Pete Carroll on Seahawks rookies: 'Something special is happening'
Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll can sense this group is special.
Expectations are only beginning to mount for the Seattle Seahawks following an NFL Draft that left them earning praise for their take-the-best player available strategy that landed them the top cornerback and wide receiver in the draft class.
Devon Witherspoon and Jaxon Smith-Njigba were limited in Friday's practice as a precaution due to hamstring injuries during the offseason. However, that didn't stop Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll from singing the praises of the 2023 rookie class.
"It's a solid group of guys like we've said from the beginning, the personalities of them," Carroll said. "It feels like there are a number of guys that will have the potential kind of makeup to be leaders. You can just feel it. It's a very confident group, not cocky at all. They're ready to work… I really am charged about this group, and the whole offseason, there's been a sense that something special is happening."
It is only a matter of time until Witherspoon and Smith-Njigba are total participants in the Seahawks' offseason program. And when they are, the expectations for the group will only rise. That is how good they can be.
Already Witherspoon told the media that he is "loving his time" with the Seahawks. He also detailed that the team is "taking it easy" on him while helping him get back into the football routine.
As for the jump to the NFL level, Witherspoon detailed that it is "same old, same old." At the end of the day, he is just playing football. The game he has played since he was little.
For Smith-Njigba, it is more of the same as well. He is happy to be in Seattle and eager to be a full participant in the Seahawks' offseason program.
"I didn't know what to expect," he said, "I am happy I am in a Seahawks uniform."
There is clearly something special happening in Seattle. Carroll took note of it. And ahead of what might be the most important season in a few years, the Seahawks clearly have the right group of rookies to push them to the top of the NFC West.
