JOHN SCHNEIDER: We got obviously Byron Murphy. Everybody is very excited. We had him graded as the best defensive player in the draft. Everybody saw all the offensive players going. Rare to see that.
High motor, high effort, great individual. 21 years old. Got his degree in three years. Just up and down the line of scrimmage, pass-rusher, TFLs. You name it. A lot of utility, a lot of variety.
Yeah, I mean, to sit here and think when we started we'd be able to acquire him, we'd be lying to you.
Q. (Question about all the offensive players going first.)
JOHN SCHNEIDER: We've never, ever seen that. Six quarterbacks, all the offensive linemen. We had a good feeling about the offensive linemen. The quarterbacks, we kind of mocked it out that way really obviously. Not obviously. We mocked it out that way (smiling).
MIKE MACDONALD: It was obvious (laughter).
JOHN SCHNEIDER: But yeah, that was pretty rare.
Laiatu went right before Byron. It was just coming down there. We had four opportunities. We were ready. He just kept coming. We were super blessed and we stayed and picked.
Q. What stood out to you about Murphy?
MIKE MACDONALD: There's a lot. He just plays our style of football really. I mean, he's so talented. Versatility along the front. Such an aggressive player, plays violently. Heavy hands for a guy of shorter stature. Pass-rush flexibility. You name it. Yeah, just really excited to have him.
Q. What does that position do for setting the tone or helping you establish the scheme we're going to see on defense?
MIKE MACDONALD: I told the guys, Hey, this is a great opportunity for our team to get better. He's going to provide great competition. He's our type of guy. He's a Seahawk through and through.
Whatever position he's going to play, whoever we were going to take, that was really cool to have that opportunity to bring in a guy we're really, really sold on, really have consensus on, too. I'm really excited about it.
Q. With your background, Mike, what you're trying to accomplish, how great was the draft (indiscernible)?
MIKE MACDONALD: Yeah, it's a great scenario because we love Byron and we're excited to get him. We were open-minded. We were looking for what was best for our team. It just shook out that way.
We weren't looking just defense from the get-go.
Q. Were you thinking it was going to be heavily offensively focused?
JOHN SCHNEIDER: Yeah, especially after getting done with all the phone calls, what we were hearing was going to be pretty legit. Once it started, they just kept coming, so...
But not until today. By a time? I don't know, this afternoon, maybe around 3 when I was kind of done making calls or whatever. I was like, Okay, this stuff really sounds true. It stayed true.
We did think there were going to be a lot more trades. Did sound like people were going to be moving around more. We were kind of nervous people were going to trade for Byron. Thankfully it didn't happen.
Q. Leonard Williams played the vast majority of his snaps at three technique as did Byron at Texas. How do you see that play out in terms of is there someone who might move if they're both on the field at the same time?
MIKE MACDONALD: Yeah, I think both guys have position flexibility. I mean, Leonard can play all across the line. So can Byron. We have a lot of guys.
That's one of the reasons I'm so excited about it, is you're not going to know where guys are going to necessarily be all the time. We'll have some really sweet ways to move guys around and have 'em in different spots based on the teams we're going to play. A lot of flexibility going in. A lot of pass-rush opportunities, matchups, things we can manipulate. All that's on the table. It will be fun to see how that shakes out.
JOHN SCHNEIDER: Completely different body types, too.
Q. With that versatility that he offers, he played some nose tackle, under 300 pounds, how rare is it to be able to see a guy do that? Where do you see the running back background he has come into play?
MIKE MACDONALD: You do see that. That's a great point. There's only so many people in the world that can do these types of things. We're fortunate enough now we have a few guys on our team that can do it.
He just adds that versatility to us, like I keep saying. For him to be able to play nose at his size, his flexibility, anchor, strength, is really impressive.
Q. You mentioned he got his degree in three years. Away from football, what else stood out to you that indicated he is a Seahawk?
JOHN SCHNEIDER: Ryan Florence, Matt Berry, everybody in that room that studied him, everybody loved him. He went to the combine, had a great combine. The whole fall, the makeup, the background.
I've never talked to him. I've totally tried staying away from him. I didn't think he'd be available. Try not to show so much interest.
Our guys were all over him. The defensive staff loved him. Like Mike said, it was just complete buy-in.
Q. John, was it tempting to want to try to trade down because of the gap, number 81...
JOHN SCHNEIDER: We have to wait all the way to 81 (laughter)? C'mon, what a bummer.
I'd be lying to you if we said we didn't think about it. But the player was, he was just too good. He influences the game, like, a lot, so...
Q. How many trade offers did you have?
JOHN SCHNEIDER: We did.
Q. Multiple?
JOHN SCHNEIDER: Yes. Good ones, too.
Q. Does he remind you of anybody? Do you have a comparable for him?
JOHN SCHNEIDER: I mean, yeah. He's not Aaron Donald, but he tested like that. He's got that compact style about him. I mean, slow down, Johnny, he's a Hall of Famer. You're asking for the body type, you know what I mean (laughter)?
