What Seahawks GM Schneider said about QB draft visits

Apr 11, 2024, 5:30 PM | Updated: 6:42 pm

Seattle Sports

The Seattle Seahawks haven’t turned to the NFL Draft for a quarterback in quite some time. In fact, the team has selected just two QBs (Russell Wilson in 2012 and Alex McGough in 2018) since John Schneider took over as general manger in 2010.

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The team recently visited with a pair of 2024 QB prospects ahead of this month’s draft, however. Those prospects are Oregon’s Bo Nix and South Carolina’s Spencer Rattler.

Nix’s draft stock has been all over the place. Some mock drafts have him going as high as the middle of the first round, while others have him falling as far as the third. Rattler is more consistently considered a middle-round pick, generally coming off the board around the third or fourth round.

It’s worth noting that the Hawks already made somewhat of a pseudo-draft pick at QB this offseason, sending third- and fifth-round picks to the Washington Commanders for third-year quarterback Sam Howell, plus a fourth-rounder and a sixth-rounder. But that doesn’t mean the team isn’t looking to add to the position.

When Russell Wilson was selected in the third round in 2012, it came just one month after the team signed Matt Flynn to a three-year, $26 million contract. Flynn was brought in to be the starter, but Wilson beat him out for the job and never looked back. There is one major difference this year. Howell is expected to be the backup to Geno Smith, so drafting a quarterback would mean Seattle would either have to carry three quarterbacks on the roster, stash one the practice squad, or part ways with Smith or Howell.

Schneider joined Seattle Sports’ Wyman and Bob on Thursday for his weekly appearance to discuss the upcoming draft, and he spoke about bringing Nix and Rattler in for visits.

Read what Schneider said below, or listen to the podcast or the video player atop this story.

Seahawks GM John Schneider on QB visits

“We want to get to know these guys a little bit better and spend time with them, and Spencer’s a real impressive guy and so is Bo,” Schneider said. “And we just wanted to be able to spend a little bit more time with those guys, have the coaches be able to spend more time with them on the board. You want to be cautious of their time as well. They’re out here on west coast visits, so we try to set those up when they’re visiting the Rams, the Chargers, the Niners, and try to fit those in.

“We love Sam,” Schneider added about Howell. “We love what we did being able to acquire Sam. And we talked about the age, he’s got the experience, but that doesn’t preclude us from what we do in the draft.”