The Seahawks wrapped up a three-day rookie minicamp with some scrimmaging, with the green team defeating the blue team 10-7 thanks in part to a play that seemed awfully familiar. With Keith Price leading the blue offense for a potential game-winning score, he floated a pass to the end zone with second left on the clock, but just when it looked like Kevin Norwood might come down with the winning catch, cornerback Thomas Wolfe, a tryout player, tipped the pass to safety Dion Bailey for an interception.
While Wolfe did not call Norwood a sorry receiver or mediocre—at least not that anyone heard—it was otherwise a very similar play to Richard Sherman’s NFC championship-clinching deflection on a pass intended for Michael Crabtree.
—Three of Seattle’s draft picks sat out Sunday’s session: T Garrett Scott, who didn’t practice this week because he’s yet to pass his physical, LB Kevin Pierre-Louis, who had a sore groin, and WR Paul Richardson, who, as Pete Carroll put it, “banged his shoulder a little bit, but he’s fine. He should be back in a couple of days.”
—Carroll said a few tryout players stood out, but unlike last year when he singled out “that kid from Idaho” (Benson Mayowa), Carroll won’t say what players might have a chance to stick around.
—After spending the first two days at cornerback, sixth-round pick Eric Pinkins saw more time at safety, his position at San Diego State.
—UW quarterback Keith Price continued to impress (quotes from Carroll below).
—DE Cassius Marsh stood out all three days, consistently finding his way into the backfield (again, Carroll quotes below). It will be interesting to see how he does when facing a higher level of competition once the full team is on the field.
—Tryout TE Rashaun Allen, who at 6-foot-4, 250 pounds certainly looks the part, showed good hands all weekend and had a touchdown catch Sunday.
—UDFA signing Garry Gilliam impressed Carroll at left tackle (quotes below).
—DB Markus Smith, who’s listed as a safety but mostly played corner, broke up a few more passes Sunday and could very well be one of those tryout players who has a chance at sticking around.
—RB Demitrius Bronson, a tryout player from Kent who played at Eastern Washington, showed impressive quickness, but plays a position with a lot of depth on Seattle’s roster, so could have a tough time earning a contract despite a strong weekend.
Now, a few quotes from Carroll:
“We had great work, we had a really good camp. The lead was taken by the draft picks, we had really good work from the tackles. Cassius Marsh inside did a really nice job, the receivers were really on it. It’s really exciting to see these guys come out here and battle like they did. As we go through this, we’ve got some tough decisions, because some of the guys who come in here in the tryout mode are definitely under consideration. So we have to figure it all out here in the next couple of days—we don’t have an answer for you right now—but it was really cool work. We try to give them a feel for what it’s like to be part of the Seahawks, and these guys really answered the call and worked hard for us.”
On Eric Pinkins playing safety Sunday: “We wanted to make sure we could see him at both spots so we could we get a little bit of information before we get into the next mode here. It’s really good he can play in both spots, we’ll see how it works out, I don’t know how it’ll work out, but I’m glad we got some information.”
On LB Kevin Pierre-Louis: “He had a little groin that was bothering him. But he did a nice job, had a lot of work in the first couple of days this week, and he looked very good. He plays very fast, really a big accelerator. He seems to be a very good learning too, so he should fit into the competition really well.”
On DE Cassius Marsh: “First he came in in great shape, he was really flying the whole time; he never showed any signs at all of wearing down. He’s a very active, very instinctive football player. He moved around to a couple of different spots to give us some looks. That’s pretty exciting, pretty exciting he’s so active. The role we talked about, kind of like Michael Bennett, it looks like that might have a chance, but we’ll take a lot of time to figure that out. But he looked very good, he was by far the most active guy out there.”
On QB Keith Price: “He did really well. It’s like he’s been around longer than he has. He’s very comfortable, he’s a very natural quarterbacks. He was very comfortable in the pocket, he moved very well, made a lot of big throws, threw the ball down the field really well for us. He did a very good job and looks like he could help us.”
On Garry Gilliam playing left tackle: “We played him a left tackle, yeah. He’s an extraordinary athlete, he was a tight end coming up, moved late in his career at Penn State. He has really good mobility, the left tackle type of quickness. He’s over 300 pounds, a big solid well-balanced kid. He did very well, he looked very good at the spot. That’s a real plus for us; we need help there, need the competition there.”
On RT Justin Britt: “He picked everything up, he’s very well prepared technique wise. He’s got really good footwork, his base is really good, his balance is good for a big man. He moved well off the line of scrimmage, showed good foot quickness. He won’t have any trouble learning—it’s going to take some time of course—but he won’t have any trouble picking stuff up. Really serious mature kid. I think he’ll jump right into the competition exactly like we had planned. I think he’ll be right there with Michael and they’ll be battling it out.”
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