right there. Line of scrimmage guy, early down player, good technique guy, plays hard. Another young guy just coming into it, has amazing stories, as I’m sure you guys are already picking up on. We’re really excited about him. He really fits that role to kind of fit in the division, play that three technique, big and heavy. He’ll be able to play five technique as well, he’s really long and tall. We’re upping our depth and making it challenging and competitive. I think it was a great pick. I love it.”
(On McDowell versus Jones) Schneider: “They are every different. Malik probably has the ability to go out and play end more than Naz [Nazair Jones] does, Naz looks more like a defensive tackle, and Malik looks like a…”
Carroll: “Yeah, Naz is a strong , thick guy and Malik is more slippery, more active, moves really well when we move and stunt and all that. He’s really savvy on the move, so they’re really different style, and we love that.”
(On Nazair Jones’ backstory) Schneider: “He had a ton to overcome, he really did. I couldn’t tell you exactly the name of the disease, but it’s really scary, but he got it back and he worked hard and was supposed to be a really highly recruited guy but then he wasn’t. He’s one of those guys that we talk about, adding guys who overcome obstacles in their life, and it’s pretty admirable how they did that. I got a text last night form him, or they probably texted every GM in the league, but he was working out at 12:33 or whatever, like ‘the grind is on,’ or something like that.”
(On the most effective way to reach guys when consistency is in question) Carroll: “It’s always starting to get to know the guys and figure them out. It’s the term, ‘learn the learner.’ We have to figure out who the kid is, dig into him, and then make the connections that will really hit home. There’s a number of different ways, it just depends on the individual, but we will not stop. We compete like crazy to figure the kid out, and that’s, you have to communicate, you have to be straight up and once you do that, then we kind of develop the strategy of how we’re going to work with them. We’ve already started that. That’s why John visited him and we’ve talked to him at the combine, just to get to know him as much as we could. The coaches have done a great job to get to the point where we think we can really make sense and reach this kid. We think we know him well enough to know that. We invested a lot to figure that out and that’s why we were so committed to getting this done. Really the movement in this draft to make that pick, I don’t know, we picked up four other picks and still got the guy that we wanted to get. It was a phenomenal opportunity.
Schneider: “And Brock [Huard] had him as his eighth player in his mock, so we felt like we had to take him.”
(On how much veterans like Cliff Avril and Michael Bennett help guys with effort issues) Carroll: “Good leadership, that’s what we’re counting on. We’re counting on our guys to communicate with them and challenge them and show them the way and all of that. Our guys have already shown that they like doing that and they’re quick to try to help a guy along.”
(On Amara Darboh) Schneider: “He’s young in football and looks like a professional wide receiver. That’s probably the most amazing thing about his story. He’s got, we see him as a blue grit kid that has overcome a ton in his life. I’ve never met anybody from Iowa that I didn’t like, he was living in Des Moines, Iowa [laughing]. No, he’s really a good route runner, he’s got really good ball skills, he’ll block, he’ll play on teams. He’s one of those kids that just checks off all those boxes and there’s still a lot out there in front of him. He’s a very respectful, very articulate kid who has been through a ton.”
(On how much they talked to Darboh about his childhood) Schneider: “He was one of those guys that we were kind of laying the weeds a little bit and they give you so much information on him and he checks so many boxes, that he was one of those guys that you didn’t really have to spend a ton of extra time on.”
(On what that said about Darboh) Carroll: “The guy has a great story and he went through a lot. He’s come through as such an amazing kid and that tells you a lot about a guy. Like John said, we like those stories, that background that makes these kids who they are. These guys have brought their story with them. Nazair brought his story with him and his life, it’s part of his makeup.”
(On if Darboh’s pro-style scheme at Michigan will help) Carroll: “Coach Harbaugh does a great job. It’s a good scheme fit to see those guys in pro-style”
Schneider: “He’s a really good route runner, you can see it. It’s so refreshing when you sit down and you watch them run routes. You’re like, thank God, he’s really running a slant.”
