The Seattle Seahawks raised some eyebrows around the league when they selected West Virginia guard Mark Glowinski just four picks after taking Terry Poole who was also slated to play guard. The Seahawks needed to find a starter at left guard in the draft, and were clearly hoping that one of those two would develop into the guy they were looking for.

While Poole has the inside track at winning the job for Week 1, do not count out Glowinski. Glow is by far the better athlete of the pair, which gives him the higher ceiling as a player.

What They Said

A common thread when looking over his pre-draft evaluations is “potential.” Everyone recognizes that Glowinski can become a great NFL player. He’s not there yet, but he can get there with time and coaching.

Lance Zierlein of NFL.com:

Loves to hit the weights. Generates power from his upper body and can get quick wins against weaker interior defenders. Coaches rave about his competitiveness and toughness. Has feet of a former tackle. Smooth skip-pull over the center. Clean pass set out to target and punches with flat feet. Instinctive and aware. Good radar when blocking in space. Consistent with hand placement in run and pass games.

Rob Rang of CBS Sports:

Looks more like an NFL offensive tackle than a guard with broad shoulders, relatively long arms, a trim middle and athletic lower half. Good initial quickness off the ball and has the lateral agility to handle blocking in space, as he did in logging snaps at right tackle during the East-West Shrine Game. Best asset may be his hand placement and upper body strength. Can lock on and control defenders and is powerful enough to shove them out of the way even when out of position. Highly regarded for his toughness and work ethic. Provided evidence of his intelligence in switching positions (and offenses) at the East-West Shrine, alleviating some of the concerns scouts had about his transition from WVU’s spread attack.

What I See

The one weakness I see in Glowinski’s tape is in straight ahead power run blocking. Glow’s history as a tackle shows up too often as he gets his pads level too high and loses leverage. When he does keep his pad low, he has the power to push defenders back off of the line of scrimmage. Hopefully with good coaching this will become a strength instead of a weakness for him.

Glow is able get upfield and locate and engage linebackers in space as well. This isn’t something that I see a lot of from college guards. They usually don’t have the footwork and agility to square up guys that are quicker and 80 pounds lighter than they are.

Glowinski’s footwork really shows up in pass protection. Stunts, twists and blitzes don’t phase him. He is quick enough to handle the speed rushers when they come inside, and his superior strength allow him to seal them off.

Overall Thoughts

There is a lot to like with Glow. He’s very athletic which means he has the potential to be great player once he gets a chance to work with Tom Cable for a while. He also has really active feet, which will help ensure some amount of success in the NFL.

He is also fairly raw. He doesn’t use his hands well yet and plays too high to consistently win against NFL defensive tackles. On top of learning Seattle’s zone blocking scheme, which isn’t a quick process, Glowinski has some technique issues that need fixed. It might be a few weeks into the season before he is ready to see regular playing time.