John Carlson was the highest rated TE prospect in this year’s draft according to many draft experts and he fell right into the Seahawks’ lap.  Carlson is the classic receiving TE as he has good hands and is very willing to make the tough catch over the middle and take the hit.  Despite being 6′4″, 255 pounds Carlson isn’t much help in the running game as he’s not a physical blocker.  But, the Seahawks will live with that as long as he catches a lot of passes from Matt Hasselbeck.  Carlson played in 47 games (31 starts) at Notre Dame and he caught 100 passes for 1,093 yards (10.9 avg) with 8 TD grabs.  This was a solid pick by the Seahawks.

The Seahawks appear to be collecting undersized defensive ends who rush the passer well and Lawrence Jackson fits that mold.  He has all of the talent in the world but he’s soft and doesn’t show up against the better competition that he played against in college.  Jackson played in 52 games (51 starts) at USC and he made 181 tackles, had 52 tackles for a loss, 30.5 sacks, batted down 14 passes, forced 7 fumbles and recovered 4 fumbles.  Jackson will likely back up Darryl Tapp at LDE end this season but he will likely be a starter down the road for the Seahawks.  This pick will be a reach unless the Seahawks’ coaches can light a fire under Jackson’s behind.