Yeah, getting off the ball, all these statistics we have now, analytics stuff, his explosive rate, he gets to the quarterback quicker than anybody. He has that ability to jump off the ball, get up field. He can play edges. He can play square. He can rush a passer inside. Gets up and down the line of scrimmage.
But the body type, I mean, the body type comparison, obviously Aaron Donald is a phenomenal Hall of Famer, first ballot (smiling). Along the lines of a Lawrence Taylor.
Q. He talked about his attitude, all his life he's been doubted. Doesn't matter who is in front of him... Talk about his mental toughness, his ability to dominate.
JOHN SCHNEIDER: Yeah, I think Ryan Florence, if you guys get a chance to speak with Ryan, just exactly what you said. Was up against it. Overcame whatever the doubts were that people had about him.
When guys play hard like that throughout a game, his play time is high, too. I mean, you know it's very important to him.
Q. This was your first time riding the war room without Pete.
JOHN SCHNEIDER: First of all, we don't refer to it as a 'war room' (laughter), with all due respect.
Q. Any different in any way?
JOHN SCHNEIDER: I'd be lying to you if I said it wasn't different.
Q. How?
JOHN SCHNEIDER: How? I'm not going to get into that, yeah. It's just different. I don't know how to describe it.
The communication, everything was exactly the same. The process, right? We started this several months ago. Mike and his staff had to get really caught up pretty quick. They had to work their tails off for it.
With Pete, we've been doing it for 14 years. After 14 years, you can get in a groove and know exactly what's going to happen.
Yeah, I would say we didn't have the music as loud, okay? That's probably the biggest thing. Pete, we'd get the music cranking pretty loud in there.
Q. Did you try to gather as much information as possible on these guys. Was there a big temptation to want to talk to him to get a feel for him before the draft?
JOHN SCHNEIDER: Yes, to a certain extent. We have a great working relationship with his agent. I felt like I knew the person through the agent. I've just known his agent for a long time. He can describe players, people he's recruiting real well. You get a real good background on the guy.
Just the information we got from everybody was so consistent, all the different sources.
Q. John, just the one-year starter at Texas. What leap did he make last year in his game to allow him to break out?
JOHN SCHNEIDER: Just more play time really. I mean, for one reason or another, they played more of a rotation, they had more people. This year, with Sweat, they were on the field a ton. He was just on the field more.
Q. For a defensive line, how important is to it have rotation?
MIKE MACDONALD: It's incredibly important. I wouldn't say that was a driving force on the decision. It's just an opportunity to add an awesome guy and a great player.
But absolutely. I mean, in two-minute you're going to want to have guys fresh and ready to rock. It's not a short season. You need guys that can get after it in the trenches, for sure.
Q. What was it like for you going through the process?
MIKE MACDONALD: It was an awesome process. I think getting into it, there's a lot of things you're trying to see to build the team, the staff. Getting into the process a little bit later than we would be ready maybe next year. You get in it and you dive in head first.
I think the thing that I'd like everybody to know is how awesome our process is. We've assembled an incredible personnel staff. Being able to create alignment in such a short amount of time I think was really neat. I felt a lot of trust about the information that we're getting, the type of people that are in that room, the culture that we have in our draft room.
I just told John, coming into this week, Look, I trust our guys. We trust each other, man. I think that's really important.
Today the music wasn't as loud, but I was calm. As the pieces started to fall in place, it was a really cool experience. John is cool as hell, making calls, talking to people. Whatever decision we ended up making at 16 I thought would be right for our team. It was a really awesome experience. It was a team effort, for sure.
Q. John, obviously a losing effort, but Byron playing in the College Football Playoff against Washington. You have two coaches on your staff that played in that game. Did either Ryan or Scott have any insight on playing against Byron, where that game.
(Loss of audio.)
Q. How did the six quarterbacks going change everything?
JOHN SCHNEIDER: Just moves that whole group of different areas down. I mean, the two corners that went, those guys are damn good players. Philadelphia and Detroit, to get those two guys, I mean. Good football teams getting corners. If the quarterbacks don't go and all the offensive linemen, those guys are usually mid-round picks.
Q. Mike, you've had a chance to get around the players a little bit here. What have you learned about them since you've had a chance to see them in person?
MIKE MACDONALD: Three weeks now. So we're rolling. I've told the guys, I love our spirit. That's a shout-out to how they've done things here in the past. You feel like a hunger, a sense of urgency from them, too. I think that's what we're attacking every day, just trying to make the best of each day and stack 'em.
We've made some strides in practice running plays on air. You can feel it from the guys. It's almost like they want it more and faster systematically. We're trying to build it slow, smooth, systematically, culture-wise, building a foundation, all those type of things.
I feel the excitement from the guys. Hopefully they're as excited as I am and our coaches are. I think we're off to a good start.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports