Pete Carroll reveals SEC QB Seahawks gave ‘tremendous consideration’ to during NFL Draft
By Paul Harvey
Published:
Pete Carroll and the Seattle Seahawks entered the 2023 NFL Draft with two first-round picks. And while Geno Smith is entrenched as Seattle’s starting for the coming season, some intriguing quarterback prospects were available in this draft class.
While Bryce Young and CJ Stroud were widely expected to come off the board before Seattle’s first pick at No. 5, it was always perceived as a chance that Anthony Richardson or Will Levis would be available. The Seahawks also held the No. 20 overall pick in the draft.
In the end, Young went No. 1 overall to the Carolina Panthers and Richardson went No. 4 to the Indianapolis Colts, one pick ahead of Seattle. Levis was still available at No. 5 and No. 20, but Carroll revealed after the draft it was Richardson that the team had given a lot of consideration to selecting had he been available.
According to Michael-Shawn Dugar with The Athletic, Carroll felt Richardson could be the best athlete ever drafted at QB:
“We considered (Richardson),” Carroll admitted. “Shoot, we flew all the way out there to go see him. Not just to see him but to be around him and watch him and how he handled himself, and his program with all the hype that was going. We gave him tremendous consideration. He might be the best athlete that’s ever been drafted at that position. He’s arguably that. So, we had to definitely consider that.”
In the end, Seattle wound up with the top cornerback and wide receiver in the draft with Illinois’ Devon Witherspoon and Ohio State’s Jaxon Smith-Njigba, respectively. That’s quite a first-round performance for the Seahawks, but it’s fair to wonder what could have been if Richardson was still on the board.
Paul Harvey lives in Atlanta and covers SEC football.
