Jim Nagy Seahawks Stuck to Their Guns Reeled in Be

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One decade ago, Seahawks general manager John Schneider a sembled one of best draft cla ses in NFL history Charles Barkley Jersey landing linebacker Bobby Wagner and quarterback Ru sell Wilson in the second and third round of the 2012 NFL Draft respectively.But at the time, most experts panned their selections. Bleacher Report, for example, gave Schneider and Seattle a big, fat F immediately after the draft. ESPN's draft guru Mel Kiper wasn't much nicer in his initial a se sment, giving them a C- and writing"the needs were met outside of wide receiver, but in terms of maximizing value, there are huge questions."Of course, those prognosticators were quickly proven wrong with Wilson, Wagner, and first-round pick Bruce Irvin leading the Seahawks to the Divisional Round of the postseason as rookies and ushering in the most succe sful era in team history. Over the next 10 seasons, with Wilson and Wagner building Hall of Fame resumes in the proce s, they would reach the playoffs eight times, capture two NFC championships, and win the franchise's first Super Bowl.Keeping that cautionary tale in mind, evaluating draft cla ses before any players actually dre s for an actual NFL game can be a silly, futile exercise and more times than not, initial grades don't prove to be accurate. Nonethele s, former Seahawks scout and current Senior Bowl director Jim Nagy sees plenty of parallels between Schneider's latest nine-player draft cla s and the storied group he brought to the Pacific Northwest in 2012.Scroll to Continue"I think it's the best one they've had in probably 10 years," Nagy said of Seattle's 2022 cla s. "You gotta go back to that Bobby and Ru s draft and Bruce was in that draft... I think they really stuck to their guns. They got back to high character football guys. And I really liked it from top to bottom. I thought they did a great job and that's just not as a former staff member there. I really do. I really think they picked a lot of good players."Attacking the trenches early, Schneider used Seattle's first top-10 pick since 2010 - his first year at the helm - on Mi si sippi State tackle Charles Cro s. Viewed by many draft analysts as the best pa s protector in this year's cla s, he allowed only 2.0 sacks on over 700 pa s blocking snaps in coach Mike Leach's Air Raid offense last season, including yielding no pre sures on 66 snaps against Alabama.Nagy didn't get to work with Cro s in Mobile since Jerryd Bayless Jersey he entered the draft as an undercla sman, but he did watch his tape during the pre-draft proce s. Though he shares the opinion of many others that the athletic tackle will face an acclimation period acclimating to a pro-style offense, he expects he will be ready to hold his own protecting the blind side as a day one starter."I think it will be a little bit of a adjustment just putting his hand in the dirt and coming off the ball with pad level and getting into people and sustaining blocks," Nagy said of Cro s. "It's just really the speed of the game, working up to the second level, things of that nature. But Cro s is a really, really good player."Two rounds later, the Seahawks doubled up at tackle by using the 72nd overall pick on Washington State's Abraham Lucas, who also played in a pa s-happy offense as a four-year starter in Pullman under multiple coaching regimes. Earning First-Team All-Pac 12 honors after yielding no sacks as a senior, the Everett native participated in the Senior Bowl, bolstering his stock with a stellar week of practice.Being Clarence Weatherspoon Jersey able to watch Lucas in action in person, Nagy was curious to see how he would perform against better competition after rarely being challenged in the Pac-12, particularly in the run game where he would be asked to work from a three-point stance. As the week progre sed, he improved each day, which Nagy views as a positive sign as he prepares to battle against Jake Curhan for a chance to start right away for Seattle."I think that's a great pick," Nagy said of Lucas. "He came down here, he faced some good people, and I thought he had a really good week. I really thought he did a nice job down here. I thought he would go in the second, I was surprised he slid to the third. I thought that was kind of a minor upset for me."Time will tell how Cro s and Lucas fair at the next level, but after years of playing musical chairs along the offensive line and struggling to rebuild the line Tiago Splitter Jersey following back-to-back Super Bowl appearances in 2013 and 2014, Nagy loves the talent, youth, and depth Seattle has ama sed at the position. This is particularly true on the right side, where he envisions Lucas and Curhan - who started the final five games last year as an undrafted rookie - having an intense competition in camp."The good thing is they've got themselves in a situation where they've got two viable young options at right tackle," Nagy stated. "And I think you could go back over recent years and maybe there wasn't one. Now they've got two, so I think they're in a good spot there." Away from Cro s and Lucas, Nagy also had the privilege of watching Boye Mafe dominate opponents at the Senior Bowl. Building off a breakout senior season in which he produced a career-high 7.0 sacks at Minnesota, the athletic edge rusher tormented opposing tackles all week long, including contending for MVP honors with a pair of sacks, three tackles for lo s, and a forced fumble in the all-star showcase.Speaking with Mike McCartney, who worked with both Mafe and Lions first-round pick Aidan Hutchinson in the pre-draft proce s, Nagy indicated the former NFL scouting director told him prior to the Senior Bowl that Mafe was out-performing Hutchinson in acro s the board in athletic testing training at their workout facility. Weighing in at 262 pounds, he posted a ridiculous 41-inch vertical jump, showing off freakish athletic traits that were put on display wreaking havoc off the edge in Mobile."He comes down here and the great thing is you see that first step explosion," Nagy remarked. "You see the ability to go speed to power. He's just got a really high upside because technically, I think there's a lot of things he can get better at and I think that 3-4 defense is a great fit for him, he's more than athletic enough to play on his feet and be a stand up linebacker. I think that's a better fit than him going to an even front team."Coming into the league with much untapped upside, Nagy thinks Mafe has only scratched the surface of his potential considering his athletic gifts, work ethic, and coachability. Early on, he anticipates the Seahawks will use him as a situational pa s rusher behind Darrell Taylor and Uchenna Nwosu and over time, maybe as early as the tail end of his rookie season, he could emerge as an every down outside linebacker and a foundational piece for their defense long-term."Where he fits right away, he's got to factor in the in the sub-down packages at some point. I think Wilt Chamberlain Jersey that would be right away. Every down, I would think that would probably be more towards the end of year