Seahawks GM John Schneider: Senior Bowl ‘always a great evaluation piece’

It’s fair to say the Senior Bowl has been good to the Seattle Seahawks.

The annual college all-star game in Mobile, Ala., was where they got a close-up view of their franchise quarterback, Russell Wilson, in 2012. And last year, they saw the performance of former San Diego State running back Rashaad Penny as part of the reason they made him a first-round draft pick. Penny finished a solid rookie season running for 419 yards and two touchdowns.

‘It’s just another one of those avenues you can really take advantage of and really dig into some of these guys’

Seahawks General Manager John Schneider, who is back in Mobile looking to add more talent to the team, sees multiple reasons why Saturday’s Senior Bowl and the days leading up to it are so valuable to the evaluation process.

“Last year, (Rashaad) Penny was in this and really stood out in the game, quite honestly, and improved throughout the week.”

“It’s just another one of those avenues you can really take advantage of and really dig into some of these guys,” Schneider told Jim Miller and Pat Kirwan on Movin’ The Chains. “Last year, Penny was in this and really stood out in the game, quite honestly, and improved throughout the week. It’s always a great evaluation piece and Jim Nagy taking it over (as executive director) this year has done an awesome job.”

‘Who are the people and what makes them tick?’

For Schneider, the biggest plus of Senior Bowl Week is the ability to become familiar with players off the field, as well as on the field.

“Starting with the interviews, really trying to figure out whos in the whys,” he said. “Who are the people and what makes them tick? Why do they want to be great? How are they going to compete with the other guys already in your locker room? And when you watch these guys down here, you can … watch how these guys compete in every aspect of what they’re doing — if they’re they’re acting like pros or do they act like they’ve got all the answers or what?”