Seahawks Hit Their Goals For Rookie Minicamp & Other Takeaways From Day 2 Of Rookie Minicamp
Mike Macdonald enjoys when Seahawks Legends stop by practice.
On Day 1 of rookie minicamp, Seahawks Legend Richard Sherman stopped by practice and gave some pointers to rookie Julian Neal.
It’s not unusual for Sherman or other Seahawks Legends to stop by a practice, but Macdonald always enjoys when they do.
“That was awesome,” he said. “It’s great to see Sherm. Hopefully he’s got a key here. He’s welcome anytime. So it was fun to see him out there and get caught up, but I know the guys really appreciated it. So that was fun.”
Macdonald added, “He’s one of the best to ever do it, which is cool and he’s ours. So we take a lot of pride in having great players like that. But technique is important, but I think just the mentality that it takes to play DB and corner at a high level for our organization, breathe life into these guys. There’s a lot of things going on in their minds right now at this point in their careers. And to have a guy like Sherm or Kam (Chancellor) come around and encourage the guys and be positive and things like that, I think that goes a long way.”
2025 UDFA Tyrone Broden is moving from receiver to cornerback.
Earlier this week, the Seahawks announced that 2025 undrafted free agent Tyrone Broden would be making the switch from wide receiver to cornerback. Broden, who signed with Seattle as an undrafted free agent out of Arkansas, spent most of his time on Seattle’s practice squad before being placed on injured reserve in November.
“He was someone that did a great job at the beginning of, throughout the process last year, unfortunately got hurt, but we love his movement ability and he’s got ball skills and he competes and he’s created a great attitude and he felt like it could translate to being heck of a DB one day,” Macdonald said. “So he’s dealing with some health things right now in terms of his timeline on when he can get back on the field. So right now we’re not exactly sure when that’s going to happen, but he’s in the meetings and he’s got a great spirit about him and so we’re excited about it. But yeah, it’s going to take some time, but he’s a great guy for the job.”
Broden who is listed as 6-foot-5, is taller than the average cornerback, but Macdonald said that shouldn’t be a problem based on his skillset.
“He can move and he can get in and out of brakes and his lateral quickness is really good and he’s a great special teams player,” Macdonald said. “He’s a great gunner. So I mean, those are traits that you look for in defensive players, so we think that’s going to translate.”
Macdonald also made the point that players often make the switch from receiver to cornerback.
“People do it all the time. Moving from one side of the ball to the other, mostly from receiver to DB. So I think don’t want to put a timetable on it. Let’s just see where it goes and see how he takes it up. And we haven’t seen him take a rep yet at corner, so we’ll see. We’ll see when the time comes.”
This weekend was a tryout for some players, but that doesn’t mean that this is the end for them either.
While rookie minicamp is a chance for players to get acclimated to the NFL and Seattle’s standards, this weekend was also a chance for some rookies to try to get their names out there and get on the radar of NFL coaches and scouts. Some of those players will have a chance to come back during training camp or even during the season.
“Everyone’s on a different timeline,” Macdonald said. “And so I think they understand that and that’s part of the messaging too. And we’ve had several guys that have come back in camp or even after camp or after the season. We’ve had a couple examples of that too. Jalan Gaines is the guy that comes to mind that’s with us now after not being able to the end of the season. So just keep plugging away. Try your best. Don’t worry about the count and timing and all that but trust the process.”
Beau Stephens will train at both left and right guard.
Although it is very early in the process, Seattle’s newest guard Beau Stephens worked mostly at right guard in rookie minicamp, but will be training at both left and right guard going forward, as it gives the Seahawks more flexibility across the line.
“Beau’s on the right side right now, but we’re going to train him at both spots,” Macdonald said. “And we’ll see how it goes. We’ll see how it goes inside. But you need flexibility across really on your interior part of your line. So he’s played both in his career and right now he’s playing right guard, but we’ll be training him right and left.”
