Seahawks can wait a second

Wed., April 25, 2007

Scott M. Johnson Everett Herald

Known but iffy

While it's still a guess as to which players the Seahawks might target in Round 2 and beyond, this year's draft does have some familiar names beyond the first round. Many have question marks surrounding their status as top prospects:

QB Troy Smith, Ohio State: The Heisman Trophy winner is undersized and struggling in the national championship game, so he could fall to the third or fourth round of this weekend's draft.

QB Isaiah Stanback, Washington: Scouts love his athleticism but have concerns about a foot injury that ended his 2006 season prematurely.

FB Brian Leonard, Rutgers: Perhaps the embodiment of the Scarlet Knights' overachieving nature, Leonard is the top fullback in the draft but plays a position that rarely gets drafted in the first round.

RB Michael Bush, Louisville: He was once considered a future NFL star, but a broken leg has really made his stock drop. Look for him to go in the second or third round.

WR Dallas Baker, Florida: Leading receiver of national champs is too old (25) and slow to be considered a first-round pick.

WR Jason Hill, Washington State: Injuries slowed down the Cougars' star as a senior, and he looks like a possible second-day pick (Rounds 4 through 7).

DE Mkristo Bruce, Washington State: Had a bad combine, and is one of those so-called "tweeners" who are too thin to be a defensive lineman and too slow to be a linebacker.

Everett Herald

Since the end of the 2006 college football season, thousands of NFL prospects have been timed, poked, prodded and put through the ringer.

So what’s left to test?

On Saturday, the patience of Seattle Seahawks fans.

Without a selection in Round 1 of the 2007 NFL draft, the Seahawks will have to wait until sometime in the late afternoon before making their first pick.

With that kind of timing, the 55th overall pick might be made in silent obscurity.

But that doesn’t mean it’s a useless pick.

The second round has produced plenty of gems over the years, not only with the Seahawks but also around the NFL.

Seventeen current Hall of Famers were second-round picks, starting with Tuffy Leemans in 1936 all the way up to Mike Singletary in 1981. A group of current superstars such as Brett Favre, Michael Strahan and Larry Allen will one day join them in Canton.

Tiki Barber, Chad Johnson, Ricky Watters, Chad Brown and Roger Craig have also been second-round picks.

The Seahawks have used second-round picks to come up with Daryl Turner (1984), Brian Blades (1988), Kevin Mawae (1994), Christian Fauria (1995) and Lofa Tatupu (2005) over the years.

So will this year’s draft have any future studs available in Round 2?

“We always feel good about that,” Seahawks team president Tim Ruskell said. “We go in thinking that, and the last couple of years have been good to us.”

In three of the past four drafts, the Seahawks have found first-year starters in the second round: safety Ken Hamlin in 2003, safety Michael Boulware in 2004 and middle linebacker Tatupu in 2005.

There were obvious reasons why all three players failed to go in the first round. Hamlin had two driving-under-the-influence charges while at Arkansas, Boulware was an undersized linebacker who would eventually change positions, and Tatupu also had size concerns.

It’s more likely that the Seahawks will use their second-round pick on a player who doesn’t bring much name recognition. But that doesn’t necessarily mean he can’t be a future star.

“There are guys in the second, third and fourth round that we’re very excited about,” Ruskell said.

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