Seahawks rookie quarterback Alex McGough has a lot to learn over the next few months in Seattle, but the resources at his disposal are advantageous.
McGough, who the Seahawks selected out of Florida International University in the seventh round of the 2018 NFL Draft, is a player the team is looking forward to grooming as a developmental quarterback. He's only the second quarterback drafted under general manager John Schneider and head coach Pete Carroll in their tenure with the franchise. The other quarterback being Russell Wilson.
"He's going to be really fun," Schneider said of McGough after the draft. "He's got this great attitude about him, he's a really cool kid. Great feet, great movement skills, tough, aggressive. We're excited."
McGough completed 65.4 percent of his passes his last season at FIU with 2,798 yards and 17 touchdowns. He has experience running the read-option and showed off his ability as a dual-threat quarterback running for 231 yards and five touchdowns for the Golden Panthers in 2017.
He accredited that 65.4 percentage and his overall accuracy as a quarterback to his multi-sport background that includes him previously playing soccer, basketball and baseball.
"I played multiple sports throughout my life so I think that just built athleticism and comfort on the run and it doesn't matter if my arm is here or here, I can still spin it and throw it accurately," McGough said. "I think that helps."
As the Seahawks opened rookie minicamp on Friday, Schneider and Carroll saw an early glimpse of what developing McGough could be like. Carroll had a lot of praise for the quarterback after Day 1 of practice, calling him the surprise of the afternoon.
"Probably the surprise of the day was Alex," Carroll said Friday. "I thought Alex did a very nice job. He showed really good arm strength. We know that he's very mobile. He showed a lot of mobility out of him – he got chased a lot last year on film so we know that he can move around and make things happen. But he had really good arm strength and he threw the ball really accurately today for his first time out. Getting him under center was a little change for him but he had an impressive first day so we're pleased to see that."
McGough on Saturday said he's motivated to work harder after hearing what Carroll had to say.
"I respect coach Carroll, and for him to say that just put a smile on my face and made me want to work even harder," McGough said.
With the Seahawks, McGough will work directly not only with Carroll to grow but a lot with new Seahawks offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer, who has a history of developing quarterbacks in the NFL.
"Great guy, but even better coach," McGough said of Schottenheimer. "He's coached Drew Brees at the start of his career, Philip Rivers at the start of his career, Andrew Luck. There's just a lot of good quarterbacks that have come from under him and so I'm very excited to get to work with him."
He'll also work closely with Wilson, who he has an immense amount of respect for.
"That might be the biggest thing," McGough said. "Russell Wilson's like a hero to so many people, even myself. He's just such a great quarterback that I'm just going to do everything I can to learn from him and just try to improve my game off his."
McGough noted Saturday that the adjustment to learning the Seahawks' offense has been tough but the passion he has for the game is what ultimately drives him to eventually grasp everything and improve as a quarterback going forward.
"It's hard, but if you love the game, you love to do it," McGough said. "You study as hard as you can, you talk to all the guys around you in this camp because they all want to succeed just as bad as you do.
"It's more complex. It's the NFL, you've got so many different things that are just on one play. I'm looking forward to learning and improving my game as a human and as a football player."
