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Richard Sherman a 2026 NFL draft reach by the Seattle Seahawks.

The Seattle Seahawks managed to turn four picks into eight during the 2026 NFL draft, but quantity doesn’t necessarily mean quality, not when general manager John Schneider made a notable reach for a player already receiving extra tuition from ‘Legion of Boom’ legend Richard Sherman.

Former Seahawks Super Bow winner and five-time All-Pro Sherman attended his old team’s rookie minicamp and offered advice to one particular member of this year’s draft class.

Sherman focused his attention on 99th-overall pick, towering cornerback Julian Neal. The latter revealed “I was just talking to Richard Sherman after practice, he was showing me a few things,” per Seahawks.com Senior Reporter John Boyle.

Neal explained, “First day of minicamp and Richard Sherman is coming to me and telling me some stuff? Mid practice, he was like, ‘Hey 1, what are you looking at when you’re in press?’ And this is mid-rep, and I’m like, ‘Right here.’ He said, ‘OK, all right.’ Stuff like that just gets me pumped for the season.”

Few people can offer better advice about how to play press than Sherman. His physical approach to playing corner defined the legendary secondary and defense that powered the 2013 Seahawks to the Lombardi Trophy.

Last season’s team also relied on a formidable defense, but the secondary has been remade after events in 2026 NFL free agency. Neal is a key figure in the revamp, even though he wasn’t expected to be taken off the board so early.

Richard Sherman Can Reduce Julian Neal Draft Reach Risk

Sherman knows what it takes to defy your draft status. He was a fifth-round pick in 2011 who had converted from wide receiver in college, but went on to become one of the most dominant cornerbacks at the pro level.

Neal may need to make a similar leap, based on pre-draft assessments. Some of the most uncharitable had him ranked “as a ‘low-money’ undrafted free agent,” according to Dane Brugler of The Athletic.

Although the latter acknowledged Neal “changed the narrative with an impressive senior campaign” for Arkansas, Brugler still had Neal tabbed for the fourth round.

If Neal was a reach, he wouldn’t be the only one from a Seahawks draft haul already distorted by Schneider seemingly overpaying at the top. That’s the early, negative assessment, but there’s a more positive spin on Neal and key members of Seattle’s rookie class.

A spin where the Seahawks are quietly recreating Sherman’s fabled ‘Legion of Boom.’

This article will be updated…