RENTON — The Seahawks on Friday first decided to solidify their secondary and tight end spots.
After adding South Carolina safety Nick Emmanwori at No. 35 overall and Miami tight end Elijah Arroyo at 50, they decided to shake things up, making the eyebrow-raising move of drafting Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe at 92 to add to the mix behind Sam Darnold and Drew Lock.
“He just kept coming,” said Seahawks general manager John Schneider, who had anticipated that Milroe might not last in the long wait Seattle had from 50- to 92. “And he was there by himself.”
It was a pick Seattle got from the Raiders in the trade for Geno Smith.
The Seahawks were enticed enough by the idea of adding Milroe that they turned down offers from other teams who wanted to give Seattle an extra pick or two to move up.
“We had an opportunity to go back a little bit there and then we just decided to stay there and take Jalen,” Schneider said.
They did so for a simple reason, Schneider said: “He’s a unique special kid, special athlete, special young man.”
What most entices is his speed and the dual-threat ability he showed at Alabama, throwing for 2,844 yards last season at Alabama while also rushing for 726 yards and 20 touchdowns.
Coach Mike Macdonald hinted that the Seahawks could carve out a specialty package for Milroe to occasionally spell Darnold.
“Sam’s gonna take by far and away over 90% of our snaps,” Macdonald said. “However (if) Jalen deserves and earns the right to go out there then we’ll do that if it’s best for us to move the ball and give these defensive coordinators some headaches that’s awesome”
Macdonald said whatever snaps Milroe earns will be as a quarterback and not at another position.
“Jalen’s a quarterback through and through he’s going to be trained to play quarterback and when he’s in there he’s going to be playing quarterback,’’ Macdonald said.
Given the value of quarterbacks, there had been some thought that Milroe might go in the first round — he was one of 16 players who attended the draft in Green Bay, Wis.
He fell to the mid-third round where the Seahawks — having filled some other needs — decided to leap.
Adding Milroe gives the Seahawks five quarterbacks with Lock having recently been brought back to back up Darnold and Sam Howell and Jaren Hall also on the roster. Seattle has been talking to teams about dealing Howell, hoping for at least a late-round pick.
“Really cool problem to have right now,’’ Schneider said of figuring out the QB logjam.
Milroe started the last two seasons at Alabama, taking over after Heisman Trophy winner Bryce Young departed after the 2022 season and became the No. 1 overall pick of the Carolina Panthers.
He led Alabama to a 12-2 season in 2023 before the Tide lost in the Rose Bowl to Michigan, 27-20.
With DeBoer taking over when Saban retired, Alabama went 9-4 in 2024 with Milroe starting every game, failing to qualify for the College Football Playoff and losing to Michigan in the ReliaQuest Bowl.
Milroe said he views the experience positively.
“I had so much fun last year,’’ he said. “I have no regrets from last season I was surrounded by a lot of great coaches that poured everything into our room. … I was coach Saban’s last quarterback and coach DeBoer’s first quarterback at Alabama so I have a unique journey as it went to my senior year.’’
Milroe, in fact, said he felt like it worked out for him to lane in the perfect spot in Seattle.
The Seahawks had been rumored interested in Milroe for a while and he traveled to Seattle for a 30 visit earlier this month.
“Just a great vibe,” he said of how he felt during his trip. “It’s all about that right spot and I know I’m in the right spot moving forward.”
The Seahawks began the day with a splash, pulling off a trade with the Tennessee Titans to move up to 35 and take Emmanwori.
Schneider said the Seahawks had Emmanwori graded almost the same as Grey Zabel, the guard they drafted at 18 on Thursday, and debated moving back into the first round to try to get him.
“We felt like we added two first-round draft picks,’’ Schneider said of the move to get Emmanwori. “… if we could have come out of the draft without him we would have been disappointed.”
The Seahawks dealt picks 52 and 82 to the Titans to move up and get a player who has been compared to Seahawks legend Kam Chancellor and to one of Macdonald’s former players in Baltimore — Ravens safety Kyle Hamilton.
Like those two, Emmanwori has unique size for a safety, listed at 6-foot-3, 220 pounds. Chancellor was listed at 6-foot-3, 225 pounds and Hamilton is listed at 6-foot-4, 220 pounds.
That size had South Carolina using Emmanwori as a deep safety and near the line of scrimmage, often as a nickel corner.
The Seahawks obviously think they can find a good role for him having made an aggressive move up to add him to a secondary that already includes the safety duo that ended last season as the team’s starters — Coby Bryant and Julian Love.
Emmanwori said he was excited to join those two players as well as cornerbacks Devon Witherspoon and Riq Woolen and made a bold prediction.
“They have some dogs,” Emmanwori said. “Honestly, Spoon is a dog. Julian Love, Coby Bryant are dogs. Riq Woolen. First thing when I get up there, just to keep it short and simple, we’re looking to recreate the Legion of Boom. Especially if I can fit in with the Kam Chancellor type of role or size.”
Emmanwori’s athleticism was reinforced with an eye-opening performance at the combine when he led all safeties with a 43-inch vertical leap and had the second-best 40-yard dash at 4.38 seconds.
“Had one of the best combines I’ve ever seen,’’ Schneider said.
It was the sixth time since Schneider became the team’s general manager in 2010 that he made a draft-day trade to move up somewhere in the first three rounds.
The others included moves for two of the best receivers in team history — Tyler Lockett in 2015 and DK Metcalf in 2019 — as well as moves to get defensive tackle Jarran Reed (2016), linebacker Cody Barton (2019) and rush end Darrell Taylor (2020).
The Seahawks took Arroyo to fill out a tight end spot that had just three players on the roster heading into the draft.
Arroyo, a 6-foot-5, 254-pounder, caught 35 passes for 590 yards and seven touchdowns last year playing with QB Cam Ward, the former Washington State star who was the first overall pick of the draft on Thursday.
Arroyo battled injuries in 2022 and 2023 when he had just six receptions for 77 yards in eight games played before breaking out last season. Those injuries included a torn ACL that ended his 2022 season after four games. That injury lingered through the 2023 season.
The Seahawks have three other tight ends on their roster in Noah Fant, AJ Barner and Eric Saubert, an eight-year vet who signed last month as a free agent after spending last season with the 49ers. Brady Russell, who played tight end last season, was recently moved to fullback.
Fant is entering the final season of his contract, and Saubert is also on a one-year deal, while Barner is entering his second season after going in the fourth round last season.
The Seahawks have five more picks as the draft begins Saturday at 9 a.m. with rounds four through seven — 137, 172, 175, 223 and 234.
