3 'Pete Carroll Qualities' in Seahawks top draft picks
The qualities that Devon Witherspoon and Jaxon Smith-Njigba possess that Seattle looks for: Seaside Joe 1528
How did Clark get his name?
When I adopted him, they were calling him “Tanner” but that was only a name assigned to him a couple of weeks earlier after he was turned over as a stray in Long Beach, California. He didn’t know Tanner from any other name, so I took the opportunity to name him; he is my first dog after all. But I haven’t named a pet since I was 10 and that was when I named my cat “Rosie” after a Saturday morning cartoon character based on Rosann Barr. Not my best work.
I wasn’t sure what to do and was throwing out a few name ideas, but none of them felt right. Like any good name, it’s not the name you can come up with that will fit, it’s the name that comes to you.
It was three or four days after adoption that Clark basically told me what his name is: Clark (who would weigh 21 lbs if he’s at the combine but plays at 18 lbs) is not the dog that he appears to be, and he comes running into my room and LEAPS from what must be 25-30 yards away all the way up to my bed, which is about 45 feet off of the floor, and does so with the majesty and grace of a thoroughbred champion that has all the world’s best steroids coursing through its veins.
I said to myself and him, “Wow, you don’t look like you can fly!”
I think most of you can now surmise why he is named Clark.
The above photo is Clark leaping off of his favorite tall building lawn and basically owning the street. Do not mess with Clark. It’s not the size of the dog in the fight… it’s the fact that he’s a supernatural alien from another galaxy.
This is certainly a segue, but also many of you have requested pictures of Clark and catching him in the middle of a heroic moment like that seemed like a great opportunity to share one.
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3 “Pete Carroll qualities” in Devon Witherspoon
“Multi-Sport athlete”
This concept of playing multiple sports has come up a lot recently and you will see that throughout Seattle’s 2023 draft class. The following passages, and many more to come, are out of Dane Brugler’s “The Beast” draft guide for The Athletic. Thanks to Dane for putting all the work into that and into Seasider Rob for pointing me in that direction for guidance.
Devon Witherspoon grew up in Pensacola, where he played several sports at the youth level, including football. However, he stopped playing to focus on basketball, which emerged as his favorite sport. Witherspoon attended Pine Forest High School and lettered in basketball before deciding to give football another try at his mother’s behest. Along with basketball and football, Witherspoon was also a standout track athlete, finishing runner-up at states in the 4x100 relay (41.37) as a senior.
“Chip on his shoulder”
I mentioned just before the draft that something that really stood out about Witherspoon leading into Seattle’s decision is that he was kind of the only top prospect who had a huge chip on his shoulder. There was no reason for Anthony Richardson or Will Anderson or Jalen Carter to say, “Well, people are doubting me!” Yes, everyone has their skeptics, but even Richardson only went as early as he did because he’s the most outstanding athlete in the country.
Witherspoon was the most unlikely player to be projected in the top-10.
A no-star recruit, Witherspoon wasn’t ranked by online recruiting services and got a late start after not playing until his junior of high school. He heard from several FBS programs, but his academics were another hurdle, and he signed with Hutchinson (Kan.) Community College. After arriving at Hutchinson in July 2019, Witherspoon received his updated SAT scores, which revealed he was eligible to play NCAA Division I football.
Illinois was the only Power 5 program to give him an opportunity, as his other offers came from the likes of Georgia State, South Alabama, UAB, and so on. A couple years later, Witherspoon was the best cornerback in the country.
Toughness
Competes with the tenacity of a junkyard dog (former HC Lovie Smith: “Probably the toughest guy on the team pound for pound. … No one competes harder than him.”)
Of course, “Competitive” will come up with any player who Pete Carroll drafts.
3 “Pete Carroll qualities” in Jaxon Smith-Njigba
Insanely productive
If Pete was still recruiting for USC in 2020, he would have spent countless nights dreaming of making JSN a Trojan for life. His high school career in Dallas was legendary, even for a Texan.
