Seahawks Season 2006
30/05/06
Seahawks moving headquarters to Renton
The Seattle Seahawks in 2008 plan to move their team headquarters from Kirkland to Renton on land owned by team owner Paul Allen. The team has used its Kirkland facility since 1986.
According to reports, the Seahawks will build a 120,000-square-foot facility on a 20-acre site on Lake Washington. The new headquarters will include an indoor training facility, an amenity not included at the team's current facility in Kirkland.
The Seahawks will also move their summer training camp from Eastern Washington University in Cheney to the new facility when it's completed. This summer and next, the team will continue to train in Cheney.
According to reports, the Seahawks will build a 120,000-square-foot facility on a 20-acre site on Lake Washington. The new headquarters will include an indoor training facility, an amenity not included at the team's current facility in Kirkland.
The Seahawks will also move their summer training camp from Eastern Washington University in Cheney to the new facility when it's completed. This summer and next, the team will continue to train in Cheney.
30/05/06
Seahawks say '12th Man' tiff with TX A&M is over
The Seattle Seahawks said the dispute with Texas A&M University over the NFL team's usage of the "12th Man" slogan is over.
Fans at Qwest Field won't notice any major changes with the team's usage of the "12th Man" slogan when the 2006 NFL regular season begins Sept. 17, when Seattle takes on the Arizona Cardinals.
The Texas school sued the Seahawks earlier this year, prior to the Seahawks' Super Bowl appearance. A&M used the phrase for years and received a trademark for the slogan in 1990.
In a statement, the Seahawks said that the lawsuit has been dismissed, and that the team and the Texas school reached a settlement. The Seahawks did not disclose details.
"Texas A&M University and the Seattle Seahawks announced that they have agreed on the scope of Seattle's future use of the 12th Man trademark. The agreement resolves all of the issues presented in the pending lawsuit, which has been dismissed. Neither side admitted any fault or liability. The Seahawks acknowledge Texas A&M's ownership rights in the mark and will continue to use the mark under license in connection with the Seahawks' operations, promotions and fan activities in the Pacific Northwest," Seahawks officials said in a statement.
Fans at Qwest Field won't notice any major changes with the team's usage of the "12th Man" slogan when the 2006 NFL regular season begins Sept. 17, when Seattle takes on the Arizona Cardinals.
The Texas school sued the Seahawks earlier this year, prior to the Seahawks' Super Bowl appearance. A&M used the phrase for years and received a trademark for the slogan in 1990.
In a statement, the Seahawks said that the lawsuit has been dismissed, and that the team and the Texas school reached a settlement. The Seahawks did not disclose details.
"Texas A&M University and the Seattle Seahawks announced that they have agreed on the scope of Seattle's future use of the 12th Man trademark. The agreement resolves all of the issues presented in the pending lawsuit, which has been dismissed. Neither side admitted any fault or liability. The Seahawks acknowledge Texas A&M's ownership rights in the mark and will continue to use the mark under license in connection with the Seahawks' operations, promotions and fan activities in the Pacific Northwest," Seahawks officials said in a statement.
26/04/06
Seahawks assess ratings, value as they prepare for
The book gives quite an insight into the thinking of NFL personnel executives.
It takes the reader into the Atlanta Falcons' "war room" with the team president and general manager, personnel directors, scouts and coaches. It shed lights on a rating system the Seahawks, Falcons and Tampa Bay Buccaneers have used when deciding which player to draft on that all important of NFL weekends.
Pete Williams' "The Draft: A Year Inside the NFL's Search for Talent" (St. Martin's Press, $24.95) also takes draftniks into the thought process of Seahawks president Tim Ruskell as he graded prospects in preparation for past drafts.
Friday at team headquarters, Ruskell talked more about the philosophy detailed in the book that he has used to approach the draft since first taking part in the process.
The value in the draft, Ruskell believes, comes in the 20th-to-50th overall-pick range. The Seahawks have the 31st pick this year, and they intend to keep it.
"At 20 to 50, you don't feel like you're overpaying, and your grades start coming together," Ruskell said. "In our system, a 5.9 is a solid starter in the National Football League ... and that's the grade that we have the most players rated in this draft."
Draft facts
When: Saturday (Rounds 1-3); Sunday (Rounds 4-7).
Where: New York City.
TV: Saturday (ESPN, 9 a.m.; ESPN2, 5 p.m.); Sunday (ESPN, 8 a.m.).
