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Barring any last-minute trades, which are always a possibility when general manager John Schneider is involved, the Seattle Seahawks will be on the clock Thursday night with the 18th overall pick in the NFL Draft.

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Over the past few months, plenty have speculated about what the Seahawks will do in the first round. The most popular opinions are that they’ll take an offensive lineman, wide receiver or defensive lineman, but Seattle has been known to surprise when its name is on the board.

How could the Seahawks surprise this time around? Former NFL quarterback Brock Huard was asked that question Wednesday during his Blue 88 segment on Brock and Salk.

Huard named inside linebacker as the “outside-the-box pick” they could make in the first round.

“There is a big cliff between the top two or three inside linebackers and the rest,” Huard said.

Who are those top two or three guys? At the top of the list is Alabama’s Jihaad Campbell, a projected first-round pick who could be the only player at this position taken off the board during the first round.

Campbell, a 6 foot 3, 235-pounder, was a first-team All-SEC selection who totaled 117 tackles, 11 tackles for loss and five sacks for the Crimson Tide last season. He’s the 13th-ranked overall prospect and top-ranked linebacker on Pro Football Focus’ Big Board. ESPN draft guru Mel Kiper Jr. ranks him as the No. 21 overall prospect and No. 2 linebacker.

UCLA’s Carson Schwesinger and South Carolina’s Demetrius Knight Jr. are next on the list of linebackers behind Campbell.

After redshirting as a walk-on and spending two years as a reserve after, the 6-foot-2, 242-pound Schwesinger broke out with a big season for the Bruins in 2024. He earned first-team All-America and All-Big-Ten honors while compiling 136 tackles, 8.5 tackles for loss, four sacks and two interceptions. His 90 solo tackles led FBS. Schwesinger is projected as a second-round pick. He’s PFF’s 53rd-ranked prospect and No. 3 linebacker, and Kiper’s No. 32 overall prospect and third-ranked linebacker.

Knight, who played six college seasons, registered 82 tackles, eight tackles for loss, two sacks and one interception during his lone season at South Carolina. The 6-foot-2, 235-pound Knight is projected as a second-to-third-round pick. He’s the No. 52 prospect and second-ranked linebacker on PFF’s Big Board, and the No. 82 prospect and fourth-ranked linebacker by Kiper. Knight is also the cousin of three-time Pro Bowl cornerback DeAngelo Hall.

There’s also Georgia’s Jalon Walker, whose been considered as a tweener who can play off-ball linebacker and on the edge. But Walker is expected to be off the board by the time Seattle picks at No. 18 overall. If available, he would also be an intriguing option.

Linebacker may not seem like a pressing need for the Seahawks. They re-signed starter Ernest Jones IV to a three-year deal in March and saw 2024 fourth-round pick Tyrice Knight excel in his first year as a pro, but Huard sees head coach Mike Macdonald coveting the position the same way former coach Pete Carroll did with running backs.

“There is a big drop off, but I think they’re doing their work on inside linebacker,” Huard said. “… That is that important of a position, and that would be a little bit of an outside-the-box pick that almost nobody has talked about.”

Hear the full conversation at this link or in the audio player near the top of this story. Listen to Brock and Salk weekdays from 6-10 a.m. or find the podcast on the Seattle Sports app.

Seattle Seahawks draft coverage

• Insiders: The case for Tetairoa McMillan to Seattle Seahawks at No. 18
• Salk’s 3 acceptable scenarios where Seattle Seahawks don’t draft OL at 18
• Dave Wyman: My NFL Draft experience was almost completely different
• Brock’s Seattle Seahawks Draft Profile: Bama’s ‘powerful’ guard
• Rost: 3 things to know about Seattle Seahawks heading into draft

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