Beau Stephens Ready to Bring ‘Mauler’ Mentality to Seahawks’ Offensive Line
IOWA CITY, Iowa - Surprises are the name of the game when it comes to the NFL Draft, and as Iowa Hawkeyes guard Beau Stephens learned on Saturday, Day 3 takes that lack of predictability to a new level.
With picks flying off the board early in the fifth round, Stephens sat out his couch alongside family and friends scrolling on his phone, seeing several other guard prospects coming off the board. Throughout the pre-draft process, the Seattle Seahawks had stood out as a team with great interest in him, including bringing the player to town for an official visit, but without the team having any selections in the fourth or fifth round, he began to wonder how long he would have to wait to hear his own name called.
But just like that, a caller ID from Washington unexpectedly popped up on his phone. With Stephens still on the board, general manager John Schneider and the Seahawks decided to dig into their stash of 2027 picks to trade back into the fifth round, acquiring the 148th overall pick from the Browns to draft him.
“I was unaware of that [trade] until they told me on the call. I was like, ‘Are you serious right now? You guys are going to trade up for me right now?’” Stephens excitedly recalled. “They said you were staring at us on the board, so we had to do something.”
It isn’t often that an All-American coming from a program renowned for developing offensive linemen falls deep into Day 3 as Stephens did, and the Seahawks pounced once the opportunity presented itself to go get the self-proclaimed “mauler,” following through on a contingency plan that has been in motion since the start of free agency by playing the compensatory pick game.
Leading up to the draft, with Seattle holding just four picks, Schneider had expressed great interest in acquiring extra selections via trade downs, not being secretive at all about his hopes to deal down from No. 32 overall in the first round. But that didn’t transpire on Thursday night, as offers fell through with multiple teams leap-frogging ahead of them, leading to the Seahawks staying put to nab Notre Dame running back Jadarian Price.
On Day 2, Schneider again wasn’t able to move down the board at the end of the second round with Seattle selecting TCU safety Bud Clark. He finally recouped a pick later in the third round by sliding down four spots before picking Arkansas cornerback Julian Neal, but that move only brought in a second sixth round pick (No. 216), leaving a massive gap without any selections in the fourth or fifth round.
Restless to the point where Schneider could be seen strolling through the media room midway through the fourth round, the reigning Executive of the Year continued to monitor Stephens’ status. Once he remained available in the fifth round, they put their plan into action by dealing a 2027 fourth round pick under the premise the Seahawks would receive two compensatory picks in that round next year, making it easier to stomach giving up a pick from what many expect to be a superior incoming draft class.
“We were pretty surprised,” Schneider said of Stephens still being available. “But when the guy lasts that long, you're like, ‘Okay, how do we figure this out?’ We did have a plan to play the compensatory game, if you will. We were like, ‘We have the 12th pick next year. What does it look like?’ The coaches, we got a lot of buy-in from the coaches. They're really excited about it.”
Given his resume, it shouldn’t come as a surprise Schneider decided to fork over one of his coveted 2027 selections to move up for Stephens, who established himself as one of the best guards in the FBS division last season. Statistically, he yielded just four pressures without allowing a single sack while posting a 99.3 Pass Block Efficiency Rate in pass protection, and Pro Football Focus graded him as the third-best qualified zone run blocking guard (89.2) in the nation.
Beyond being an All-American selection by the Associated Press, Pro Football Focus, and USA Today for the Hawkeyes, Stephens garnered First-Team All-Big Ten recognition and earned an invite to the Senior Bowl. He didn’t test quite as well as anticipated at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis and measured in with short 31-inch arms, which may have contributed to him sliding into Day 3.
However, Stephens doesn’t see either of those perceived slights being an issue for him at the next level, lauding his fundamentals, physical approach, and all-business mindset as key ingredients to his game he brings to Seattle.
“You’re going to get a mauler in the run game. technical in the pass game,” Stephens said of his skill set. “Love to go into hit, I’m not one to shy away from contact, for sure. More overall, just a professional-type person, a person that takes things seriously and a guy that’s from Iowa, who was always considered an underdog, always has that chip on his shoulder. The hay is never in the barn is what Coach (Kirk) Ferentz says. That’s just the kind of mentality Iowa culture has, and what I’ve embodied.”
Those traits as a cantankerous technician who excels at hitting his targets and finishing off defenders in the zone blocking game should serve him well in new coordinator Brian Fleury’s system, which will feature extensive carryover from the one former play caller Klint Kubiak deployed last season. The Seahawks will lean on wide zone and stretch concepts as their bread and butter along with plenty of play action concepts, matching up nicely with his strengths as a blocker both in the run and pass game.
Further benefiting him from the jump with his new team in Seattle, Stephens will learn under the tutelage of esteemed line coach John Benton, who he built a strong rapport with during his 30 visit earlier this month.
“He just seems like he’s one of those personal coaches, one of those guys who doesn’t just see a number on your chest,” Stephens said of meeting Benton. “He actually cares about you and cares about who you are as a person and he cares about your success, not just on the field but also off the field.”
In addition, Stephens will have the rare opportunity to play with a former college teammate in the trenches in Mason Richman, who Seattle drafted in the seventh round out of Iowa in 2025. The two players started on the offensive line together for the Hawkeyes two years ago and now, the incoming rookie will be able to grow in the Emerald City alongside his “big brother,” who kept in touch with him periodically last fall as the two battled in their respective seasons.
This summer, Stephens and Richman won’t just reunite on the field in blue and green either, as Richman will be a groomsman in Stephens’ upcoming July 4 wedding to his fiancé Emily.
“It’s going to be nice to stay a Hawk,” Stephens commented. “I got my boy Mason Richman up there and my visit down there was awesome. I loved coach Benton and it was just a cool place. I knew it was going to be the right fit for me.”
Most fifth round picks enter the league simply looking to make a 53-man roster, and to an extent, that applies to Stephens. The Seahawks have their entire starting offensive line, including guards Grey Zabel and Anthony Bradford, back from last year’s Super Bowl-winning squad. Depth-wise, former third-round pick Christian Haynes and sixth-round pick Bryce Cabeldue also will be back to compete for reserve spots in the interior, making it far from a slam dunk that the rookie will beat them out.
However, Stephens learned from one of the best offensive line coaching staffs in college football at Iowa, and with Bradford entering the final year of his rookie contract and Haynes yet to prove himself as a viable option to this point, the door remains open for him to make a splash early. Even if he doesn’t steal Bradford’s job right out of the gate or spends time at both guard spots as a rookie, he has been presented a prime chance to perform well enough this summer to be the potential successor down the road.
As a Day 3 pick blessed for the shot to compete with a team that valued him enough to trade a future pick away to land him, that’s all Stephens believes he could have asked for, and he’s excited to get back to work with eyes on helping the Seahawks however he can.
“That must mean they believe in me, and that’s all I can really ask for is to just believe in me and give me an opportunity to show what I can do and show what kind of person I can be. And I’m going to be forever grateful for that.”
