Introducing the 2009 Draft Class for the Seattle Seahawks in the words of President & General Manager Tim Ruskell, Head Coach Jim Mora, Offensive Coordinator Greg Knapp and Vice President of Player Personell Ruston Webster:

Round 1, Selection 4
Aaron Curry, LB, Wake Forest

“We were just true to our board.  We talked about the other day in the press conference, in terms of don’t get wrapped up on that need deal.  That’s how you can make a mistake; that’s when I have made mistakes in the past.  So, we stayed true to our board, and he was the next guy to pluck off.  That’s what we did, and we know that he will be a help for us.”

“The coaches couldn’t say enough about him, in terms of what he meant to that program.  His leadership, the way he conducted himself, the way he was with his teammates; his motivational ability; kind of off the charts.  We’re always going to pay attention to that.  You combine that with the ability of the player to play, and be productive, and then it became a no brainer.”  ~ Tim Ruskell

“He fits very very well.  He fits perfectly with what we want to do.  We are a 4-3 team, but we play a lot of over defense, which means that we play with 3 linebackers off the ball.  And this is a guy that can run, and is very good in pass coverage.  We believe that he has the ability to be a very effective blitzer, as well.  Which is different than a pass rusher; a lot was made that he’s not a pass rusher, but he’s an excellent blitzer.  So we will utilize him in that way.  Very smart. He holds the record, I think, for interceptions for touchdowns by a linebacker.  He sees the game well.  He understands his position well.  He’s a very complete football player.”  ~ Jim Mora

Round 2, Selection 49
Max Unger, C, Oregon

“We just felt, every step of the way, there was a player there that we wanted to get, and we could work it out with the teams, and we did that.  Unger was the guy that we had targeted for the pick that we traded away.  When he kept dropping, we said that we had another shot to go get him.  And we went and did that.”  ~ Tim Ruskell

“Here’s a guy that started for 4 years, started his first year at left tackle, and then went inside and played center, and that’s an important need in our offense.  With what we’re going to do offensively, we’re putting a little bit of a burden on the center as far as calling out the protections and in charge of the run game assignments, and it is all generated from the center’s call, and this is a guy that is well versed in that area.  He displayed that in Oregon, not only in the amount of time he played, but in the offense they ran.  They went through some unique changes at Oregon with their coordinator, and he picked up this offense and didn’t skip a beat in the changes from one coordinator to the next.  We love his versatility, we love his toughness, and he’ll play inside for us, he’s coming in to play the center/guard position.”  ~ Greg Knapp

Round 3, Selection 91
Deon Butler, WR, Penn State

“Deon Butler is a guy we have always coveted, and it really brings something to this team that we have not had recently, and that is unbelievable speed.  Off the charts type of speed.  As a group, as a football team, we said that is something we would like to have, and we knew that he probably wouldn’t  be there as we were dropping down.  So, we made that move.”  ~ Tim Ruskell

“… the combination of the hands and the run after catch that he shows as a receiver, and the speed, that gives us some real hope that he can be a returner.  And, we didn’t draft him to be a returner; so that’s a bonus, but he does have it.  And we’re going to work with him, that’s for sure.”  ~ Jim Mora

Round 5, Selection 178
Mike Teel, QB, Rutgers

“We really didn’t have a real defined plan there.  He was a guy that we brought in and wanted our coaches to get to know a little bit better.  He had an interesting year in that they started off the year really bad, and really had some turmoil from within, and it looked like the thing might just tank for the whole season… We knew, because of how the season went, it was probably going to be later in the draft, maybe free agency.  But, Greg really liked how he handled the chalkboard and the mental aspect of the game because we didn’t know that about him.  But, when the time came, we said he’s probably going to go at the bottom of the sixth, top of the seventh, we probably better take our shot here, and that’s what happened.” ~ Tim Ruskell

Round 7, Selection 245
Courtney Green, S, Rutgers

“What I like about Courtney Greene is that he has size, he can run and he’s tough.  He’s physical.  He’s not afraid to play in the box, he’ll come up and support the run, that’s something that we targeted throughout the draft process, as a good physical safety, those guys can help you on [special] teams.  That’s really what stood out about him.  He had some measurables, plus he was tough.  His strengths suit him to play around the line of scrimmage.”  ~ Ruston Webster

Round 7, Selection 247
Nick Reed, LB, Oregon

“It’s interesting, he compares to a lot of the guys that are smaller and maybe don’t jump off the tape at you in terms of their traits, but just make plays.  There is always those guys.  We watched a lot of Oregon film here, and every time you turn it on it seems like Nick gets two sacks.  He is just a relentless pass rusher who has a great feel for doing it, and there is a premium on that.  We’ve liked him for a while, we brought him in here, had a visit with him, just kind of liked his makeup; then the production, you just couldn’t ignore.  Tim and I talked for a long time about the possibility of getting Nick, and it was just able to fit in and happen today.  Nick had a lot of interest.  3-4 teams, 4-3 teams.  I think we’re lucky to get him.” ~ Ruston Webster

Round 7, Selection 248
Cameron Morrah, TE, California

“We liked his speed. Here’s a tight end at Cal that ran about a 4.63, 4.64 40 coming out. He really can give you some punch to the passing game from a tight end location. Still has to work on the run blocking, still needs improvement there. However, what was nice is that the Cal run game is similar to our zone run game. In fact, the O-line coach from Cal is now the O-line coach for the Raiders, and they are running a similar type of zone run scheme. That line coach had visited and talked about this kid and talked about the run game they were doing. There were some commonalities with Cameron coming here that provides us a good transition.”  ~ Greg Knapp

“… And then, Cameron Morrah, we just liked his last name, drop an R and an H {laughter}; no, this is a talented young man, who can run and had 27 catches, 8 of them were touchdowns.”   ~ Jim Mora