Seahawks take TCU safety Bud Clark in second round of NFL draft

RENTON — The Seahawks had the longest of waits before finally picking Friday at No. 64, the final pick of the second round.

When they did, they addressed another area of perceived need taking safety Bud Clark of TCU. That bolsters a spot that took a hit when Coby Bryant signed with the Bears.

Clark is listed at 6-foot-2, 190 pounds and turns 24 on May 3 after spending six seasons at TCU.

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Clark played regularly at nickel back, in the box and as a deep safety, a versatility that undoubtedly attracted the Seahawks.

“I can play multiple spots, but I’ll leave that up to them (where he plays with the Seahawks),” he said during a conference call with Seattle media shortly after the pick was made.

While Clark said he felt “absolutely amazing” to get drafted by the defending Super Bowl champs, he said it’s a Seahawk from an earlier Super Bowl title team he has patterned his game after — Kam Chancellor.

Clark said he liked Chancellor’s physicality: “He brought the pop. I felt like he was the hammer, not the nail.”

Clark said he took a visit during the pre-draft process and returned to his home of Alexandria, La., saying he had a good feeling about landing with the Seahawks.

Clark said he was so excited to get selected by the Seahawks that when the call came “my heart dropped to my butt, honestly. It was a dream come true.”

Not that it will matter to the Seahawks, but it will be interesting to see how the pick is graded.

Most mocks generally had Clark going a little later — Pro Football Focus had him 117^th overall in its rankings, writing: “Clark is a long, explosive playmaker with strong ball skills, but his lack of strength in run defense will need to be managed.”

As noted by the Dallas Morning News “availability has (also) been a concern for Clark, who has missed at least one game through injury in four of the past five seasons. He was also penalized four times for pass interference last season.” That injury history includes missing seven games in 2021 due to what was officially an unspecified injury.

Clark, though, also impressed at the NFL combine with a 4.41 40-yard dash, eighth fastest of the safeties who attended.

Clark said he had no real thought on where he might be taken saying, “Honestly, I didn’t know.”

Clark was a three-team captain at TCU and had 15 career interceptions, fourth in school history.

The pick was the second the Seahawks have made. They selected running back Jadarian Price with the final pick of the first round, No. 32, on Thursday.

The Seahawks have two picks left, at 96 at the end of the third round Friday night — before the compensatory picks — and 188 on Saturday.

They entered the day hoping to bolster their defense, and especially their edge rush and defensive secondary after suffering losses at those spots in free agency.

They had to endure seeing many names that had been linked to them taken off the board — 21 of the 31 players taken in the second round before the Seahawks’ selection were defensive players.

Bryant started 15 games for the Seahawks last season at safety generally working alongside Julian Love, and was fifth on the team in tackles with 66.

Bryant then signed a three-year contract with the Bears worth up to $40 million.

That leaves Seattle with Love and Ty Okada — who started 11 games when Love and Bryant were out with injuries – as the prospective starters entering the season with Nick Emmanwori again in his hybrid role of playing in the slot and at times used as a linebacker and even on the line.

Seattle also signed free agent Rodney Thomas II of the Colts to compete at safety, brought back free agent D’Anthony Bell and re-signed A.J. Finley, who was in the running for playing time at safety a year ago before suffering a knee injury in August.

Along with adding Clark to add depth at safety the Seahawks also often like to use six-defensive back sets and his versatility could make him a candidate to play in sub packages.