Seahawks' first-round pick: No. 31
Scouting the draft: Top linebackers
1. A.J. Hawk
Ohio State (ILB) 6-1, 248
Comment: Middle name should be "Ball" the way he flies around; can also play outside.
2. Chad Greenway
Iowa (OLB) 6-2 ½. 242
Comment: Farm kid has great athletic ability; drawn comparisons to NFL's Keith Brooking.
3. Bobby Carpenter
Ohio State OLB 6-2 ½. 256
Comment: Coming off broken ankle, but teams love his size.
4. D'Qwell Jackson
Maryland ILB 6-0 ½, 230
Comment: Not the biggest of ILB prospects, but a solid high second-round pick.
5. Abdul Hodge
Iowa ILB 6-1, 236
Comment: Viewed as a top-notch inside run defender.
Position summary
The LB spot is a good one in this year's draft, with as many as seven who are possible first-round picks. Most of those are outside LBs, as Ernie Sims of Florida State and hybrid DE/LB Manny Lawson of North Carolina State are also in the mix to go late in the first round. Look for the first day of the draft to be LB-heavy as teams seek out playmakers who can shed blocks and move well from sideline to sideline, as well as defend the pass.
Seahawks slant
Seattle already has two of the best young LBs in the NFL in 2005 picks Lofa Tatupu and Leroy Hill. This is a position with plenty of depth and experience now that OLB Julian Peterson is in the mix, and behind those three are proven contributors like D.D. Lewis and Kevin Bentley.
Don't expect the Seahawks to draft a 'backer early, if at all, because this is not really a need position based on the way Seattle uses its LBs in the 4-3 defense. Hill is a solid pass rusher when called upon to do so, Tatupu has infallible instincts, for the most part, and Peterson is versatile enough to do whatever is asked of him. If a 'backer is chosen, it would probably be more for special teams.
José Miguel Romero, Seattle Times staff reporter
The rating system is from 1 to 10. The highest Ruskell would ever go on a player is an 8, which is where Troy Aikman, Barry Sanders and Deion Sanders have graded out in past drafts.
Last year Ruskell and the Seahawks, hopeful of landing a defensive end with exceptional pass-rush skills, traded away the 23rd pick of the first round and moved down three spots to No. 26.
It seemed everyone on the outside expected the Seahawks to pick an impact defensive player in the first round. That was the Seahawks' plan, too, until the best of the defensive ends on the top of their list of prospects were gone by the middle of the first round.
DeMarcus Ware. Shawne Merriman. Erasmus James. David Pollack. Marcus Spears. Pass rushers aplenty, gone by pick 20, despite Seattle's best efforts to trade up.
"We tried to go up and talk to teams earlier in the draft [to move up], and because of the defensive players that were there that had impact type of ability, people were not willing to do that," Ruskell told reporters on Day 1 of last year's draft.
The plan in getting a defensive end would have addressed both a team need and given Seattle the best player available, according to Ruskell's system. As it turned out, they went for best player available (defense or offense) when their pick came up, and chose center Chris Spencer.
Spencer hardly played, but got a full season to develop behind eventual Pro Bowl selection Robbie Tobeck. And Ruskell played his cards right, using the picks the team had stockpiled and trading up from the 54th overall pick (second round) to No. 45 to nab linebacker Lofa Tatupu.
Tatupu, whom many believed to not be worthy of that high a pick, proved Ruskell right and everyone else wrong. He became the leader of the Seahawks' defense as a rookie and shined at the Pro Bowl.
The Seahawks also hit big with one of their third-round picks, linebacker Leroy Hill. Hill moved into the starting lineup at midseason and had 7 ½ sacks.
It's a new year, and the draft is six days away. This time around, Ruskell has had an entire year to go over film and scouting reports on college prospects. As confident as he seemed in overseeing the draft after only a couple of months on the job in 2005, Ruskell should be even more so next week.
"Last year we weren't speaking the same language," Ruskell said. "It was the old Seahawks system, grading scale and how they lined the [draft] board up, and then what I had brought from Tampa and Atlanta. Last year we had two boards up. This year, one system. We're all on the same page."
So what will the Seahawks do? Their biggest needs are at defensive end, cornerback, guard and perhaps safety, wide receiver and tight end.
