Seahawks' newcomers scatter after minicamp

KIRKLAND -- The rookies have left the building. Not to mention town and, for most, even the state.

They beat a hasty retreat Sunday after the final session in the Seahawks' three-day, five-practice minicamp to catch flights back to their colleges, or homes, or wherever it was they arrived from Thursday.

Due to an antiquated NFL rule, rookies are allowed to be on the premises for only 72 hours while attending these post-draft minicamps.

The principle behind the rule is worthy.

"You don't want to ruin their chance to get that degree and get that thing done right," club president Tim Ruskell said. "I know why the rule was put in, and I think it was the right reason."

It's the practicality of the rule that renders it outdated.

Take the seven players the Seahawks selected in last weekend's NFL draft. Five already have graduated -- Lawrence Jackson, John Carlson, Red Bryant, Owen Schmitt and Brandon Coutu. Another -- Tyler Schmitt -- is not enrolled this quarter because he was focusing on the NFL scouting combine and making trips to teams to ensure he would get drafted. Only one left here to return to school and classes -- Justin Forsett, who will graduate from California in a few weeks.

So the players are being punished because they really were student/athletes, and the Seahawks for selecting high-character players that beat their classmates to the diploma punch.

"That's the oddball part of it, and maybe that part does need to be tweaked," Ruskell said. "We should be able to do something for the exceptions."

Or the exceptional, as the case may be.

Carlson, a tight end from Notre Dame and the team's second-round draft choice, graduated last May and was taking graduate classes in the fall to be eligible to play for the Fighting Irish.

He'd rather stick around and catch passes from Matt Hasselbeck than return to South Bend, Ind., to work out and wait -- until May 18, when this year's class at Notre Dame will graduate and he can rejoin the team for its offseason conditioning program.

"Of course I'd like to stay here, there are a lot of things I need to work on," Carlson said. "But the rules are the rules.

"I'd love to be out here working every day with these guys and learning from them, but I can't do that right now."

Ruskell has lobbied to do the right thing by altering the rule, but so far his words have fallen on status quo ears.

"We've been doing it that way for so long that it just seems like the natural progression," he said. "When we have looked at it, it's gotten tabled -- many times. But we'll keep pushing it."

The coaches threw everything but the football equivalent of the kitchen sink at the rookies over the weekend. But it will be weeks before any of them can return to start making sense of it.

It wasn't nonstop football, however. The draft choices were taken by limo Friday night to a "Rookie Spotlight" at Redmond Town Center. After the second practice Saturday, they were treated to a barbecue dinner.

"It was a great experience," said Bryant, a defensive tackle from Texas A&M and the team's fourth-round draft choice. "You could get used to it."

It's enough to make a rookie want to stick around. But that would be breaking a rule that needs to be tweaked, if not trashed, to benefit the players it's supposed to be protecting.

Owen Schmitt, a fullback from West Virginia and the team's fifth-round draft choice, wasn't even aware of the situation -- and stipulation.

"I didn't even know there was a rule," he said. "I just figured they didn't want to put up with us for more than three days."

INSIDE

FIRST IMPRESSIONS: P-I reporter Clare Farnsworth looks at how the seven draft picks fared at Seahawks minicamp. D3

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

How the Seahawks' draft choices looked during the three-day, five-practice minicamp that concluded Sunday:

DE Lawrence Jackson

In a word: Comfortable

In depth: The first-round pick from USC was up to the challenge and seemed at ease, regardless of whether he was playing on the right side, the left side, or at tackle in the nickel defense. In one four-play sequence Sunday, Jackson drove rookie left tackle Will Robinson into the backfield, and then timed a jump perfectly to reject a Seneca Wallace pass.

TE John Carlson

In a word: Complete

In depth: The second-round pick from Notre Dame displayed the blocking ability and sure hands that first attracted the Seahawks. He also showed better quickness and was more fluid than expected. He will need to be a quick learner, because the coaches will ask him to do a lot.

DT Red Bryant

In a word: Thick

In depth: Not the kind of thickness flaunted by Brandon Mebane, last year's third-round pick. But Bryant has the big body (318 pounds) that is needed in the middle of the line, and then some. The fourth-round pick from Texas A&M displayed good quickness, instincts and pursuit.

FB Owen Schmitt

In a word: Mohawk

In depth: The fifth-round pick from West Virginia is easier to spot sans his helmet, because of that "shaved business 'hawk" he's sporting. He displayed good hands and inside running ability. He will need to learn how to block at this level, but that can develop while he's blowing things up on special teams.

LS Tyler Schmitt

In a word: Light

In depth: The Seahawks gave up on J.P. Darche because he was too small, but the team's former snapper has 15 pounds on Tyler Schmitt (231). That, however, could be an asset in getting downfield to cover punts. The sixth-round draft choice from San Diego State was, as advertised, all but automatic with his snaps.

RB Justin Forsett

In a word: Short

In depth: Not small, because the seventh-round pick from Cal weighs a solid 194 pounds. But Forsett is only 5-8, if that. He is quick and elusive, and could help on special teams -- if he makes the 53-man roster. If not, there will be a spot on the practice squad for him.

K Brandon Coutu

In a word: Compact

In depth: That's more a description of his reworked two-step approach on field goals, but it also could work for his body type (5-11, 188). The seventh-round pick from Georgia has a big leg, but it will be excelling at the little things that determine whether he beats out Olindo Mare.

-- Clare Farnsworth