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John Schneider & Pete Carroll Discuss The Seahawks' Seven Picks On Day 3 Of The 2019 NFL Draft

Seahawks coach Pete Carroll and general manager John Schneider’s thoughts on the seven players the Seahawks picked on Day 3 of the of the 2019 draft. 

The 2019 NFL draft came to an end Saturday, and the Seahawks added seven more players in Rounds 4-7, bringing their total draft haul up to 11 players. Here are some highlights of what Seahawks coach Pete Carroll and general manager John Schneider had to say about each Day 3 pick:

Receiver Gary Jennings, West Virginia (Round 4, 120 Overall)

Schneider: "He had a great year. Coming out of that offense, there's always questions, but he did a great job at the Senior Bowl. He's the fastest guy on the GPS, they tracked him at 23 miles per hour. Jim Nagy is running (the Senior Bowl) now, he used to work for us. He had the fastest feet of anybody at the Senior Bowl down there, with the zebra timing. Phenomenal hands. Really strong after the catch."

Guard Phil Haynes, Wake Forest (Round 4, 124 Overall)

Carroll: "Phil is a guy that we targeted early because of his makeup and his style of play. We're really excited about how our guards have been playing. You saw us go out and get Mike Iupati to go along with what D.J. (Fluker) has done. We thought early on that this is a guy that can fit in the mold of that. He's going to be 340 pounds. He's a really strong, really physical guy. He likes to finish blocks and knock guys down. He's got an attitude about him. He just looked like he would fit the bill to compete with those guys. We've been shifting gears here the last couple of years here and this is an indication of that. It was really a guy that we had sighted from early on and John figured out where he would go and we were able to nail it specifically because of his makeup that kind of matched up with the guys that we've had some success with and we're excited about it."

Asked about Haynes' pass protection, Carroll said, "They did a lot of throwing (at Wake Forest). He's done fine. He's got a lot of work to do there as a lot of young guys do, but he's coming off the rock with a real physical style that we're really excited about."

Asked where Haynes will play, Carroll said, "He's been playing left guard, but he'll be able to play both of them in time. But we'll start him on the left side."

Safety Ugo Amadi, Oregon (Round 4, 132 Overall)

Carroll: "He's a very versatile football player. He's been recognized and has been awarded some stuff through recognition of being an all-around player. He's a safety and we're going to start him off playing back in the middle, he'll play free safety to start. Marquise (Blair) will be on the other side. He's done a lot of coverage stuff on the slots, he's done nickel work in a unique way and been effective there too. We'd like to see how that works out in time. He's been a returner. He will be a very instrumental guy in the special teams area as well because he's a runner and a hitter. But I don't want to overdo the young guys with too many obligations other than he's going to be on special teams, he's going to be playing safety. So we'll start him off at free safety and find out what it feels like knowing that we'll be able to use him in coverage in time."

Schneider: "Pete and I talked to a head coach in the Pac-12 this week, because he is a shorter guy, you have some questions about the length and all that sort of stuff, but he talked about the presence that you feel from him on the field. He's a total alpha dog so we went for it. The guy totally pulls the trigger and he's an explosive cat."

Linebacker Ben Burr-Kirven, Washington (Round 5, 142 Overall)

Carroll: "I thought it was a really exciting pick to evaluate because he's such a unique type of player. Whenever you get a guy that's this active and has these kinds of numbers, you have to take a look. We took a really deep look at what Ben's all about. He reminded me so much of Lofa Tatupu. Lofa had this extraordinary knack for finding the football in unique ways and the way he fit in the running game, he was amazing. This is the way that Ben plays. Our guys all latched on to him and the productivity, but he's also got speed. The special knack was something that we were really excited about. We know that he's going to be a factor on special teams. He's going to be running down those kicks and making hits. He's recognized as a really big-time player and the fact that he's local is pretty cool also."

Schneider: "A funny story about him, I'll usually try to sneak over to Washington for their training camp and I usually go over there later in the year because it's so close and it's an easy school visit. I was having trouble with the computer so I went and asked the video guy if he could help me. And I hadn't looked at stats or anything like that and I was like, 'Man, this BBK kid makes a ton of plays, this guy is super active.' And he looks at me and goes, 'Yeah, he's leading the nation in tackles right now.' And I was like, 'Oh yeah, I totally knew that. I totally knew he was leading the nation in tackles right now.' As I was keeping track of that, I have so many other things on my mind. The guy is so productive, it's ridiculous."

Running Back Travis Homer, Miami (Round 6, 204 Overall)

Schneider: "He can play an every down back. He's really tough. He's only 20 years old. He's a grit guy for us, hell of a special teams player. He can play on third down. We actually had him in the third down category because he had such good hands coming out of the backfield. Really good instincts. Just a really, really tough dude."

Defensive Tackle Demarcus Christmas, Florida State (Round 6, 209 Overall)

Carroll: "He's going to play 3-technique to start us out. We just want to bring him along. Good, tough guy, who can do a lot of good stuff. We just want to develop him, we need the depth, and we need the girth. He's a 300-plus pound guy. He'll start out at 3-technique."

Asked if Christmas can play nose tackle, Carroll said, "He could, but that's not something we're looking for. He will play there some, those guys will rotate. But we would like to see him load up and play 3-technique and see how he does there first."

Receiver John Ursua, Hawaii (Round 7, 236 Overall)

Schneider: "John has been honestly one of our favorite players throughout the whole process. He had an awesome visit with us, led the nation with 16 touchdowns. He is going to come in and compete for that slot spot. He is a really cool kid, he went to Paris, that's where he did his mission."

Asked how the 5-foot-9 Ursua compensates for a lack of size, Schneider said, "Suddenness, instant separation. Really good feel for sitting in zones and setting guys up. He has a really good shake off the line of scrimmage. Then, he has deceiving speed too. He would have liked to have had his 40 time back, but he plays much faster than that."

Asked about trading a 2020 sixth-round pick to get Ursua in the seventh-round, Schneider said, "Besides the player, who we all really liked as a competitive slot receiver, when you're in the seventh round, you have to look at where guys have visited, and who's had private workouts with them, and who's spent the most amount of time with them. He had spent time with several teams that we were concerned about. We were worried about not being able to sign him as a rookie free agent. We did not have a seventh-round pick. We had 12 picks next year, so, let's go get the guy that everybody feels really good about, let's just lock it down. He's a really cool kid."

Photos from inside the Seattle Seahawks draft room on Day 3 of the 2019 NFL Draft at Renton's Virginia Mason Athletic Center.

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