Notes, quotes and videos from Day 1 of the Seahawks’ rookie minicamp

RENTON – The Seahawks opened their three-day rookie minicamp on Friday, which served as the first look at the team’s 11 draft picks and eight undrafted free agents. Here are a few notes and impressions as well as some video:

Roll call. The roster for the rookie minicamp lists 68 players, the majority of whom are taking part on a tryout basis. There are also some non-rookies like quarterback Jake Heaps, who spent time with the team last season, and wide receiver Kenny Lawler, a seventh-round pick last year who spent his rookie season on Seattle’s practice squad. All 11 of the team’s 2017 draft picks were in attendance Friday as were the eight UDFAs. The only player on the roster not there Friday was wide receiver Cyril Grayson, the former LSU track star who hasn’t played football since high school. Grayson recently went back to Louisiana to attend his graduation and is expected to rejoin the team this weekend.

McDowell’s physique, agility. Live contact isn’t permitted during this phase of offseason work. Players were wearing helmets but no other pads Friday. That makes it hard for offensive and defensive linemen to really stand out for anything they do against another player, but Malik McDowell, Seattle’s top pick, stood out merely from a physical standout, not surprisingly. He’s 6 feet 6 and looks lean, appearing to carry his listed weight of 299 pounds well. Coach Pete Carroll liked how McDowell was moving, saying: “Well instantly almost, you could see how comfortable he is with his movements, his body control and stuff. He’s got an awareness already on how to use his hands that I’m surprised to see that much background technically. They did a real nice job with him at Michigan State. So he got off to a really nice start. He looks great. He’s taller than a lot of guys we’ve had at this position. I’m excited to see how we can move forward with that.” Carroll reiterated that Seattle plans to play McDowell at 5-techinique (which is the strong-side defensive end) and at the 3-technique defensive-tackle spot (as opposed to the nose tackle) in pass-rushing situations.

Here’s some of what McDowell said after practice:

A little bit of what Malik McDowell said after his first rookie minicamp practice with the Seahawks: pic.twitter.com/ypRkUNTS5K

— Brady Henderson (@BradyHenderson) May 12, 2017

Carroll says DBs stood out. Asked what stood out to him during the first practice, Carroll said the defensive backs “all looked the part.” The Seahawks drafted four of them: cornerback Shaquill Griffin and safety Delano Hill in the third round, safety Tedric Thompson in the fourth and Mike Tyson in the sixth. Tyson played safety in college but is working some at cornerback, as was the team’s stated plan when he was drafted. Carroll said watching Tyson on Friday reminded him of Byron Maxwell’s first few practices as a rookie in 2011. Said Carroll: “They all moved very well. They all caught the ball really well. They looked fast. They just looked the part and felt very comfortable. There’s a lot of playtime behind these two safeties in particular and you can just tell. They’re very savvy, very comfortable, communicated really well right off the bat, made a really good first impression. We saw Shaq take off a couple times. He’s really fast. He can fly. We’ll see how it goes but those were good impressions there.”

Here was Griffin high-pointing a ball during a positional drill:

The Seahawks’ first rookie minicamp practice is over. We’ll talk to Carroll shortly. Meantime, here’s Shaquill Griffin high-pointing a ball pic.twitter.com/ZM3iPED50J

— Brady Henderson (@BradyHenderson) May 12, 2017

Pocic at RT for now. Second-round pick Ethan Pocic worked at right tackle Friday and will remain there for the rest of minicamp, Carroll said. Pocic mostly played center at LSU but also started for a season at right guard. The Seahawks think he can play any of the three in the NFL but want to take a long look at him at right tackle because that’s where they’ve seen him the least. Said Carroll: “So the first few days we want to get a gauge for that and see how that’s going to work out. He’s already studied his tail off to get here. You can tell. He’s a bright football player. Really tuned in. Just all of the right signals in the first day and a half that he’s been here as far as being ready to apply himself. He had a great experience at LSU. He’s played a ton of football and it shows.”

Pocic said Justin Britt reached out to him after the draft.

OL Ethan Pocic said Justin Britt reached out to him shortly after the Seahawks took him in the second round. “He’s a huge help.” pic.twitter.com/X6rHyQ9zp8

— Brady Henderson (@BradyHenderson) May 12, 2017

OL Roos is a “legit player.” It’s pretty early to start handicapping which undrafted player might have the best shot to make the team, but offensive lineman Jordan Roos from Purdue is someone to keep an eye on. The Seahawks gave him a $20,000 signing bonus, according to John Clayton and ESPN’s Sheil Kapadia. That amount of money means he was a high-priority UDFA. Asked about the UDFAs in general, Carroll said Seattle considered many of them to be draftable and first mentioned Roos, saying, “For us, he’s a legit player. We saw that on film, and you could see it just mixing in with the guys today. He’s one of those guys. There’s a bunch of guys we saw special qualities in. Steven Donatell looked good at tight end today; we know he’s a long snapper as well. There’s just a bunch of guys we’re excited about to see what they do.”