Smith-Njigba announced himself as a major recruit as a sophomore with 81 receptions for 1,299 yards and nine touchdowns. As a junior, he led the Dallas area in receiving with 97 catches for 1,828 yards and 20 touchdowns. Despite missing two games due to injury, Smith-Njigba saved the best for his senior season with 109 catches for 2,161 yards (sixth-most in Texas state history) and 34 touchdowns (third-most in Texas state history). Playing in the highest level of Texas high school football, he led Rockwall to the Class 6A state semifinals and was named the 6A State Player of the Year and Texas Gatorade Player of the Year. Smith-Njigba had a legendary prep career, finishing with 82 touchdowns and 5,414 receiving yards (third-most career receiving yards in Texas state history).
During his one full season of college football, Smith-Njigba had over 1,600 yards and was the number one receiver despite playing with Chris Olave and Garrett Wilson; his presence even caused Jameson Williams, the 12th overall pick in 2022, to transfer to Alabama.
Elite athleticism
Though Smith-Njigba doesn’t possess elite straightline speed (4.52 at his pro day, which may be generous), he is one of the all-time testers in the three-cone and short shuttle.
very natural as an athlete with the short-area agility to release or uncover (his 6.57 three-cone and 3.93 short shuttle was No. 1 among all participants at the combine)
Other first round picks who ran a 6.57 in the three-cone include Christian McCaffrey, Patrick Peterson, and safety Daxton Hill in 2022. In the second round, Courtland Sutton. But none of those players broke 4.00 seconds in the short shuttle, like JSN. A sub-6.6 three-cone and a sub-4.00 short shuttle is extremely rare.
It’s all about what you do with your athleticism, and the reason to be optimistic is that JSN has already proven to be the most productive player on the field season after season after season.
Competitive
Smith-Njigba hasn’t been shy about the fact that he thinks he could be better than Olave and Wilson, two of the NFL’s best rookie receivers of all-time. To then get to Ohio State and push Jameson Williams into the transfer portal and to strive to be 1-of-1, there’s nothing wrong with having the confidence to say you’re the best as long as you back it up.
his coaches rave about his competitive nature (Brian Hartline: “I think his desire to win on every rep is something that carries him a long way.”)
We know what Pete Carroll thinks of competitive players and I can guarantee that if you’re selected by the Seahawks, you’ve proven to him that you want to compete for a job and that you’re confident you will put in the work to win.
I’ll do more of these with Seattle’s other picks, so be subscribed to make sure you don’t miss anything!
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I enjoyed this. I wrote a thing on Field Gulls about the "character" issues that Pete and John talk about. It seems everyone has a different emphasis on what they mean. You have certainly hit on the competitive drive that Pete talks about. Pete notes that none of these athletes would have gotten even this far if they didn't have a competitive drive in them. He's looking for something he calls "grit" but that term is almost meaningless to me. I guess it includes toughness, and they said most of the players they selected this year "checked that box" which John said they symbolize with a hammer.
So we know they have a list of characteristics. To sum them up, if one must, "fire in the belly" seems to me to sum it up better than "grit" even though I don't even know what else is on the list. I am not an insider, but I try to put two plus two together much like SSJ does. I've watched the interviews and stuff. Maturity figures into this equation, though we know they understand peoples maturity grows over time, in most cases. I'm even all but certain they have consulted psychologists and have asked for guidance on avoiding destructive personality types.
Irvin is an example of a player who grew up while in football. But less mature players still get drafted and maybe Penny is an example. He came to camp over weight and out of shape is what I heard. It slowed his learning curve, and yet over time he became valuable as a RB, but it took longer than it did for Kenneth Walker who came into the league ready to learn and compete. He wants to be the best, and to me that is included in "fire in the belly". That fire can burn because of a chip on the shoulder, or just being driven to be the best. It's all part of "grit".
Well, I wrote essentially this same thing for Field Gulls, and when I hit "post" some alogorythm decided something was wrong and wouldn't post it. I lost it, had no way to retrieve it, and sighed a long sigh and went about my business.
Anyways,
Also, I was thinking that since you're getting so many new subscribers that we should all change our names to Seaside John/Jane and wear identical jumpsuits with matching haircuts. Of course we'd need to find a large house (or "compound" as I like to call it) where we can have our daily Seaside Seances and end each night with a reading from the Book of Joe.