ESPN insider Miller: Seahawks draft an ‘A’ for ‘smart team-building’
May 8, 2023, 4:42 PM
A view of the stage as the Seahawks deliver a pick in the 2023 NFL Draft. (Photo: Scott Winters/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
(Photo: Scott Winters/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
ESPN NFL Draft analyst and insider Matt Miller has been busy all draft season, and while it took a week to get him on Brock and Salk to talk the Seattle Seahawks’ 10-player draft class, it did nothing to diminish his rave review for the job general manager John Schneider did.
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“Very happy to be on with you and get to talk about one of the teams that just now has the best draft every year, it feels like,” Miller quipped Monday morning when he joined Brock Huard and Mike Salk on Seattle Sports. “It’s nice to talk to a city and a team that’s happy about their draft class, as opposed to so many teams last week (who) were depressed, so hopefully you guys aren’t.”
Brock and Salk certainly aren’t disappointed with what the Seahawks did, as Seattle brought in two first-round picks that have been pretty much universally lauded: Illinois cornerback Devon Witherspoon at No. 5 overall, then Ohio State wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba at No. 20.
Asked by Salk how he thought the Seahawks did, Miller was effusive in his praise not just for the top end of Seattle’s draft – he referenced Witherspoon, Smith-Njigba and second-round pass rusher Derrick Hall each in his answer – but the Hawks’ whole performance throughout the annual three-day affair.
“Freaking killed it,” Miller responded. “Got my No. 1 corner, my No. 1 wide receiver, a pass rusher that a lot of people thought could have gone first round, and then I really thought some of the Day 3 picks were really good from a scheme fit, from a value, from a need.”
There’s one thing that especially makes the strong grades for the Seahawks’ draft mean that much more, as Miller pointed out.
“This team checked every need that they have. For a playoff team to be able to do that says a lot when you could go in and check off needs,” Miller said. “It’s just really smart team-building. It was it was an ‘A’ draft, in my opinion.”
We will dive into more that Miller had to say to Brock and Salk throughout this week on SeattleSports.com. You can listen to the full conversation in the second segment of the podcast below.
More on the Seattle Seahawks
• Why 49ers GM John Lynch can see the Seattle Seahawks are coming
• Seahawks GM John Schneider details backstory of draft day trade with Broncos
• Seahawks draft picks Bump and Stacy are most excited about
• Huard: The Seattle Seahawks UDFA creating the most buzz
• John Schneider breaks down Seattle Seahawks’ Day 2 and 3 picks
