After the Seahawks put in the call to tell North Dakota State guard Grey Zabel that he was going to be their first-round pick, there was, of course, excitement in the Derrick Jensen Draft Room.

And it's likely there was no one in the room more excited than veteran offensive line coach John Benton, who went around the room offering enthusiastic high fives and handshakes after getting off the phone with the team's newest lineman.

"As much as J.B. can jump right now where he's at, he was doing it," Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald said. "He was really excited. Klint (Kubiak)'s really excited, the rest of the guys, Justin Outten, (Rick Dennison), those guys had a really high opinion of him throughout the process, too. Everybody was really fired up."

The Seahawks came into the draft hoping to add to their offensive line at some point, and in particular the interior line, but they also weren't going to force a pick if it meant reaching for need while a better player was available at another spot. As things turned out, the Seahawks were able to get their top-graded interior lineman at No. 18, getting a player who was both high on their board and who also filled a need.

"Exciting night," general manager and president of football operations John Schneider said. "We were able to land our number one interior offensive lineman, Grey Zabel. I believe it's the highest interior player we picked, since (Steve Hutchinson), which was cool. I was able to be part of that with coach (Mike) Holmgren and Ted (Thompson), Scot McCloughan and that crew, so it's pretty fun. Hutch loves him. Everybody loves this guy. He's just buttoned up, tough, smart, reliable, our kind of guy. Really our first exposure was at the Senior Bowl when he had a great week down there. We felt like 18, where we were, it was like a sweet spot for the interior offensive line. (Tyler) Booker went 12. But yeah, really excited."

Zabel played guard and tackle at North Dakota State, and also impressed at center at the Senior Bowl, and while that versatility is a plus, the plan for now is to put him at guard and see what he can do there.

"He's going to start at guard and work interior," Macdonald said. "But the cool thing about Grey is he can play all five spots. Hopefully we're not moving around much, he sticks at guard for a long time here. But he does have that versatility."

And in Zabel, the Seahawks see a lineman who checks just about every box for an offensive lineman.

"I would say the physicality, toughness, the finish, the will to win, it just stands out when you see guys," Schneider said. "I'm sure you've noticed this over the years now, when you see guys finishing downfield, it looks rare, guys cleaning up. He's one of those guys."

Macdonald said those traits should fit well in new offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak's scheme.

"I like how he finishes the blocks, then finding his targets down the field in space," Macdonald said. "He's a really great athlete, how he moves. It's easy to overlook pass protection when you talk wide zone all the time. You can argue that's really where it starts in the evaluation process. Hard to find a rep that he had a hard time winning down in Mobile (at the Senior Bowl). He took a lot of them."

Schneider also mentioned Zabel's Senior Bowl performance, in particular in one-on-one drills, as something that stood out in Seattle's evaluation of him.

"He was stealing reps, it was pretty cool," Schneider said. "He stood out. He could have left. He was voted practice player of the week. A lot of those guys leave (after the practice week). They don't stay for the game, improve their draft value or whatever. He stayed, competed, played guard and center in the game. He stood out down there, for sure."

Landing Zabel on Thursday was a big deal for the Seahawks, but it was far from the only thing the Seahawks want to get accomplished. They still hold nine picks over the next six rounds, including four tomorrow, two in the second round and two in the third.

"Nine picks now, it's exciting," Schneider said. "Still some damn good players up there. We're excited to keep rocking. We've talked about this before, the first night is like entertainment world. Tomorrow, we wait forever to pick. Saturday is like, roll up the sleeves. Saturday is the most fun day. But tomorrow is going to be fun as well because there's a lot of really good players up there."

On having four picks Friday, Schneider added, "It's going to be great. We feel like we're going to be able to impact our team with our kind of guys, with respect to all the guys that are here right now, bringing in people that we'll be able to work with them, compete with them, just continue down that path of competing every day and adding as much depth as you possibly can."