Did Seahawks land an NFL Draft steal in Michigan State’s Malik McDowell?

SEATTLE – The pre-draft analysis of Malik McDowell that wildly praised his talent also came cloaked with ominous overtones.

“He’s an enigma,” ESPN draft expert Mel Kiper said in a conference call shortly before the draft of the Michigan State defensive lineman. “He’s got all this talent and he showed it two years ago and then, this year, it was underwhelming.”

“To me he’s a tough one,” echoed Daniel Jeremiah of the NFL Network shortly before the draft. “All the ability in the world. As much upside as any defensive lineman in the draft. He just isn’t consistent.”

One of the persons who knows McDowell best – Ron Burton, his position coach at Michigan State – had a far shinier take on McDowell, who will make his debut with the Seahawks Friday when they begin a three-day rookie minicamp.

“You’re getting a gold mine,” Burton said. “Raw with great ability and he’s aggressive and he’s a smart kid. You’re sitting on a gold mine.”

Maybe you wouldn’t expect Burton to say anything else.

But Burton happily swats away all the various criticisms that were lobbied at McDowell before the draft, assessments that many think led to him falling into the second round at No. 35 after he had entered the year considered not only a lock to go in the first round but projected by many scouts as likely to be among the first 10 picks.

“I wouldn’t call any draft pick a slip,” Burton said. “I mean, top 35 in the country?”

As have Seattle coach Pete Carroll and general manager John Schneider, Burton pegs much of what was perceived as underachievement by McDowell in 2016 to a litany of issues he dealt with during the season, notably an ankle sprain.

McDowell was known to have suffered a sprain late in the season that caused him to miss the team’s last three games. Carroll also said in an interview on ESPN 710 Seattle last week that McDowell “came into the season with a high ankle sprain.”

Burton said playing hard “has not been an issue. He’s just been injured.”

The line around him was also different, Burton noted. Specifically, Shilique Calhoun, a three-year starter and two-time team captain, graduated in 2015 and became a third-round pick of the Raiders in 2016.

“He was injured, no doubt,” Burton said of McDowell, who also hurt his ribs in the fifth game of the season against Northwestern. “And we were fairly young around him and his injuries combined with that. But he fought through them.”

In that same radio interview, Carroll also noted that McDowell mostly played nose tackle at MSU, which he said “totally diminishes his ability.”

McDowell started all 14 games at nose tackle in 2015 when Calhoun, who was the Big Ten Defensive Lineman of the Year the previous season, was manning an end spot. The Spartans also had Joel Heath (now with the Houston Texans) at a three-technique tackle spot.

But with those two gone, McDowell moved around a little more last season, officially starting five games at nose tackle and three at end.

Burton said McDowell “always felt comfortable” playing at nose and that putting him there made the best use of the talent the team had around him. He also said having played inside in college will only make him better in the NFL.

The Seahawks say McDowell won’t be a nose tackle for them.

But they do plan to use him just about everywhere else on the defensive line, primarily at the five-technique end spot and three-technique tackle, largely similar to the way Michael Bennett has been employed.

The Seahawks compared the 6-foot-6, 299-pound McDowell to longtime Arizona star Calais Campbell. Burton goes back further for a comparison – legendary Dallas Cowboy Ed “Too Tall” Jones, who stood 6-9.

“What you are getting is a long, tall young man who is very flexible in his ability to play inside and out,” Burton said. “What that makes him able to do is play all the positions on the line and that’s a key – first, second, third down, he can play all downs. And his ability to play inside has really enhanced his ability. Not a lot of guys would go inside being that long.”

If Burton said he never had any issues with McDowell’s work ethic, though, the Seahawks are already taking steps to make sure it doesn’t become one with them.

Schneider has mentioned that McDowell falling to the second round could serve as a wake-up call.

And on the night of the draft, Schneider said he had talked to McDowell – video of his conversation with McDowell when the pick was made caught him telling him “don’t forget our conversation.”

“From a motor standpoint, he knows he needs to keep that going,” Schneider said to the media following the pick. “And those are part of the discussions we had with him.”

In fact, the Seahawks met with McDowell at just about every available opportunity before the draft, including bringing him to Seattle for a visit at the VMAC.

Carroll said those meetings helped the Seahawks grow even more comfortable with McDowell, who spent just three years at Michigan State and doesn’t turn 21 until June 20, making him one of the youngest players taken in the draft.

Burton says that’s a fact that may have been overlooked.

“He has a lot that he can continue to learn,” Burton said. “And he has a lot of upside. That’s the great thing about him – he has a lot of upside and he’s a young man.”