Seattle Seahawks fourth-round draft pick, Will Dissly, started his college football career at the University of Washington as a defensive lineman.
In 2015, he began his conversion to tight end during a team practice before the Heart of Dallas Bowl.
“I played both ways in high school so tight end was still in the back of my mind, and I was like, ‘Hey, Coach Pete, can I jump in one of these drills?” Dissly told 710 ESPN Seattle’s Brock and Salk. “Caught a ball and looked good and he was like, ‘Hey, do you want to have a package on offense for this bowl game?'”
The rest, as they say, is history. Dissly managed four receptions for 47 yards and a touchdown his junior season and nearly quadrupled his production last year – finishing with 19 receptions for 230 yards and two scores.
But it’s his blocking that landed him on the Seahawks’ roster.
“It’s been pretty well stated that we thought he was the best blocker in the draft, and for that reason we were tuned into him early, and we were keeping our fingers crossed the whole time, which is why it was kind of nerve-wracking to wait it out, because we thought that he really had a unique fit that he could add to our football team and make us better,” coach Pete Carroll said Saturday after the draft.
The change to the offensive side of the ball wasn’t so hard for Dissly after all.
“You approach every day with the same mentality, which is get coffee, go to work, study the playbook, have that thing memorized,” Dissly explained. “Not a lot changed from a mental standpoint but I did lose a little weight and got a little faster, and I think it was for the better.”
