Seahawks Picks: Lots of defense, no WRs

Due to trades made during the first two days of the NFL draft, the Seahawks had seven picks Saturday. They included three defensive linemen, a linebacker, a cornerback, a safety and a running back. In the first two days they took two linebackers and a quarterback.

Curiously, Seahawks drafted no wide receivers, a position that was viewed pre-draft as a position of need. Saturday’s choices:

ROUND: 4th / OVERALL: 106th / PICK: Robert Turbin, RB, Utah State

Turbin put together an outstanding 2011 season, running for 1,517 yards and 19 touchdowns (sixth-most in the nation).

Turbin could have durability issues because he missed nearly two years with injuries, but had no physical woes of consequence last season. At the NFL combine in Indianapolis, Turbin ran a 4.50 40.

Despite playing at smallish Utah State, Turbin spent the season on the Doak Walker Award watch list, and was named the Western Athletic Conference Offensive Player of the Year.

Turbin had several huge games for the Aggies, running for 208 yards and three touchdowns against Idaho, 180 yards and two TDs against Weber State, and 115 yards and four TDs against Colorado State. Turbin had 101 yards (no TDs) in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl.

For his career, the 22-year-old Turbin rushed for 3,315 yards and 40 touchdowns.

A native of Fremont, CA., Turbin declared for the draft following his junior season.

ROUND: 4th / OVERALL: 114th / PICK: Jay Howard, DT, Florida

Howard, 6-foot-3 and 303 pounds, recorded 65 tackles, including 10 tackles for loss and four sacks in 2011, which earned him All-Southeastern Conference honors. As a junior he had 29 stops and one sack.

Strengths include his ability to make plays in every direction and his change-of-pace direction. Howard’s major negative: Not much of a pass rusher.

Howard, ran the 40 in 4.79 at the combine.

ROUND: 5th / OVERALL: 154th / PICK: Korey Toomer, OLB, Idaho

The 6-2, 230-pound Toomer, projected to go in either the fifth or sixth round, is a linebacker considered, as one scouting service put it, “a player with tremendous upside.”

A junior college transfer to Idaho (from Arizona Western), Toomer didn’t break into the Vandals’ starting lineup until last season. He then posted 68 tackles, 10.5 tackles for loss and four sacks.

Toomer, from Las Vegas, also had four pass breakups, three quarterback hurries, one interception and one fumble recovery. Late in the season, he added a dual role at fullback and scored on a two-point conversion at San Jose State and later scored three touchdowns vs. Utah State, finishing with nine carries for 27 yards.

Toomer recorded 10 tackles at Texas A&M (four solo, six assists) and had two sacks vs. Louisiana Tech and 2.5 tackles for loss at Virginia.

ROUND: 6th / OVERALL: 172nd / PICK: Jeremy Lane, CB, Northwestern St.

The 6-0, 175-pound Lane, of Tyler, TX., didn’t break into Northwestern State’s starting lineup as a full-time starter until 2011, but when he did, he put up decent numbers, including 41 tackles, two interceptions and three pass breakups.

Rated by most scouting services as a seventh-round pick, Lane is a developing cornerback who flashed cover skills the past two years and is a player who likely will get better with experience and NFL coaching. Biggest negative: Needs to get stronger and clean up his footwork.

ROUND: 6th / OVERALL: 181st / PICK: Winston Guy, S, Kentucky

Guy started for three years, ending his senior season with 120 tackles, two interceptions and two pass breakups after making 106 tackles, three interceptions and two pass breakups as a junior.

According to scouts, Guy, a native of Lexington, plays best as a run-defending safety, but has been criticized for failing to wrap up, although he once (2010) had a game in which he made 18 tackles against Vanderbilt. He also has been knocked for being weak early in zone coverage.

Played corner as a freshman before moving to safety for his second and third years, and ultimately ended up at outside linebacker.

ROUND: 7th / OVERALL: 225th / PICK: J.R. Sweezy, DT, North Carolina St.

Two-year starter, the 6-5, 293-pound Sweezy had 20 tackles, including four tackles for loss and a pair of sacks in nine games last season. He missed four games with a foot injury. Most draft services projected that Sweezy would not be drafted.

Assets: intense competitor, gets leverage and is quick off the snap. Liabilities: Lacks size and has average pursuit speed.

A native of Moorsville, NC., Sweezy had the best game of his career as a junior in 2010 in a one-point loss at Clemson when he tallied four tackles for loss, including a pair of sacks, and led the team with 10 total tackles.

Sweezy won the Class 3A state wrestling championship at Moorsville High School.

ROUND: 7th / OVERALL: 232nd / PICK: Greg Scruggs, DL, Louisville

A majority of draft experts figured Scruggs would go undrafted, but the Seahawks used their second pick in the seventh round on him, Scruggs became the eighth (of 10) defensive players taken by Seattle.

Scruggs was a part-time starter in each of the past two seasons. In 2011, he had 19 tackles, including six for loss and four sacks.

Biggest negative: lacks bulk and, according to one scout service, “does not always play with a sense of urgency.” Biggest asset: Quickness. Offers a considerable amount of upside.

A native of Cincinnati, Scruggs played only one year of high school football (St. Xavier, Cincinnati), but spent three years with the school’s marching band.

Scruggs had a DUI incident in Louisville in December.

FREE AGENT SIGNINGS — Former Washington wide receiver Jermaine Kearse went undrafted, but was one of 10 to sign free-agent contracts with the Seahawks after the draft concluded its seven rounds.

Besides Kearse, other free agents signed were WR Phil Bates (Ohio), CB London Durham (McNeese State), G Rishaw Johnson of California (PA.), Sean McGrath (Henderson State) (AR.),  WR Lavasier Tuinei (Oregon),  T Jon Opperud (Montana), DB DeShawn Shead (Portland State), DE Monte Taylor (Cincinnati) and K Carson Wiggs (Purdue).

Seattle Seahawks 2012 Draft Choices