The Seattle Seahawks selected Utah linebacker Cody Barton in the third round of this year’s NFL draft, adding an all-around player at the position.
“The stuff they do does carry over,” Coach Pete Carroll said after the Barton pick of the Utes’ scheme. “They have enough versatility in their scheme that we can see guys do a lot of stuff. Cody played inside the box and played the middle linebacker, the weakside linebacker and played out in the slot as well. He showed comfort in all of that. He’s really smart and handled a lot of the communications.
“That versatility is really important to us.”
But the Seahawks will get more than just versatility in the rookie linebacker, who led the Pac-12 last year with the lowest percentage of missed tackles.
In 2018, Barton logged 116 tackles with only seven missed. He also managed 10.5 tackles for loss, six pass breakups, four sacks, and an interception.
“He’s going to be able to play all of the spots eventually,” Carroll added. “We’ll start him off inside in the WILL spots and let him learn the system and see where he takes it. He’s fitted size-wise and speed-wise, makeup-wise and background-wise to be able to do it all.
“We won’t ask him to do all that, but we’ll start him inside.”
