Seahawks likely looking for offensive linemen when they start picking

RENTON — The first round of the NFL draft came and went Thursday without the Seahawks.

Well, sort of. As coach Pete Carroll took to Twitter to remind everyone just as the picks began, the team acquired tight end Jimmy Graham in a trade with New Orleans in March in which Seattle sent its first-round choice to the Saints.

Friday, though, the Seahawks will officially join the fray as the draft resumes with rounds two and three.

Seattle holds the No. 63 pick in the second round and No. 95 in the third. The Seahawks hold nine more picks in rounds 4-7, which will be held Saturday.

It will surprise no one if the Seahawks use one of their picks Friday on an offensive lineman, and maybe a few more later on.

Seattle general manager John Schneider, in a pre-draft press conference last week, said he’d “be lying’’ not to acknowledge that the offensive line is a need after the loss of center Max Unger — dealt to the Saints in the Graham deal — and left guard James Carpenter, who signed with the Jets as a free agent.

One player who had been often projected to Seattle in the second round went in the first round Thursday — center/guard Laken Tomlinson of Duke, taken No. 28 by Detroit.

But lots of options remain.

Mike Mayock of the NFL Network last week listed four linemen he expected would be available for the Seahawks at No. 63.

“A.J. Cann from South Carolina can play center and guard,’’ Mayock said. “ I think Tre Jackson (a guard) from Florida State has been sliding a little bit, and I don’t even think he’s going to go in the second round. I think he’s a guy that they would like down the road a little bit later in their draft. … I think he’d be a logical guy late in the fourth round. Two other names would be Mitch Morse from Missouri who played tackle and will be a guard, and Ali Marpet, the Division III kid from Hobart who is kind of an intriguing developmental inside prospect.’’

The Seahawks are also likely to take a defensive linemen or two — maybe one edge rusher and one in the interior.

An edge rusher could become even more critical depending on how the team views the longterm future of Bruce Irvin.

It was reported Wednesday that the team is unlikely to pick up an option for 2016 on Irvin’s contract, though the Seahawks have yet to make an official announcement (the deadline to do so is Sunday). Irvin remains under contract for 2015 regardless and the Seahawks could still sign him to a longterm deal. There was also a rumor from Pro Football Talk of a possible trade to Atlanta. But sources said Seattle was not shopping Irvin.

And the Falcons filled any apparent need to trade for a rush end when they used their first round pick — the eighth overall — to draft end Vic Beasley of Clemson. Interestingly, when asked at the NFL Combine in February which players he thought were good comparisons for his game, he twice mentioned Irvin, saying “he’s a pass rusher. He’s like me.’’

The Seahawks might also look to draft a defensive back or two. The team has some lingering injury questions in the secondary, or could look for a receiver, a running back, and possibly even a quarterback.

If the Seahawks do indeed go with an offensive linemen first it would be the third time in the six drafts under Schneider and Carroll that their initial pick has been spent on the offensive line.

Their first pick was left tackle Russell Okung, taken No. 6 overall in 2010.

In 2011, the Seahawks spent their first-round pick on guard/tackle James Carpenter, who was the 25th overall pick out of Alabama.

The Seahawks have drafted eight offensive linemen since 2010. Three remain on the team, all starters — Okung, J.R. Sweezy and Justin Britt, taken with the 64th overall pick in 2014.