While making the playoffs, Coach Z still managed to find hind his way to a top 3 pick and a new Franchise QB…
We were able to get with Coach Z after practice and here how it went down…
HD – What were your thoughts going into the draft, what happen while trading up to pick 3, and deciding who was going to be a seahawk?
CZ – I believe midway through season 1 I had a tough loss to the Cardinals who I had beaten earlier in the year. In that game, Drew Lock missed several key throws that could’ve secured a victory for us had they been completed. I was still able to make it to the second round of the playoffs despite Lock’s shortcomings. However, after several costly errors from poor passes in the divisional round, I understood that to reach the heights I aspired to reach, I would need a franchise QB. Thanks to the Russell Wilson trade, I knew I would have 4 picks in the top 64. The Broncos started out strong but cooled off at the right time, ensuring my first of my two first rounders would still be in the top 20, that then allowed me to make a playoff push while still knowing I had assets to work with. All in all, we traded pick 19, 28, and 51 to move up to number 3.
Second, I would need to find a team that would be willing to trade back. We were able to work out a deal fairly quickly since the Chargers didn’t have a glaring hole at the quarterback position. Once the deal was completed and I was able to move to pick 3, I knew I had my choice of one of the top 3 guys. Having anticipated that Anthony Richardson would be gone by pick 3, it came down to Bryce Young and CJ Stroud. I initially planned to take Bryce, but after some intensive scouting and a glance at some scouting reports provided by some trusted sources, Stroud became the clear-cut guy, and I could not have been happier when Burn took Bryce Young. We have a new franchise QB in Seattle.
HD – How has CJ Stroud performed in preseason and week 1?
CZ – In my opinion, Stroud had a great preseason. The interceptions thrown were 80% my fault and 20% the fact that he was throwing to 3rd and 4th string receivers. He was sharp in his regular season debut, completing his first pass for 83 yards and nearly having a touchdown pass on the same drive, had the zebras not intervened and said Noah Fant stepped out of bounds before catching a touchdown pass and not properly reestablishing himself (he never stepped out). He did throw two interceptions in his debut. Both of which were on me. The first one I took a risky deep shot to Metcalf without allowing him to establish deep position and I missed an underneath route on the same play. The second interception was due to bad play design and attempting to push the limits of my rookie QB, rolling right and throwing on the run a corner route to Noah Fant. Stroud delivered on our ensuing drive by hitting Will Dissly for a gain of 65 on the second throw of the drive, he was impressive when given time.
HD – what improvements does the young QB have to make?
CZ – Overall I’d like Stroud to be better at throwing outside the pocket. Also identifying when to throw the ball away and being slightly more accurate when under pressure. We plan to make the necessary play call adjustments to compensate as we develop him
There we have it… a breakdown of the CJ Stroud pick and what it took for Zeattle to find their new 12th man…p
