Members of the Seahawks' 2016 NFL Draft class and those added as undrafted free agents will be joined by several athletes Seattle invited on a tryout basis to participate in this weekend's rookie minicamp at Renton's Virginia Mason Athletic Center. 

The three-day event, which runs May 6-8, serves as the club's first look at the new faces Seattle collected this past week. Players started arriving Thursday afternoon to go through physicals, get fitted for equipment, meet the coaching and player personnel staffs, and more. Friday and Saturday will feature two-hour practices before camp breaks with an hour-and-a-half on-field session on Sunday.

Seahawks.com will be there to capture video, photo, and written coverage of the newest Seahawks. But before everything gets underway, we thought it would be worth taking a look back at last year's rookie minicamp through the eyes of defensive end Frank Clark, a second-round pick, and wide receiver Kasen Williams, the Sammamish native and former Husky standout who took part as a tryout player and impressed Seattle enough that he later signed to a contract, was placed on the practice squad, and eventually, promoted to the 53-man roster. 

DE Frank Clark

Q: What was your expectation coming into last year's rookie minicamp?

A: "My expectations coming in, I just thought it was going to be something light [laughter]. I thought it was going to be three days that just breezed by figuring the fact that we were coming off all the pre-draft things, all the workouts, all the visits, so everyone's tired, basically, coming in. But it's exactly what you should expect: it's hard, it's competitive, and everyone's coming in with an edge. We came in, those first three days, they're tough, they're hard. But at the end of the day, what I did to get through it was just stay focused, take care of my body. I think that's key for all these rookies coming in."

Q: Was your first NFL experience a humbling process?

A: ""It was very humbling. At the end of the day I didn't think I was going to be given anything. That's just the NFL, and really, the Seahawk way. There's no favorites here. You've got to get here and you've got to be ready to compete."

Q: What advice would you give to players going through rookie minicamp this year?

A: "I think the biggest thing they've got to do is take care of their body and just expect the unexpected. The coaches, they're going to push them because they want to see what they've got and they want to see what they've got for the future. Obviously, it's too late to say, 'Get in shape now.' I wish them luck. At the end of the day they're going to take a lot of reps, especially those high-round guys. There's going to be a lot of looks for them, they want to see a lot of film, and they've got to be able to produce. You pay the cost to be the boss. It's the NFL, you've got to be able to respond."

WR Kasen Williams

Q: What was your expectation coming into last year's rookie minicamp?

A: "The expectation was to ball out. To make as many plays as possible. To learn all the plays and not have any mental errors so they can see that I'm good with the playbook. It was good. It was a little bit stressful, just because it's your first time getting that NFL experience. But the thing that I liked about Seattle, and I don't have any experience anywhere else, but they really made you feel comfortable. They made it fun. Therefore the nerves weren't there like I was anticipating how it was going to be."

Q: Was there one moment or drill where the coaches pushed the team harder than you expected they would?

A: "The only time they did that was during special teams and that was something that I had made up in my mind that I was already going to go 100 percent at. That was the one thing that was different, I would say, is the effort that was put into special teams."

Q: What advice would you give to players going through rookie minicamp this year?

A: "Just go hard every single play. Every chance you get, every opportunity you get, make the most of it. If one play doesn't go your way it's not the end of the day. You're still going to get chances. There's still going to be more opportunities."