John Schneider, the Seattle Seahawks general manager, knows there is a lot riding on getting the NFL Draft right next Thursday. 

Seattle comes into the annual pomp and circumstance affair with picks No. 5 and No. 20 in the first round. The team made the NFL Playoffs last season, in a year when most thought the organization would be rebuilding. 

Meaning, Seattle has to nail its first-round selections if it aims to build on its 9-8 run. Schneider knows that. It is why the NFL executive admitted that more research has gone into getting these first-round picks right than most NFL Drafts he's been a part of. 

"I would say way more exciting," Schneider said when asked about the difference of picking early in the draft. "There's so much more research that goes into it. Last year obviously picking where we picked, but there's levels all throughout every round, and obviously, in the first round there's specific levels every year. You have to evaluate the classes, and every class is completely different. Being up there with a fifth pick, I think, is just really exciting, and you have way more coverage and accessibility to all the prospects."

For weeks many have theorized that the Seahawks would go defense first with pick No. 5. Specifically, the organization has been linked to Georgia standout Jalen Carter, who has fallen in NFL mock drafts because of off-field issues. 

Both Pete Carroll and Schneider have shown interest in bringing in a player who can help the defensive line. And Carter would be exactly that for Seattle. 

But the brain trust behind the team is keeping its options open for what could come later in the first round and on Day 2 of the draft. Carroll, specifically, is well aware that not all of the team's needs will be taken care of after the first round. 

"What I think is exciting about this one is you get the first challenge coming up at 5 and then we've got a whole other one at 20, and on day two we come right back again," Carroll said. "Those three big events of those early picks, it kind of comes back at us in a hurry, makes it really fun and a challenge, and a lot of scenarios, more so than normal. That keeps us just active and functioning and having fun doing it. The whole thing is pretty cool."

Added Schneider, "Five of the top 83 is probably the one thing that really stands out. OK, we're getting a pretty good feel for what it looks like and now, how do we go execute our game plan?"

That game plan was curated by doing a bit more research in what feels like a must-nail draft for the 2023 version of the Seahawks.