We’ll have one final look at the Seahawks rookie minicamp here, and finish with some of Coach Pete Carroll’s thoughts on what the rookies showed this weekend. Earlier we focused on the defense. For the wrap-up, we’ll go that sometimes overlooked commodity, the offense.
The wideouts have their turn at the podium
We’ll kick off with the intriguing speedster Cyril Grayson on getting back into football.
"“The older guys have been really good to me. They’ve reached out to me…to help me on what to do…ways to run routes…just so I can get back into the swing of things and be able to compete.”"
And who are these older guys?
"“Doug, Jermaine Kearse, P Rich, all of them, everybody, the coaches especially.”"
Sounds like Mr. Grayson has a pretty solid support group among the Seahawks receiving corps. Next up, wide receiver Amara Darboh on the rookie defensive backs he faced this weekend:
"“Athletic guys, guys that understand the game. In college I was fortunate to go to Michigan, had to go against good DBs there, but I think here it’s on another level.”"
On the offense at Michigan and how it’s affected his transition:
"“A lot. We were in the pro style there, and I think that it’s helped with the transition over here, with the routes that I have my master run here and the routes that I ran at Michigan.”"
Hopefully Darboh is right about that smooth transition to the pros. That is what minicamp is for, after all. Next up, wideout David Moore on playing at running back and how it helps him with yards after the catch.
"“My senior year I played running back a little bit, and all through high school I played running back, so…and all my life growing up, basically, so it helped out a lot with the ball in my hands and what I could do with it.”"
On coming from a Division II school and how likely he thought he could make it to the NFL:
"“That was after my junior year, during my junior year. Coach was telling me if I just keep my head straight and keep working hard, it would happen for me.”"
Indeed it did, Mr. Moore, all the way from East Central Oklahoma. That’s a long hard journey; let’s hope he sticks.
Coach Carroll likes what he sees
Finally, some thoughts from Coach Pete Carroll on the Seahawks rookie minicamp:
"“We had a terrific weekend. This was really fun. So many good things showed from the kids coming in and some of the free agent kids also. Attitude was great. Their buy-in to make this a really successful camp worked out just the way we would hope.”"
On his view of the draft class’s commitment to learning:
"“I was really fired up, and the draft class just showed the kind of stuff that we would like to see in this camp in general. Really serious intent about learning and understanding what we want and then trying to take that to the practice fields from the meetings. We gained a lot out of this and it was a really good first step with the young class.”"
There is of course much more from Coach Carroll in this clip. Be sure to watch all of it, along with all the clips from the Seahawks rookie minicamp press conference. I still say Shaq Griffin will be a star in this league, on the field and off.