Hawks draft center in first round to improve offensive line

KIRKLAND, Wash. – The Seattle Seahawks tried to move up in the first round of Saturday’s draft to help a defense that ranked 26th in the NFL last season. They didn’t succeed.

So the team that is still trying for its first Super Bowl under billionaire owner Paul Allen decided to get a lot younger in its offensive line.

Using the No. 26 pick in the opening round after moving down three spots in a trade with Oakland, the Seahawks chose Chris Spencer, 23. The 6-foot-3, 309-pound center elected to leave Mississippi, where he was a two-year starter and had another year of football eligibility, after coach David Cutcliffe and his assistants were fired following a 4-7 season.

In his sophomore year, when Mississippi went 10-3, Spencer snapped the ball from center to quarterback Eli Manning, who was the first pick in the 2003 draft. In Seattle, he’ll snap the ball to Matt Hasselbeck.

He’ll try to take the starting job away from Robbie Tobeck, an 11-year veteran from Washington State who has been with the Seahawks for five seasons. Tobeck has played in 152 NFL games, 142 of them starts.

Spencer was “the best interior lineman” in the draft, said Tim Ruskell, the new Seahawks president who also has duties as general manager.

The Seahawks got Oakland’s fourth-round pick, No. 105, by swapping their 23rd choice to the Raiders for No. 26.

The Seahawks got some help for their defense in the second round. They traded up with Carolina, going from No. 54 to No. 45, and selected inside linebacker Lofa Tatupu, a 5-foot-11, 238-pounder from national champion Southern California. Like Spencer, Tatupu left college after his junior year.

Tatupu, a two-year starter and leading tackler for two seasons at USC, is the son of former Southern California fullback Mosi Tatupu, who played 14 seasons in the NFL with New England and the Los Angeles Rams.

Seattle also gave the Panthers two fourth-round picks, Nos. 121 and 126.

In the third round with the 85th selection, the Seahawks chose 6-foot-3, 226-pound left-hander David Greene from Georgia.