With the 163rd pick in the 2008 NFL draft...

by: Chris Sullivan

...the Seahawks take FB Owen Schmitt from West Virginia U (click for a scouting report). This is an unexpected pick and probably spells the end of everybody's favorite broken hand, David Kirtman. I personally can't stand WVU, its among my least favorite schools and I'm persistently rooting against them, but hey, maybe this'll work out. He was pretty good in college though, so I suppose this is a decent pick.

In 2007, he averaged 5.8 yards per carry on 47 attempts. He's a big dude and apparently a bit of a monster, should add something to our blocking game if Weaver can't step up and play like Mack Strong this year. I have to believe that Weaver is still the starter, but Schmitt will likely be getting a lot more play this year than, say, Kirtman got last year. Could be a beast blocking on special teams, too, which is something we'll be needing more of last year, especially if Burleson isn't fielding kicks (since he'll likely be starting for at least the first half of the year...).