Ex-scout: Seahawks should have taken DE at 25

Former NFL scout Dave Razzano thinks the Seahawks would have been better off taking Ohio State DE Cameron Heyward with the 25th pick. (AP)

By Brady Henderson

The Seahawks were criticized for their decision to use the 25th pick on OT James Carpenter, a player who wasn’t considered by draft analysts to be as good as other tackles still on the board and one who many believe could have been available in the second round.

If you’re a Seahawks fan tired of hearing the negative post-draft reviews, don’t look to former NFL scout Dave Razzano for a second opinion.

“I wasn’t particularly impressed with what they did,” Razzano told the Kevin Calabro show on Monday. “I probably would have gone defense first. But they get a big right tackle, obviously, in Carpenter. I thought that was a little early for him. … Instead of Carpenter in (the first round), I probably would have gone Cam Heyward, who went 31 to Pittsburgh.”

Razzano, who spent more than 20 years as a scout for the Rams, 49ers and Cardinals, said his grade for the Seahawks’ draft would be a D.

“And I love those guys … I really respect John Schneider,” he said. “But I just expected them to go defense.”

Seattle used six of it’s nine picks on defenders, but only after taking offensive linemen in the first and third rounds and trading out of the second. Mississippi State linebacker K.J. Wright (Rd. 4, No. 99 overall) was the first defender the Seahawks drafted.

In Razzano’s opinion, taking Carpenter at No. 25 wasn’t the biggest mistake of the draft. That honor belongs to the 49ers, who passed on a quarterback and took Missouri defensive end Aldon Smith with the No. 7 overall pick.

“I thought he was more of a late-second-round pick,” Razzano said of Smith. “Hopefully he pans out for them. I just don’t think he will.”

The best move? Razzano thinks it was Tennessee’s decision to use the eighth pick on Jake Locker, who Razzano believes was the best quarterback in the draft.

“I think it surprised some people, but again, when you really study him I think the guy can thrive and I thought he was much better than Blaine Gabbert, who went a couple picks later,” Razzano said.

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