Justin Senior’s mom won’t have to hide her Seahawks gear.
Senior, a former Mississippi State offensive lineman, grew up a fan of Seattle’s NFL franchise alongside his mother. On Saturday, he was drafted by the Seahawks in the sixth round with the 210th overall pick. He was the only Bulldog taken in the draft.
In a conference call after the selection, Senior communicated with no intimidation for the task ahead of him: competing for a roster spot on a team that has made the playoffs in each of the last five seasons.
“Of course it’s a faster game, a little more complicated, but at the end of the day it’s just football,” Senior said.
Senior said his conversations with the Seahawks were limited after he had a 1-on-1 conversation with Seahawks offensive line coach Tom Cable at the NFL Combine. Senior said the conversation was not football-focused with Cable talking with Senior about, “me as a person, things I believe in and what I like to do.”
On the field, Senior has no doubt he and the Seahawks are in line in their beliefs.
“Seattle’s a running team, and I love running the ball. I think it’s the best part about football,” Senior said. “I’m just trying to bring that mentality back to Seattle: pound, pound, pound. I love that.”
Senior said the Seahawks told him to be prepared to play left tackle when he arrives for drills in Seattle, but he added he feels ready to play guard and has practiced snapping to play center if the Seahawks need it.
In other draft news, former MSU wide receiver Fred Ross signed an undrafted free agent contract with the Carolina Panthers. Ross, MSU’s leading receiver last season, comes in with a Panther draft class that placed an early priority on offensive weapons like Ross with the addition of Stanford running back Christian McCaffrey and Ohio State wide receiver Curtis Samuel, both in the first 40 picks of the draft.
Two other former Bulldogs to sign undrafted free agent deals were defensive linemen Johnathan Calvin with the Green Bay Packers and Nelson Adams with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Both teams drafted front seven defenders in the first three rounds.
Richie Brown, MSU’s leading tackler from 2016 with 102, signed a deal with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Brown did a little bit of everything for MSU in his final season, tallying 4.5 tackles for a loss and 1.5 sacks to go with two pass break-ups, three quarterback hurries and a fumble recovery. No other Bulldog had more than 80 tackles compared to his 102.
Follow Dispatch sports writer Brett Hudson on Twitter, @Brett_Hudson
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