(On taking so many players from Harbaugh at Michigan) Carroll: “He’s a great coach. He knows how to get the most out of people. Look what he did at that program, look how he turned it around. He did a fantastic job, which is no surprise. He’s done a great job everywhere he has been and the style of play really helps us, and we appreciate the opportunity to evaluate guys. The offensive line, with the spread passing game and all that stuff, as we talked about in the past, we don’t see guys coming off the rock like we like. We have to project how it’s going to be. Again, for Pocic, they’re a downhill running team. We see all the style that we need to see, we saw really a great product coming out of their program and the kind of makeup that we love to see. That really helped us really trust and believe in the kid.”
(On how close the Huskies cornerbacks were to being on their board) Carroll: “Really good players. Really good group. Very talented and with good character and all that kind of stuff, it just didn’t work out right, as it happens sometimes. But they’re really good, they’re going to make their impact around the league. Great that they showed respect with the young guy that got hurt. It just didn’t happen for us.”
General Manager John Schneider and Head Coach Pete Carroll — Post-Draft Press Conference
2017 NFL Draft Day Three April 29, 2017
(Opening) Schneider: “I just want to start by publicly thanking everybody that was involved in this process. Like I said last night, an 11-month process. Scouts, on the road, personnel staff, our pro staff, coaches, trainers, video guys, our medical staff, doctors. There’s so many team psychologists, Dr. Michael Gervais, there’s so much stuff that goes into this. It’s a huge effort that we’re still finishing up; free agency in there right now and rookie free agency. Just a great group effort. I’m super proud of everybody and the way it worked out and we’re very pleased with the results.”
(On spending 4 of the first 8 picks on the secondary) Schneider: “It was really a defensive-back heavy draft and it’s just the way the board came off. We didn’t want to start just jumping players. That’s when you get in trouble. We just really stuck to our board.”
(On the importance of all of the picks in the third round) Schneider: “Starting with Thursday night, I think that really set us up for a lot of things that ended up coming to fruition for us. We had upsets along the way, and that happens every year and it’s like a punch in the gut, but you gather yourself and you move forward. I think the biggest disappointment was the fifth round. I think we sat there for, it seemed like a day and a half, waiting to pick again.”
Carroll: “A great abyss.”
Schneider: “We were just watching players come off one by one. It was a blast.”
(On whether they were tempted to try to move into the fifth round) Schneider: “Yes.”
(On what he likes about Tedric Thompson) Schneider: “Phenomenal ball skills. I think he led the country in passes defensed. He has great feet, coverage skills, competitor. He’s got really good range, really good short area quickness. He’s a really interesting guy; kind of a well-rounded dude.”
(On Mike Tyson) Schneider: “Mike Tyson basically fits the profile that we’ve been looking for since we’ve been here as a corner. He’s a big, tough, aggressive guy that, based on what we’ve seen, has really good coverage skills. He’s primarily played inside. He played a lot of Nickel for them last year, he got his hands on a lot of balls. He has great ball skills and really strong in run support.”
(On how much they saw of Tyson at Cincinnati playing outside) Schneider: “That’s a projection. He did not do that. He was an inside player there. He played Nickel. He was a cover guy inside, so you have to have pretty good feet to play inside. Our hope is that he can be a press corner outside.”
(On the ability of Thompson to get interceptions) Carroll: “It’s a big deal. He’s a ball hog. That’s a big deal. Not just the balls that he’s stolen, but the ones he’s knocked around, and he’s always around the football. That’s a huge priority for us always. It has to do with pass rush, too. That’s why we started where we started with the draft. That was a big consideration.”
(On getting some bigger wide receivers in the draft) Carroll: “Good, solid guys. [Amara] Darboh is a really good solid kid and we’re really fired up about these guys. We think that David [Moore] is a stud of a receiver. He’s 219 pounds and he runs really fast and he’s really physical. Both of those guys, what I’m really excited about, is that they can both contribute on special teams. All of our receivers we have grown through here have been big factors on [special] teams, and that was a theme, as we were looking, that the guys that we wanted were able to hit that.”
(On finding David Moore at a small school) Schneider: “Aaron Hineline did a great job. It’s his school to cover, and he spent a lot of time with the kid, he was really excited about him. We brought him out here for a visit, and spent a lot of time with him with our docs, and team psychologist and the rest of our staff. He’s a really cool kid, very tough, very aggressive. Like Pete said, he’s like 222 pounds, running 4.43. Maybe 4.38, depends on the launch.”