The first two positions would appear to be the most critical to address, though perhaps not in that order. And Seattle has to choose wisely because it has just a first- and second-round pick on Saturday. The Seahawks lost their third-round choice to Minnesota in the acquisition of wide receiver Nate Burleson.
But will the Seahawks once again ignore need and take whom they deem as the best player available at pick No. 31?
"You have to stay honest to your grade system," Ruskell said. "There will be some secondary, defensive line we'd like to add, but having said that, it may not fall that way. But we'd like to go that way.
"We don't want to leave a grade to get a guy of need."
Williams' book describes the way Ruskell took the emphasis on a player's football character and personal character and made each important factors in the decision on whom to draft, a philosophy used in Tampa Bay and Atlanta and brought over to Seattle.
"Nobody wants to tell you flat-out if a guy has character issues," Ruskell tells Williams. "That's where you have to read between the lines. You pick up hints. Once you've gotten even the hint of a red flag, even if you're not told directly, then you start up the machine.
"We think character is a pretty good indication of whether you'll live up to your ability. It's all about potential. Do you want the guy who has the ability but isn't going to reach that potential? No, because you don't know what you're going to get from day to day. If he's feeling good, he'll give it his all, but if he's not, then you're not going to get that premium player."
Ruskell's first Seahawks draft seems to have yielded some cornerstones for the future, a trend the team and its fans hope continues.
It takes the reader into the Atlanta Falcons' "war room" with the team president and general manager, personnel directors, scouts and coaches. It shed lights on a rating system the Seahawks, Falcons and Tampa Bay Buccaneers have used when deciding which player to draft on that all important of NFL weekends.
Pete Williams' "The Draft: A Year Inside the NFL's Search for Talent" (St. Martin's Press, $24.95) also takes draftniks into the thought process of Seahawks president Tim Ruskell as he graded prospects in preparation for past drafts.
Friday at team headquarters, Ruskell talked more about the philosophy detailed in the book that he has used to approach the draft since first taking part in the process.
The value in the draft, Ruskell believes, comes in the 20th-to-50th overall-pick range. The Seahawks have the 31st pick this year, and they intend to keep it.
"At 20 to 50, you don't feel like you're overpaying, and your grades start coming together," Ruskell said. "In our system, a 5.9 is a solid starter in the National Football League ... and that's the grade that we have the most players rated in this draft."
Draft facts
When: Saturday (Rounds 1-3); Sunday (Rounds 4-7).
Where: New York City.
TV: Saturday (ESPN, 9 a.m.; ESPN2, 5 p.m.); Sunday (ESPN, 8 a.m.).
Seahawks' first-round pick: No. 31
Scouting the draft: Top linebackers
1. A.J. Hawk
Ohio State (ILB) 6-1, 248
Comment: Middle name should be "Ball" the way he flies around; can also play outside.
2. Chad Greenway
Iowa (OLB) 6-2 ½. 242
Comment: Farm kid has great athletic ability; drawn comparisons to NFL's Keith Brooking.
3. Bobby Carpenter
Ohio State OLB 6-2 ½. 256
Comment: Coming off broken ankle, but teams love his size.
4. D'Qwell Jackson
Maryland ILB 6-0 ½, 230
Comment: Not the biggest of ILB prospects, but a solid high second-round pick.
5. Abdul Hodge
Iowa ILB 6-1, 236
Comment: Viewed as a top-notch inside run defender.
Position summary
The LB spot is a good one in this year's draft, with as many as seven who are possible first-round picks. Most of those are outside LBs, as Ernie Sims of Florida State and hybrid DE/LB Manny Lawson of North Carolina State are also in the mix to go late in the first round. Look for the first day of the draft to be LB-heavy as teams seek out playmakers who can shed blocks and move well from sideline to sideline, as well as defend the pass.
Seahawks slant
Seattle already has two of the best young LBs in the NFL in 2005 picks Lofa Tatupu and Leroy Hill. This is a position with plenty of depth and experience now that OLB Julian Peterson is in the mix, and behind those three are proven contributors like D.D. Lewis and Kevin Bentley.
Don't expect the Seahawks to draft a 'backer early, if at all, because this is not really a need position based on the way Seattle uses its LBs in the 4-3 defense. Hill is a solid pass rusher when called upon to do so, Tatupu has infallible instincts, for the most part, and Peterson is versatile enough to do whatever is asked of him. If a 'backer is chosen, it would probably be more for special teams.
