Seahawks, rookies meet
KIRKLAND _ Shaun Alexander will be ready to take a few hits from Tampa Bay linebacker Derrick Brooks in the regular-season opener.
Walter Jones will be prepared to renew his rivalry with Arizona defensive end Bertrand Berry in Week 2.
And Marcus Trufant will have spent countless hours looking at tape before facing off against Cincinnati wideout Chad Johnson on Sept. 23.
The Seattle Seahawks veterans have plenty of time to prepare for the 2007 regular season in the coming months. What the past three days of minicamp were more about was evaluating the Josh Wilsons, Brandon Mebanes and Mansfield Wrottos of the world.
The Seahawks’ rookie class of 2007 got its first official audition over the past three days, and now the recent additions can only hope they made enough of an impression to excite the coaching staff.
“I was very pleased with the rookies,” coach Mike Holmgren said. “I thought our draft choices came in and worked very hard and absorbed the material well. They appeared to have pretty good skill level. I was pleased with how they did some things over there, but we have a long ways to go.
“All in all, I thought it went pretty well.”
Wilson was the most impressive rookie at the three-day minicamp, which might have something to do with the high-profile position the cornerback plays. The second-round pick made several nice pass breakups, especially on Saturday afternoon. Defensive linemen Mebane and Baraka Atkins, and Wrotto, an offensive linemen, get to practice under the radar.
The only disappointing draft pick was Oregon wide receiver Jordan Kent, a sixth-round pick who missed most of camp while recovering from turf toe surgery.
The draft picks weren’t the only rookies under the microscope. Several free agents were also participating, and five other players were in town just to try out for the squad.
The least likely participant was quarterback Derek Devine, a rookie who threw just eight passes at Marshall University and spent his senior season as the third-string quarterback.
Devine, who grew up in Oregon and was the starter at Mt. San Antonio College in California, went to Marshall before the pass-happy program changed coaches and went to an option running attack in 2005. Devine threw five passes as a junior – completing none – and went 2 for 3 for 23 yards as a third-string senior.
Devine said Sunday that he always knew he could play in the NFL. He sent tapes out to every team and got tryout offers from Jacksonville and Seattle.
Quarterbacks coach Jim Zorn seemed so excited about the flowing-haired rookie’s potential that he brought Devine in for a tryout.
“He feels that I’m really raw but that I have a lot of talent,” Devine said. “He obviously knows what he’s doing.”
Even if Devine goes to training camp, he’ll be the fifth quarterback behind Matt Hasselbeck, Seneca Wallace, David Greene and NFL Europe starter Travis Lulay. But Devine draws inspiration from guys like Hasselbeck, Tom Brady and Jake Delhomme, none of whom were selected on Day 1 of the NFL draft.
“If you think about it,” Devine said, “all the guys that start (at quarterback) aren’t really high draft picks in the NFL. There are a lot of free agents that are starting and playing very well. It gives you a lot of hope.”
Another tryout candidate was Foss High School product and Tacoma native Joe Rubin, who went to camp with the Washington Redskins last year but did not make the team. The running back from Portland State has known Trufant since the fifth grade, and Rubin is still close friends with Trufant’s younger brother, Isaiah.
“Learning the playbook has been the toughest thing,” Rubin said after Sunday’s practice.