(On Thompson playing a traditional free safety) Carroll: “Yes, that’s where we will start him out, and we’ll see what happens from there.”
(On what they saw in Mike Tyson to play at corner) Schneider: “His feet, his length. He has 32½ inch arms. He’s almost 6’2”. He has really cool feet, really good movement skills, feel for routes. And then the ball skills, being able to reach for the ball upon contact.”
(On whether coverage skills at safety compare to coverage skills at corner) Carroll: “It depends on the athlete. Guys who have been in the slot and played on guys, it really tells us something. [Delano] Hill has done that as well. He’s been a guy who has covered a lot of slots. It just shows you their versatility and comfort with working with the quicker, smaller guys. These guys are all different; they have their own style of athleticism, their own makeup, and after all of these years looking at it, we try to determine if the guy fits. It doesn’t always work out, and sometimes we are free to go ahead and move it around. I would not at all mind seeing what Delano did covering wide receivers on the line of scrimmage, as big and strong as he is, too. There’s always kind of a portion of the process where we’re looking at them in their coverage aspect of it just to see that we don’t miss it, because it is so important to find those guys.”
(On some shocking positive surprises about guys who were available) Schneider: “No, I think it was such a long wait for us. We had so many big gaps.”
Carroll: “I was hanging on Chris Carson. He’s a guy that I found looking through the stuff late in the draft, kind of like we’ve done over the years. I really love this guy because he is so physical and tough the way he ran. You haven’t heard a whole lot about him, he hasn’t run the ball a lot. But when he did, he, to me, made a great statement of his style and a style that we really covet.”
Schneider: “The second half of the season he really came on.”
(On whether Carson could be similar to Thomas Rawls) Carroll: “It’s really the same kind of formula. I kind of caught on to him late. I fell in love with how tough he is, and how aggressive he is. That’s something that kind of falls in that same category, and we didn’t want to miss him. There was a lot of activity around him, we thought, so we got him with that last shot, there.”
(On Carson’s lack of fumbles) Carroll: “That’s all part of it. He’s really aggressive. He hammers it. I think you guys are really going to like him when you see him.”
Schneider: “His plate wasn’t totally full, he had 80-some carries, but when he came back at the end of the season, you could see the urgency, and that’s what Pete is talking about.”
Carroll: “There’s a little story there. He was one of the top junior college kids coming out when he wound up going to Oklahoma State, and he didn’t make the transition the first year. It took him some time and then he got banged up going into his last year. So, when he finally got his chance, he really tore it up.”
(On what they see in Justin Senior) Schneider “Justin had a much better junior year than he did a senior year. A great kid, he’s from Montreal. Very well spoken, very smart. Very, very good pass protector. He got a little heavy for his senior year, and it’s probably something that we’re going to have to monitor here, when he gets in here, and that’s why he went so late. He has a lot of tools to work with. He just needs to decide if he wants to be a player or not.”
Carroll: “Plus, we’ve had a lot of luck with Canadian kids.”
Schneider: “We couldn’t go through a draft without taking a Canadian guy. Luke [Willson] was bombing us, and so was Jon Ryan.”
(On the difference between Senior’s junior and senior years) Schneider: “His junior year he played at 295 pounds, and his senior year he played about 315-317, something like that. Then, he continued to climb a little bit. He has a lot of talent, and did not have a great Senior Bowl week, and knows that I think this is a pretty cool wake-up call for him, being selected where he was selected. Because, his scores with the coaches, the way they do it and everything, his pass protection is phenomenal.”
(On whether he will begin on the left side) Carroll: “We’re going to move him on both sides. He finished at right, we’re probably going to start him on the left side.”
(On David Moore’s bench press reps) Schneider “He is a strapped up guy, now. Really good looking, physically. He is physically a really good looking guy.”