José Miguel Romero, Seattle Times staff reporter
The rating system is from 1 to 10. The highest Ruskell would ever go on a player is an 8, which is where Troy Aikman, Barry Sanders and Deion Sanders have graded out in past drafts.
Last year Ruskell and the Seahawks, hopeful of landing a defensive end with exceptional pass-rush skills, traded away the 23rd pick of the first round and moved down three spots to No. 26.
It seemed everyone on the outside expected the Seahawks to pick an impact defensive player in the first round. That was the Seahawks' plan, too, until the best of the defensive ends on the top of their list of prospects were gone by the middle of the first round.
DeMarcus Ware. Shawne Merriman. Erasmus James. David Pollack. Marcus Spears. Pass rushers aplenty, gone by pick 20, despite Seattle's best efforts to trade up.
"We tried to go up and talk to teams earlier in the draft [to move up], and because of the defensive players that were there that had impact type of ability, people were not willing to do that," Ruskell told reporters on Day 1 of last year's draft.
The plan in getting a defensive end would have addressed both a team need and given Seattle the best player available, according to Ruskell's system. As it turned out, they went for best player available (defense or offense) when their pick came up, and chose center Chris Spencer.
Spencer hardly played, but got a full season to develop behind eventual Pro Bowl selection Robbie Tobeck. And Ruskell played his cards right, using the picks the team had stockpiled and trading up from the 54th overall pick (second round) to No. 45 to nab linebacker Lofa Tatupu.
Tatupu, whom many believed to not be worthy of that high a pick, proved Ruskell right and everyone else wrong. He became the leader of the Seahawks' defense as a rookie and shined at the Pro Bowl.
The Seahawks also hit big with one of their third-round picks, linebacker Leroy Hill. Hill moved into the starting lineup at midseason and had 7 ½ sacks.
It's a new year, and the draft is six days away. This time around, Ruskell has had an entire year to go over film and scouting reports on college prospects. As confident as he seemed in overseeing the draft after only a couple of months on the job in 2005, Ruskell should be even more so next week.
"Last year we weren't speaking the same language," Ruskell said. "It was the old Seahawks system, grading scale and how they lined the [draft] board up, and then what I had brought from Tampa and Atlanta. Last year we had two boards up. This year, one system. We're all on the same page."
So what will the Seahawks do? Their biggest needs are at defensive end, cornerback, guard and perhaps safety, wide receiver and tight end.
The first two positions would appear to be the most critical to address, though perhaps not in that order. And Seattle has to choose wisely because it has just a first- and second-round pick on Saturday. The Seahawks lost their third-round choice to Minnesota in the acquisition of wide receiver Nate Burleson.
But will the Seahawks once again ignore need and take whom they deem as the best player available at pick No. 31?
"You have to stay honest to your grade system," Ruskell said. "There will be some secondary, defensive line we'd like to add, but having said that, it may not fall that way. But we'd like to go that way.
"We don't want to leave a grade to get a guy of need."
Williams' book describes the way Ruskell took the emphasis on a player's football character and personal character and made each important factors in the decision on whom to draft, a philosophy used in Tampa Bay and Atlanta and brought over to Seattle.
"Nobody wants to tell you flat-out if a guy has character issues," Ruskell tells Williams. "That's where you have to read between the lines. You pick up hints. Once you've gotten even the hint of a red flag, even if you're not told directly, then you start up the machine.
"We think character is a pretty good indication of whether you'll live up to your ability. It's all about potential. Do you want the guy who has the ability but isn't going to reach that potential? No, because you don't know what you're going to get from day to day. If he's feeling good, he'll give it his all, but if he's not, then you're not going to get that premium player."
Ruskell's first Seahawks draft seems to have yielded some cornerstones for the future, a trend the team and its fans hope continues.
26/04/06
Seahawks Seeing Green After Trade With Bears
The Chicago Bears announced on Tuesday they have traded safety Mike Green to the Seattle Seahawks for a sixth-round selection in the 2006 draft.
Green spent his first six seasons in the Windy City after the Bears selected him in the seventh-round as the "Mr. Irrelevant" pick (254th and final) of the 2000 draft.
He appeared in 81 games total, including 45 starts, with Chicago and recorded 437 tackles, six sacks and four interceptions in that span. Green tallied a career-high of 138 tackles in 2002 and only current Bear Brian Urlacher has registered more tackles from 2001-05 than Green.
