After taking tackle
By Clare Farnsworth
Another pick. Another offensive lineman.
That’s how serious coach Pete Carroll is about improving a Seahawks running game that ranked 31st in the NFL last season. General manager John Schneider and Carroll – not to mention new line coach Tom Cable – have had two picks in the first two days of the NFL Draft.
| 2011 SEAHAWKS THIRD ROUND |
| John Moffitt, OG, Wisconsin Pick: 11th in the round, 75th overall Pertinent numbers: 6-4, 319; 24 years old; started 45 games for the Badgers at left guard and center; did 23 reps with 225 pounds at the scouting combine. What he brings: Another big, versatile body for the offensive line – this time for the interior, after the Seahawks selected Alabama tackle James Carpenter in the first round on Thursday night. NFLDraftScout.com summed up Moffitt this way: “Typical Badger interior lineman who utilizes strong hands to dominate his opponent and can lay him out while always playing through the whistle.” Where he fits: Right guard. That’s where he’ll start, and that’s where he’s expected to start – between Carpenter and center What they’re saying: “They’ve got to have a great brain. They’ve got to have great, great toughness. They’ve got to have power and (be) willing to strain. They’ve got to really put themselves out there every day for this team and for their teammates.” – line coach Tom Cable, when asked what he looks for in a guard What he’s saying: “I’m a physical player. I think I bring a lot of physicality to the line. And I think I’m an intelligent player, as well. It’s important for me to know what I’m doing out there and understand the game and develop mentally as well as physically.” – Moffitt, when asked to describe himself as a player. |
They used both on blockers. Big, physical, versatile, nasty blockers.
Thursday, they selected Wisconsin guard John Moffitt in the third round – less than 24 hours after using their first-round pick on Alabama tackle James Carpenter. Those two are expected to comprise the right side of the Seahawks’ line.
“I told John a week ago that, in your wildest dreams, if you could pick two guys to get in the draft, it would be these two,” Cable said. “It’s a pretty neat day for us.”
No need to pinch Cable. He’s not dreaming. The reality of the situation is as big as the wide bodies that are Moffitt (6-4, 319) and Carpenter (6-4, 321).
“This fit for me because they allowed us to go out and check them out and really dig into these guys – find out if they’re real guys, not fluffy and all that other cute stuff,” Cable said. “They like to work. They like to handle it when it’s tough. That’s what these guys are about.
“I’m elated, really. This is a great deal.”
Speaking of deals, Moffitt was selected with a pick the Seahawks obtained in a trade with the Detroit Lions during the second round.
“The intentions are clear what we wanted to get done here the first couple of days,” Carroll said. “We’re very happy about how this has turned out, just to get another guy that brings the attitude and the competitiveness and the toughness that we’ve talked about.
“It sets the stage for all the hard work John and his guys have been doing.”
The Seahawks trading out of the second round – and still getting the player they were targeting in Moffitt – also sets the stage for a busy Saturday. The Seahawks have seven picks in the final four rounds, including the second and 10th selections in the fourth round.
Schneider said he and his staff began working on dealing out the second round at 10 a.m., and then made the deal just after 6 p.m.
“The coolest thing about it was that our guy was sitting there,” Schneider said. “Moffitt was sitting there, and he sat there for another 18 picks. He stayed there and we were really excited about it.”
So was Moffitt, who is spending Draft Weekend at his grandparents’ house in “the swamps of Jersey,” as he called it.
“I’m really looking forward to playing for coach Cable and coach Carroll,” he said. “I’ve always been a big fan of both of theirs and it’s very surreal to get on the phone with coach Carroll and then coach Cable, which is really cool.”
As far as Seattle the city, he knows less than he does about the Seattle Seahawks.
“I heard it’s very clean, it’s beautiful,” Moffitt said. “I’m a big Nirvana fan, so I know grunge music. Other than that though, I don’t know a lot about it.”
Clean? Beautiful? Those are two words that have never been associated with Moffitt, the player.
“The guy is just an ass-kicker,” said Schneider, who had a field-level perch to watch Moffitt during the Badgers’ Rose Bowl two-point loss to TCU in January. “That’s really where it all starts with this guy.”
In addition to his obvious physical attributes, Moffitt also has a pretty good sense of humor. Asked about being 24 years old, he offered, “You know, I joined the Peace Corps for a year, so I lost a year.”
As reporters started scribbling that down, he added, “I’m kidding. I didn’t join the Peace Corps. I transferred high schools and I repeated a year. I didn’t want to tell you I’m like Billy Madison. The Peace Corps thing sounds so much better. So if you guys want to print that feel free.”
The Seahawks could be extremely young on the O-line. In addition to Carpenter and Moffitt on the right side, Cable said if they took the field tomorrow that the center would be Max Unger, a second-round pick in 2009; with
“We’re going to be young,” Carroll said. “We like that. We like the thought of that. John said from the day we got together, we want to get this thing as young and competitive as possible.”
They have taken two very large steps in that direction with the selections of Carpenter and Moffitt.