(On the big crop of younger players) Carroll: “The way the whole draft turned out, I said this last night, about John maneuvering around to get us the picks, it’s great to have 11 guys coming on this draft class. We’re really excited about what happened in free agency as well and to blend this all together as well. We’re always trying to make this roster more and more competitive in every way we can, and these guys are coming in to battle. Our guys will all feel it, and it’s good, it’s good for all of us and makes us all better.”
Schneider: “We’re just battling, just now, we had a guy, [Jordan] Roos, from Purdue, he’s a guard/center, I think he benched like 42 times. We’re really excited to get him. He was a guy who was a draftable player.”
Carroll: “That was a really exciting get. That might have been one of the bright spots we nailed him in free agency.”
Schneider: “We were trying to decide if we should take him or not take him, and so we just found that out before we came in here, we’re pretty excited. I’m not sure we’re supposed to share that, Dave. We came to agreement, like in terms, in principle.”
(On whether he had a good idea of what Green Bay would do when he traded down on Thursday night) Schneider: “We knew it was one of three players, so that’s why we felt comfortable being able to go where it went.”
(On the phone call with Malik, saying ‘don’t forget our conversation’) Schneider: “We had him in for a visit, we had a great talk in my office and then I called him a little bit before we selected him, as well, to just make sure we were all on the same page.”
(On the improvement at linebacker, signing Michael Wilhoite and Terence Garvin) Carroll: “Yes, I think that was a great get for us. Those guys are all competent players, special teams guys, smart guys, tough guys, they’ll fit right in. It allowed us in the draft, John was maneuvering, knowing what was coming, so we hit it there instead, and I thought that was great.“
Schneider: “It kind of really ended up hurting us in rookie free agency, based on what you’re saying, because agents and different people they talk to have respect for the players that we signed.“
(On whether it is safe to say that there will be an undrafted signing at quarterback) Schneider: “Yes.”
Carroll: “It is safe to say.”
Schneider: “And we’ll have some guys in as workout guys as well, tryout guys.”
(On bringing in 4 defensive backs) Carroll: “I think it will be really fun to see how these guys fit in. They’re all real competitive guys, they’ve been all been great players in their programs. We’ll see how they fit in with our guys. But, it’s a very competitive room. We would not take guys that we thought weren’t going to be able to handle that. We think that they’re going to add to it. Also, what our older guys have done a great job of is mentoring, and we’re going to count on that as well. And, we’ll see how they’ll do. It should be very competitive. We’re going to have a great battle just in the mini-camp, with the young guys we have on both sides, at receiver and DB. It should be a very good group.”
(On if this is a better roster today than this time last year) Carroll: “I feel strong about it. I think the linebacker help, the offensive lined helped, look what we’ve done. We’ve done some great stuff up front to make it more competitive. We’ve boosted the competition, obviously in the DB room, but also at the receiver side of it. Also the things that have happened in the free agency as well as the draft, so I feel like it’s really going to be a competitive go. Also, you don’t want to miss the D-line thing. Those were two guys are going to be a big deal for us in making it harder for everybody, and that’s good.”
Schneider: “This is just one aspect of acquisition that happens to be the most, the biggest, and the most well covered. We don’t stop. We compete at every corner. There’s no finish line. We’re going to continue to evaluate the guys we have, all the guys are coming in as tryout guys. You guys have seen us sign many tryout guys with the rookie mini-camp as well, then we’ll head into the post-June area and see if there’s cap-casualty guys involved and then we get to the 53 and see if anybody’s cut there that can help us. It really, quite frankly, never stops.”
(On if the drafted defensive secondary players add to versatility in their defensive packages, along with Bradley McDougald) Carroll: “Yeah, that could happen. We have to wait and see. Got to get them on the field first, but Delano Hill really has a lot of range here. He can do some different things because of the stuff that he has done in coverage and all that, so we’ll see how it works out. We’re really fired up about Bradley [McDougald] though, we think he’s a really good player.”
(On if running backs were a priority) Carroll: “Well last year with the guys that got banged up, we kind of accumulated the big number. The guys that we had during the course of the season, we kind of hung with them, but that’s a good number right now.”
(On if they expect a rookie from last year to fill a big role this year) Schneider: “A bunch of them.”