The trade now gives Chicago six picks in the upcoming draft, including two in the sixth round.
Green spent his first six seasons in the Windy City after the Bears selected him in the seventh-round as the "Mr. Irrelevant" pick (254th and final) of the 2000 draft.
He appeared in 81 games total, including 45 starts, with Chicago and recorded 437 tackles, six sacks and four interceptions in that span. Green tallied a career-high of 138 tackles in 2002 and only current Bear Brian Urlacher has registered more tackles from 2001-05 than Green.
The trade now gives Chicago six picks in the upcoming draft, including two in the sixth round.
26/04/06
Seahawks on unfamiliar ground
Tim Ruskell tilted his head back and politely waited for the question.
Will it be hard to watch 30 selections before the Seattle Seahawks get to pick in the National Football League draft on Saturday?
"What we like to tell ourselves is that we have the first pick of the second round," the club president and personnel guru said.
At least Ruskell has experience waiting to make a pick. When he was the director of player personnel for the Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2003, the Bucs had the No. 32 pick. But that selection was traded the year before to the Oakland Raiders to get coach Jon Gruden.
So the Bucs' first pick that year came at the end of the second round -- 64th overall.
"What you do is, you make up for a lack of a high first-round pick in free agency," he said.
Ruskell and his staff have been making up for the lowest draft position in Seattle history for the past six weeks.
They signed Julian Peterson from the San Francisco 49ers to replace injured and ineffective Jamie Sharper at outside linebacker. They brought home Nate Burleson, who was born in Calgary but grew up in Seattle, from the Minnesota Vikings to replace Joe Jurevicius at wide receiver, who signed a free-agent contract with the Browns in Cleveland, his hometown. And they signed former New England Patriot Tom Ashworth as a potential replacement somewhere along the offensive line, after all-star left guard Steve Hutchinson left for Minnesota.
Even with those new contracts worth a total of $116-million, the Seahawks aren't yet the team Ruskell wants to defend the National Football Conference championship next season.
"We still have needs," he said.
The biggest ones are in the defensive backfield. The Seahawks let starting cornerback Andre Dyson go to the New York Jets as a free agent. They are also waiting to see whether starting free safety Ken Hamlin is ready to return from a fractured skull suffered in an assault last October. Hamlin has been cleared by his doctors to resume his career, but not by the Seahawks.
Seattle has had a steady stream of defensive-back signings, including former Jets reserve safety Oliver Celestin, and re-signings, including nickel back Jordan Babineaux. They also were host to former Pro Bowl cornerback Ty Law as a potential starter opposite returning Marcus Trufant.
But all that hasn't quenched their thirst for cornerbacks and safeties this weekend.
"Fortunately, this draft in particular is deep in those," Ruskell said.
Some experts predict a half-dozen or more could go in the first round. That supply -- and the Seahawks' apparent demand -- has even Mike Holmgren, the coach and mastermind of the NFL's most prolific offence last season, looking to defence.
Holmgren has chosen defence first three times since 1999, the season he arrived as Seattle's coach and, for four seasons, as the general manager. Two of those top defensive picks have come in the past three drafts: Trufant (11th overall in 2003) and defensive tackle Marcus Tubbs (23rd overall in 2004).
Last year's draft yielded two more key defenders. Second-round pick Lofa Tatupu was a Pro Bowl inside linebacker and runner-up for NFL rookie of the year. Third-round choice LeRoy Hill had 7½ sacks as a replacement for Sharper after October and is now entrenched as the starting outside linebacker on the weak side, opposite Peterson.
"I know I take a lot of static for how I always say it's going to be a defensive draft and then we draft guys like Shaun Alexander and Steve Hutchinson," Holmgren said, referring to 2000 and 2001 first-rounders who have become perennial Pro Bowl players.
"We all committed to always choosing the best guy up there on the draft board. And that's worked well for us. But if I had a wish list, it would probably be to get defence first."
Barring a trade higher into the first round -- and Ruskell said it is unlikely -- the highest-rated defensive backs figure to be gone when the Seahawks begin choosing.
But two others could be around, if they can catch them. South Carolina's Johnathan Joseph has run a 4.38 40-yard dash. Tye Hill of Clemson has run a 4.35 40, the fastest of the top-rated defensive backs, but stands only 5-foot-9½.
