RENTON, Wash. (AP) — The Seattle Seahawks selected TCU defensive end L.J. Collier with the No. 29 pick in the first round of the draft and made a pair of trades to bolster their total number of selections.
Seattle addressed one of its major needs on Thursday night by grabbing a versatile pass rusher who can project to rush off the edge and move inside as well. Collier was a first-team All-Big 12 selection in his senior season after recording 42 tackles, 11 ½ tackles for loss, six sacks, and four pass breakups.
Defensive end became a bigger need this week after Seattle traded Frank Clark to Kansas City.
Seattle was originally set to select at No. 21, but traded that pick — its original selection — to Green Bay in exchange for the No. 30 pick and a pair of fourth-round selections. Seattle has not used its original first-round pick in eight straight drafts and the move this time landed the Seahawks the two extra mid-round picks along with the 30th pick.
That 30th pick was later dealt to the New York Giants as Seattle picked up a second-round pick, an additional fourth-rounder and another fifth-round selection. Seattle began the week with just four selections, the fewest of any team in the NFL. After trading Clark to Kansas City and two trades on the first day, the Seahawks have eight more selections over the final two days along with landing the pass rusher they needed in Collier.
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TCU defensive end L.J. Collier was selected Thursday night in the first round by the Seattle Seahawks with the 29th overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft.
Collier, who earned his TCU degree, is the 13th first-round draft pick in TCU history and the fifth under head coach Gary Patterson. Four of those first-round draft picks under Patterson have come in the last 10 years.
A first-team All-Big 12 selection in 2018, Collier placed second on TCU with his career-high 6.0 sacks and 11.5 tackles for loss. He also tied for third on the team with four pass breakups, the most by a defensive lineman.
A Munday, Texas, native, Collier closed his TCU career with 2.0 tackles for loss, including a sack, as part of four stops in the 10-7 overtime win versus Cal in the Cheez-It Bowl. He had a career-best eight tackles in the 14-13 victory over Kansas State.
Collier totaled 82 tackles in his TCU career, including 20.5 for a loss with 14.5 sacks.
Collier joins former TCU teammate and center Joey Hunt with the Seahawks. Hunt is entering his fourth season with Seattle after being a sixth-round pick in 2016.
Patterson has now had 46 players drafted with a total of 114 in NFL camps in 19 seasons. ESPN.com has previously ranked TCU No. 1 in the nation for developing NFL talent.
TCU’s First-Round NFL Draft Picks
1936 – Jimmy Lawrence, WB, Chicago Cardinals
1937 – Sam Baugh, QB, Washington Redskins
1939 – Ki Aldrich, C, Chicago Cardinals
1939 – Davey O’Brien, QB, Philadelphia Eagles
1958 – Jim Shofner, DB, Cleveland Browns
1960 – Jack Spikes, FB, Denver Broncos
1961 – Bob Lilly, DT, Dallas Cowboys
1970 – Norm Bulaich, RB, Baltimore Colts
2001 – LaDainian Tomlinson, RB, San Diego Chargers
2010 – Jerry Hughes, DE, Indianapolis Colts
2014 – Jason Verrett, CB, San Diego Chargers
2016 – Josh Doctson, WR, Washington Redskins
2019 – L.J. Collier, DE, Seattle Seahawks