RENTON -- For a player listed at 6-foot-6, 299 pounds, Mailk McDowell doesn't seem to be quite that large when you first see him in person.
McDowell is lean and sleek. He certainly doesn't strike someone visually as an interior defensive lineman upon first glance.
However, some of that is just an optical illusion.
McDowell is every bit of 6-foot-6. His weight is proportioned so well that he doesn't appear to nearly carry as much weight as he does. He looks more like a slightly oversized pass rusher like a Chris Clemons or DeMarcus Ware than he does a Calais Campbell.
Nevertheless, it didn't take long for McDowell's traits to show up on the practice field. At one point during the practice, McDowell blew by sixth-round pick Justin Senior at left tackle for a would-be sack of tryout quarterback Michael Birdsong.
"Instantly, almost, you could see how comfortable he is with his movements, his body control and stuff," head coach Pete Carroll said. "He's got an awareness already how to use his hands that I'm surprised to see with that background technically. They did a really nice job with him at Michigan State so he got off to a really nice start and he looks great."
McDowell was used primarily as a nose tackle at Michigan State, which the Seahawks have no intention of using him at. Instead, he'll line up at end and 3-technique tackle instead with Seattle.
"We’ll play him a little more at defensive end," Carroll said. "He played inside a lot. He was over the center a lot and he doesn’t look like that kind of player in our system to us. We’ll play him at five-technique and three-technique and see how that goes. Really would like to see how he works as an inside rusher in nickel and see if he can add something special for us there."
While McDowell did rush from the end position occasionally at Michigan State, he's going to be asked to do much more of that with the Seahawks.
"I'm playing a whole different position," McDowell said. "... Moving outside and going from taking double teams to taking single blocks here mostly.
"I like it."
Some other notes from the first day of rookie mini-camp:
-- Second-round pick Ethan Pocic worked at right tackle in Friday's practice while Senior lined up at left tackle. Pocic, who played primarily center at LSU, has played multiple positions along the offensive line in college. Seattle sees him as an option at guard and tackle, but he's getting his first work at right tackle.
"We want him to play tackle right now and see how that works out, knowing that he can play all three spots. Tackle is the one we’ve seen him the least at, so the first few days we want to get a gauge for that and see how that’s going to work out," Carroll said.
-- Seventh-round wide receiver David Moore made a nice grab on a deep ball along the sideline over one of the tryout cornerbacks.
Moore, a 6-foot-2, 219 pound receiver, has a background as a running back before moving to receiver, which translates to a strong run-after-catch ability. However, the grab down the sidelines showed a nice ability to adjust to a ball downfield as well.
"Receivers all caught the ball nice. David Moore had a big play down the field, caught the ball underneath, showed a good shake-and-bake that he’s been kind of noted for," Carroll said.
-- Shaquill Griffin lined up at right cornerback, Delano Hill at strong safety, Tedric Thompson at free safety and Mike Tyson alternated between left cornerback and nickel cornerback at times.
"Defensive backs all looked the part," Carroll said. "They all moved very well. They all caught the ball really well. They looked fast. They just looked the part and felt very comfortable. There’s a lot of playtime behind these two safeties in particular and you can just tell. They’re very savvy, very comfortable, communicated really well right off the bat, made a really good first impression.
"We saw Shaq [Griffin] take off a couple times. He’s really fast. He can fly. We’ll see how it goes but those were good impressions there.
Seahawks Mini-Camp Roster:
1 Darreus Rogers WR USC
*2 Delshawn McClellon WR Northern Arizona
5 Jake Heaps QB Miami
6 Skyler Howard QB West Virginia
*7 Geno Lewis WR Oklahoma
*9 Michael Birdsong QB Tennessee Tech
11 Kenny Lawler WR California
13 Cyril Grayson WR Louisiana State
*14 Anthony Kelly WR Kutztown
*19 Speedy Noil WR Texas A&M
*20 Paul James RB Rutgers
*21 Arjen Colquhoun CB Michigan State
*22 Kailo Moore CB Mississippi
*23 Ronald Butler CB Tennessee State
*24 Alex Ross RB Missouri
26 Shaquill Griffin CB Central Florida
*28 Jordan Simone SS Arizona State
*30 Marquan Ellison CB Utah State
32 Chris Carson RB Oklahoma State
33 Tedric Thompson FS Colorado
*34 Tony Bridges CB Mississippi
*35 Chad Newell FB/RB Montana State
*36 Stratton Brown SS Fresno State
37 Algernon Brown FB BYU
*38 Na'im McGee SS San Diego State
40 Mike Tyson CB Cincinnati
*41 Rodney Butler LB New Mexico State
*42 Kyle Coleman FB Arkansas-Pine Bluff
*43 Keith Brown LB Western Kentucky
44 Delano Hill SS Michigan
46 Tyrone Swoopes TE Texas
46 Nick Usher LB Texas-El Paso
*47 Hayden Plinke TE Texas-El Paso
*48 Claude George LB Texas A&M
49 Kache Palacio LB Washington State
49 Bryce Williams TE East Carolina
*51 Raphael Kirby LB Miami
*53 Bernard Dawson LB Georgia Southern
*58 Nick Dawson-Brents DE Western Kentucky
*59 Vantrell McMillan DE Tennessee-Chattanooga
*60 Kiola Mahoni G Louisville
61 Rodney Coe DT Akron
*62 Anton Wahrby C Wofford
*63 Eddie Gordon C Louisiana-Lafayette
64 Tylor Harris DE Wake Forest
64 Jordan Roos G Purdue
65 Justin Senior T Mississippi State
*69 Alex Pace DT Cincinnati
*72 Darrell Brown T Louisiana Tech
*73 Calvin Steyn T Weber State
*74 Bret Treadway G Lamar
75 Will Pericak C/G Colorado
*77 Chase Tidwell T Coastal Carolina
*78 B.J. McBryde T Connecticut
79 Ethan Pocic G/T Louisiana State
*81 Standish Dobard TE Miami
*82 Steve Donatell TE Western Kentucky
83 David Moore WR East Central (Okla.)
84 Amara Darboh WR Michigan
85 Marcus Lucas TE Missouri
*86 Chris Briggs TE Southestern Louisiana
*87 Jamel Johnson WR Alabama State
*88 Gabe Hughes TE Florida Tech
*91 Christian French DE Oregon
92 Jeremy Liggins DT Mississippi
93 Nazair Jones DT North Carolina
94 Malik McDowell DT Michigan State
97 Otha Peters LB Louisiana-Lafayette
*Tryout Player
Photo Credit: Seahawks second-round pick Malik McDowell gets coaching points from Senior Defensive Assistant coach Travis Jones during a rookie mini-camp practice on May 12, 2017. (photo by Curtis Crabtree / Sports Radio 950 KJR)