Seattle Seahawks general manager John Schneider would have selected defensive lineman Malik McDowell in the first round had the team not traded back and out of the round entirely.

“Absolutely,” Schneider told 950 KJR radio Tuesday morning. “We’ve been here eight years looking for an interior pass rusher with length like that, and he ended up sticking around.”

Schneider said four players were available he would have been “comfortable” selecting but the compensation was too great to not trade back.

The Seahawks traded three times in the NFL draft last weekend, twice in the first round (from No. 26 to No. 31, then No. 31 to No. 34) and once at the top of the second.

The trades added an additional four picks to the Seahawks’ arsenal, bumping them up from seven to 11 total selections. Schneider said he felt “incredibly blessed” because six of the seven players the Seahawks selected in the first 111 picks graded out at second round or higher.

Seattle was able to snag McDowell with the No. 35 overall pick.

Schneider said the “the inconsistencies in McDowell’s play could be the reason he was still available. “You see dominant tendencies, then you see games where he just didn’t play quite as hard,” Schneider explained. “If he was more consistent in his play, he would have been a top 10 pick if he was completely dominant all the time.”

“So he needs to learn how to not pick and choose.”