The Seahawks would also be happy to find Miami's Kelly Jennings.
Later, they could add depth to the defensive line, where Seattle likes to rotate as many as seven players during games. The Seahawks have only one experienced defensive end backing up Grant Wistrom and Bryce Fisher, 50-game veteran Joe Tafoya. Mathias Kiwanuka is a 6-foot-8 menace from Boston College who is rated just below the top prospects at end.
Will it be hard to watch 30 selections before the Seattle Seahawks get to pick in the National Football League draft on Saturday?
"What we like to tell ourselves is that we have the first pick of the second round," the club president and personnel guru said.
At least Ruskell has experience waiting to make a pick. When he was the director of player personnel for the Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2003, the Bucs had the No. 32 pick. But that selection was traded the year before to the Oakland Raiders to get coach Jon Gruden.
So the Bucs' first pick that year came at the end of the second round -- 64th overall.
"What you do is, you make up for a lack of a high first-round pick in free agency," he said.
Ruskell and his staff have been making up for the lowest draft position in Seattle history for the past six weeks.
They signed Julian Peterson from the San Francisco 49ers to replace injured and ineffective Jamie Sharper at outside linebacker. They brought home Nate Burleson, who was born in Calgary but grew up in Seattle, from the Minnesota Vikings to replace Joe Jurevicius at wide receiver, who signed a free-agent contract with the Browns in Cleveland, his hometown. And they signed former New England Patriot Tom Ashworth as a potential replacement somewhere along the offensive line, after all-star left guard Steve Hutchinson left for Minnesota.
Even with those new contracts worth a total of $116-million, the Seahawks aren't yet the team Ruskell wants to defend the National Football Conference championship next season.
"We still have needs," he said.
The biggest ones are in the defensive backfield. The Seahawks let starting cornerback Andre Dyson go to the New York Jets as a free agent. They are also waiting to see whether starting free safety Ken Hamlin is ready to return from a fractured skull suffered in an assault last October. Hamlin has been cleared by his doctors to resume his career, but not by the Seahawks.
Seattle has had a steady stream of defensive-back signings, including former Jets reserve safety Oliver Celestin, and re-signings, including nickel back Jordan Babineaux. They also were host to former Pro Bowl cornerback Ty Law as a potential starter opposite returning Marcus Trufant.
But all that hasn't quenched their thirst for cornerbacks and safeties this weekend.
"Fortunately, this draft in particular is deep in those," Ruskell said.
Some experts predict a half-dozen or more could go in the first round. That supply -- and the Seahawks' apparent demand -- has even Mike Holmgren, the coach and mastermind of the NFL's most prolific offence last season, looking to defence.
Holmgren has chosen defence first three times since 1999, the season he arrived as Seattle's coach and, for four seasons, as the general manager. Two of those top defensive picks have come in the past three drafts: Trufant (11th overall in 2003) and defensive tackle Marcus Tubbs (23rd overall in 2004).
Last year's draft yielded two more key defenders. Second-round pick Lofa Tatupu was a Pro Bowl inside linebacker and runner-up for NFL rookie of the year. Third-round choice LeRoy Hill had 7½ sacks as a replacement for Sharper after October and is now entrenched as the starting outside linebacker on the weak side, opposite Peterson.
"I know I take a lot of static for how I always say it's going to be a defensive draft and then we draft guys like Shaun Alexander and Steve Hutchinson," Holmgren said, referring to 2000 and 2001 first-rounders who have become perennial Pro Bowl players.
"We all committed to always choosing the best guy up there on the draft board. And that's worked well for us. But if I had a wish list, it would probably be to get defence first."
Barring a trade higher into the first round -- and Ruskell said it is unlikely -- the highest-rated defensive backs figure to be gone when the Seahawks begin choosing.
But two others could be around, if they can catch them. South Carolina's Johnathan Joseph has run a 4.38 40-yard dash. Tye Hill of Clemson has run a 4.35 40, the fastest of the top-rated defensive backs, but stands only 5-foot-9½.
The Seahawks would also be happy to find Miami's Kelly Jennings.
Later, they could add depth to the defensive line, where Seattle likes to rotate as many as seven players during games. The Seahawks have only one experienced defensive end backing up Grant Wistrom and Bryce Fisher, 50-game veteran Joe Tafoya. Mathias Kiwanuka is a 6-foot-8 menace from Boston College who is rated just below the top prospects at end.