Carroll: “Yeah, really, we’re really counting on George [Fant] and [Germain] Ifedi and Rees [Odhiambo]. We thought Rees was a heck of a player in the draft last year, we still believe that, and he’s really ready to compete to start and play. Nick [Vannett] at tight end for sure.”
Schneider: “C.J. [Prosise], we just have to get these guys out there. The coaches haven’t even been able to put their hands on them yet. These are guys that you would expect once they make the turn to have upside.”
Carroll: “We get Quinton [Jefferson] back too. That whole turn that we think is coming is going to a real boost, as well. We’re excited about that.”
(On Dion Jordan) Carroll: “We’re going to play him at five technique and fit him into the rush group and see how it goes. He’s got a lot potential, a lot of talent. He’s still coming off some injury stuff, he’s got to get well. It might take us a while to figure that out but a very dynamic player. He’s grown a lot, he’s 280 something pounds now, where last time he played he was about 250. So he’s become a bigger man, we’re going to see how that all works out. Hopefully there’s a big upside there.”
(On if Jordan’s weight helped him move inside at times) Carroll: “It can, yeah. He did that some. He’s done a variety of things at Miami and shown a lot of versatility. He has been able to guard and pass rush at times, he’s done some drop in as well, so he’s a very talented player, but now that he is in a little bit of a different mode at 280s, we’ll just see. We have to get him on the field again and see what fits.”
(On Cyril Grayson) Schneider: “Ed Dodds worked him out, took him to dinner the night before the LSU workout and Ed has great connections down there and had guys bragging to him about what he looked like at receiver. He had seen him, like a YouTube video of him, like a highlight film or something like that. He’s an incredible track athlete, so he was part of the workout that day, and Ed just did a great job of digging on him, finding out that he was not eligible for the draft. So we flew him up that next morning after he ran 4.32 and 4.35 and got him physicalled and signed him that night.”
Carroll: “Like John is always saying, you’re either competing or you’re not.”
(On their biggest accomplishment in the draft) Schneider: “I would say we feel really blessed to be able to move back, take our guy, and acquire a couple more picks. That’s probably the biggest accomplishment. Then we just followed our board. Offensively, defensively, there’s so much work that goes into this. It isn’t like we just turned on YouTube videos and watched them and here we go. There’s a lot, it’s not just the evaluation, it’s not just the football evaluation, it’s the psychological aspects, medical, our sports science guys did a great job trying to project durability, longevity. Being able to just sit there throughout and follow our board, I think that’s probably the biggest.”
(On Skyler Howard announcing on Twitter that he agreed to sign with the Seahawks as an undrafted free agent) Carroll: “He’s a mad bomber, man. He threw a ton of deep balls. He goes downtown. A real resourceful kid, active on the field. Moves around well, but man he can bomb it. He hooked up a bunch this past season, it’s all over the highlights.”
(On the competition they will have on the offensive line) Carroll: “Getting Ethan [Pocic] was really an important part of this because like I said, he had the most versatility. We’ll see how that works out, but we do know that he can do some backup stuff, whether we feature him at the spot. The center thing is really connected to us and we like that, but he’s played on both sides of the line of scrimmage and all that, so we’re going to fit it together with the thought that, with time, we’ll get it worked out. That’s a real positive for us going in, we’re not feeling like we’re stuck or forced to do anything right now. [Germain] Ifedi is going to plays some tackle for us again and we’ll see how that works, we’re going to put this together. It’s going to be interesting to see where Luke [Joeckel] fits in. Luke is a terrific football player. We are very fortunate to have him. He’s not quite healthy yet, when we get to phase three he won’t be able to practice much, but in the next couple weeks he’ll do some stuff on the field and get to show us, he’s been a starting left tackle in the league and drafted to do that and he’s been a starting left guard. It gives us great flexibility there, too, to see how George [Fant] develops and all that. It’s going to be really exciting to put this thing together.”
(On Germaine Ifedi) Carroll: “We’re going to do what we have to do. We’re going to definitely give him a look there and see what it looks like. John was really directed at him being right tackle as we drafted him, and knowing that he can play right guard, it worked out to try it that way last year so know we have the benefit of being able to move him out, which could be awesome at making our right tackle. It’ll be great.”