Miami DE Atkins gives Seattle draft a southeasterly feel

KIRKLAND — Oh, yeah, those guys.

With so much talk about the Darrell Jackson trade, the fact that the Seahawks selected six players in Day 2 of Sunday's NFL draft was an afterthought. Nevertheless, the Seahawks came out of Sunday with a distinctly Southeastern flavor to their draft.

The day began with Seattle choosing defensive end Baraka Atkins from Miami in the fourth round.

"We think he will fit in well with our rotation at defensive end," said Ruston Webster, the Seahawks' vice president of player personnel.

Four picks later, they went with Georgia Tech offensive lineman Mansfield Wrotto, who was mainly a defensive tackle before moving to offensive tackle as a senior. He'll move inside to guard for the Seahawks.

"He had very good balance. He moves well in terms of pulling and all that," general manager Tim Ruskell said.

Safety-turned-linebacker Will Herring from Auburn was the fifth-round choice, and defensive coordinator John Marshall said he likes Herring's instincts and toughness. Steve Vallos, who played tackle at Wake Forest but is viewed as a guard-center type for Seattle, was the seventh-round selection.

Herring and Vallos were not invited to the annual scouting combine for top prospects, so it took a lot of work from the Seahawks' regional scouts to vouch for them.

The plan at wide receiver

Jackson is gone, but the Seahawks did draft two wide receivers — Auburn's Courtney Taylor and Oregon's Jordan Kent in the sixth round — and have five others on the roster.

The principals are Deion Branch, who moves to flanker and figures to become the No. 1 receiver; Bobby Engram, who backs up Branch at flanker and should be the team's slot receiver; D.J. Hackett, whom coach Mike Holmgren, offensive coordinator Gil Haskell and Ruskell are excited about as far as his development and readiness to take on a bigger role; and Nate Burleson, who has the talent to be a 1,000-yard receiver and is already a dangerous return man.

Hackett and Burleson will be split ends, Holmgren said. Ben Obomanu returns for his second year after being on the practice squad.

Note

• The Seahawks are expected to sign 11 undrafted rookie free agents to fill out the roster for the upcoming mini-camp and into training camp, one of whom is former Oregon State TE Joe Newton. Newton was projected to be a second-day pick but was never chosen, and the Seahawks didn't select a tight end in the draft.

The other college free agents include a pair of Huskies, RB Kenny James and SS C.J. Wallace. WR Joe Fernandez (Fresno State), FS Patrick Ghee (Wake Forest), LB Cameron Jensen (BYU), C Nick Jones (Georgia), DB Tim Mixon (California), WR Logan Payne (Minnesota), P Kyle Stringer (Boise State) and DE Nu'u Tafisi (California) round out the group.