Pete Carroll and John Schneider were overjoyed during the NFL draft in April when the Seattle Seahawks were able to grab Russell Wilson in the third round.

Even they couldn't anticipate that Wilson would be the Seahawks' Week 1 starter.

But that was the word from Carroll on Sunday night after he announced the undersized, but highly successful rookie quarterback out of Wisconsin will be the starter when the regular season begins Sept. 9 at Arizona.

"It's been a very exciting competition that has gone on, and Russell has taken full advantage of his opportunities and has done everything that we have asked for on the field and more than what you guys could know off the field in meeting rooms and with our players and how he's represented. He's earned this job," Carroll said on a conference call Sunday night. "It was a legitimate competition as we said from the beginning, and with the opportunity he's taken advantage of he deserves to start."

The 5-foot-11 Wilson has been a dynamic star during the preseason. For the first two weeks, his performance came against backups during the second halves of victories over Tennessee and Denver.