Seahawks Claim CWU Quarterback Mike Reilly Off Waivers

Doug Farrar and I conducted a mock draft showdown prior to the 2009 NFL Draft. He selected Mike Reilly in the seventh, and provided a pretty awesome explanation why. Below is Doug's take on Reilly April 25, 2009.

For the final round, I'm sticking the last three picks on one post. However, the first seventh-rounder deserves a bit more detail.

Mike Reilly, QB, Central Washington

This is the guy who broke most of Jon Kitna's records at Central. I'll link to the WaPo article I did on him this week and direct you to two quotes -- the first made the article, and the second didn't. While Reilly's projected as a 7/UDFA, the high side could have a team using a sixth on him.

Greg Cosell of NFL Films and State Farm NFL Matchup:

"I think that as a pro prospect, (Reilly is) the fourth-best quarterback in this draft, after (Josh) Freeman, who has a ton of skills but is very raw and unrefined. But after that, Mike Reilly -- and I've watched him on film, and I've seen his only game against a Division I opponent in Montana, in addition to some other games -- I think he shows NFL attributes. I love when I read stuff that says, 'Well, the guy has an average arm.' When you watch him on film, he doesn't have an average arm. He actually has a pretty good arm. And he does the things ... I understand that it's not against top competition, but that's not the point, He's also not playing with great competition. He's playing with the same (level of) guys he's playing against. So, you look for NFL attributes, and he's got them.

"We all know he's not going to be drafted in the first two rounds, but there's a quarterback from two years ago that I really liked, named Matt Moore, who came out of Oregon State, who's now with Carolina, and I can tell you that (Panthers head coach) John Fox thinks he's going to be a starting quarterback in this league."

Reilly, on his most ardent suitor:

"The Seattle Seahawks have shown quite a bit of interest, in comparison with other teams. When I met with Coach Knapp and Coach Lazor down at the Combine, I spent a good deal of time with them -- actually before that as well, at the East-West game. I spent a good half-hour, forty-five minutes interviewing with them in a room -- it was like an office suite, and it was all Seahawks personnel.

Then, at the Combine, they interviewed me again. And they had the opportunity to see me play a couple of times over the last four years. I've had some really good talks with them. Without any guarantees, they basically said, 'Hey, we're very interested in picking up a quarterback this year. We like your style of play, and we tend to like people from the Northwest, and you fit that criteria. We're possibly looking at spending a mid-to-late round pick on a quarterback, and we're not sure when that would be, but you're definitely on our list."