"The Seattle Seahawks selected Alabama offensive tackle James Carpenter with the No. 25 pick in the NFL draft on Thursday. And it's a somewhat surprising pick given the apparent wealth of offensive and defensive line talent that was still available with the Seahawks on the clock, coupled with Carpenter's relative lack of name recognition. Carpenter is a 6-foot-4, 321-pound offensive tackle who played two years at Alabama after transferring from Coffeyville Community College. He started all 27 games of his Alabama career at left tackle, blocking for Heisman Trophy winner Mark Ingram during the Crimson Tide's 2009 national championship season. Carpenter was also a first-team all-SEC selection as a senior, and was second-team all-SEC as a junior. "I'm glad somebody had faith in me," Carpenter said on a conference call. More than just somebody, most likely. Rob Rang, a senior analyst for NFLDraftScout.com, said he spoke with personnel from three teams with picks late in the first round who all labeled Carpenter as the most underrated offensive tackle in the draft. Rang added he was somewhat surprised that Seattle took Carpenter over Wisconsin tackle Gabe Carimi, who most projected as a late first-round prospect. Carpenter said he'll probably play right tackle in Seattle, which is a logical assumption based on the team's personnel. The Seahawks drafted left tackle Russell Okung with the No. 6 overall pick in the 2010 draft, and made it clear they would make every attempt to use this year's draft as a way to fortify the offensive line. Sean Locklear started 15 of 16 games at right tackle for the Seahawks last season, and will be a free agent once the league year begins. The selection of Carpenter seems to indicate that Locklear will not be back next season. Carpenter said Iowa State offered him out of high school, but he didn't qualify academically and instead chose to attend Coffeyville. Rang said Carpenter's stock was boosted by the fact that he came to Alabama as a JC transfer and won the starting left tackle job right away." Read more: http://blog.seattlepi.com/football/...-james-carpenter-with-25th-pick-in-nfl-draft/
