Seattle Seahawks select Michigan EDGE Mike Morris in fifth round of 2023 NFL Draft

Mike Morris called Michigan Wolverines football ‘Edge Rush U.,’ and now he’s the latest to be chosen in the NFL Draft. The Seattle Seahawks took Morris with the No. 151 overall pick in the fifth round. He’s the fifth Wolverine to be taken, joining defensive tackle Mazi Smith (first round, No. 26 overall to the Dallas Cowboys), tight end Luke Schoonmaker (second round, No. 58) cornerback DJ Turner (second round, No. 60 overall to the Cincinnati Bengals) and kicker Jake Moody (third round, No. 99 overall to the San Francisco 49ers).

Morris is the eighth Michigan edge rusher to be drafted since 2019 and 10th during ninth-year head coach Jim Harbaugh‘s tenure. U-M had two picked in last year’s draft — Aidan Hutchinson (No. 2 overall) and David Ojabo (45th).

RELATED

• ‘Big dawg’ Mazi Smith has ‘never been afraid of contact,’ discusses what he brings to Dallas Cowboys

• Jerry Jones, Mike McCarthy discuss Cowboys selecting Michigan DT Mazi Smith: ‘We love everything about Mazi’

A 6-foot-5, 275-pounder, Morris struggled at the NFL Combine. He ran a 4.95-second 40-yard dash (20th out of 21 defensive ends), with a 1.72-second 10-yard split (19th of 21). His 28.50″ vertical jump was 28th of 31 players at his position, and his 9’2″ broad jump slotted 29th out of the same amount. He also slipped during multiple position drills.

“This guy is a huge individual at 6-5, 275 pounds,” ESPN analyst Louis Riddick said on the broadcast. “And in their base 3-4 structure, he played outside linebacker in a stand-up [stance]. In sub [packages], they put his hand down and let him rush as a defensive end.

“I’ll tell you, I struggled with him a little bit, because when he went against inferior competition like some of the tackles at Iowa that weren’t as good as they normally are, you see him here with an upside, the high side, he would win despite having just about 5-flat 40 speed. But when he was lined up in a 6 against a tight end, I wasn’t seeing the consistent knock-back, the consistent strength at the point of attack.

“Seattle will get him going, because [head coach] Pete Carroll loves defensive linemen that need to get bigger and tougher against the run. But this guy has physical tools to work with; he just needs to tie it together with more consistency.”

Morris waited his turn playing behind Hutchinson, Ojabo and other talented Michigan edge rushers, before finally having his breakout season in 2022. Morris led the Wolverines with 7.5 sacks, adding 11 stops for loss, 23 total tackles, 3 pass breakups, 4 quarterback hurries and 1 forced fumble. He played in 12 contests, missing two games with a lower-body injury and playing at less than 100-percent health in a late-November win at Ohio State.

Morris was one of the nation’s elite pass rushers in true pass sets. In those situations, he posted a 22.7 pressure rate, which was tied for the eighth-best mark in the country, per PFF. His 37 pressures led the Maize and Blue.

He was named Big Ten Defensive Lineman of the Year (the sixth Michigan player to earn the honor), a consensus first-team all-conference selection and a second-team All-American by the Football Writers Association of America and the American Football Coaches Association.

Morris did not see game action in 2019, played in just one game in 2020 and was a role player in 2021. The latter season, he appeared in all 14 games with four starts, registering 17 tackles, including a tackle for loss and a shared sack. He also had 2 pass breakups and 1 interception. Once the deck was cleared for more playing time, he thrived in 2022.

“I just learned that God doesn’t always give you what you want when you need it, when you want it,” Morris said of his journey at Michigan at the NFL Combine. “That process was a learning process for me, it was a growth process. I could’ve easily left Michigan and went to a different school, but I was compelled to say and rough it out and figure it out on my own.

“I had my family with me, my teammates with me, so that was easy. The new coachings staff helped a lot, too. I was able to push through it and help myself get on the team.”

Now, the Michigan edge rusher is ready for his next chapter with the Seahawks.