John Schneider On His (Rare) Draft Failures

Feb 21, 2013; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Seattle Seahawks general manager John Schneider speaks at a press conference during the 2013 NFL Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports

Yesterday afternoon, I caught part of a John Schneider interview on the radio. (I can’t remember which station, but I’m sure someone will find it for me post a link in the comments). He didn’t say much, but there were two things of note:

1) He jokingly said that the staff was planning on sitting around and watching Percy Harvin highlights on youtube during the first round od the draft. I can actually see them doing this, but I bet that NFL Films would be capable of providing a higher quality video than anything they’d find on youtube.

The Seahawks lack a first round pick, and lack all motivation to trade up for one. Other than fielding a few phone calls from teams trying to do some pre-planning for the late 2/early 3 part of Friday, there isn’t all that much for Schneider and company to do during Thursday’s portion of the draft.

2) Schneider talked a bit about couple of his draft failures. He obviously didn’t name names, but he did offer explanations:

• He compared a player to one he had before, but their hearts weren’t the same
• Taking a player who was productive, but lacked football confidence

It is interesting that both mistakes were misreads of a players mental state, and not poor scouting of their physical abilities. This is one of those aspects that of the scouting process that many fans seem to miss. It’s not all just about what you see on the tape. The interview process is an essential part of finding great NFL players.

I have some ideas about who he might have been referring to, but that speculation will have to wait for later.