For Packers, college scouts like Sam Seale are key to draft success

8:35 AM ET

GREEN BAY, Wis. — Six players. That was the test. When Ron Wolf wanted to see if a wannabe NFL scout had the chops, he’d put him in a dark film room at Lambeau Field with a stack of blank scouting reports and a remote. At day’s end, the job applicant would turn in his six reports, and Wolf would quickly have his answer.

“It’s a very simple process. But you know right away,” Wolf, the retired Green Bay Packers general manager and Pro Football Hall of Famer, explained this week. “Because you can tell who’s done their work, who’s actually watched the guys, and who’s sat in there and drank Coke and ate potato chips.

“You can tell right away whether they can evaluate or not.”

And in 1995, when Sam Seale emerged from that room, Wolf — having known Seale as a player during their time together with the Los Angeles Raiders — got confirmation of what he had already suspected.

“That was an easy hire. He had a tremendous feel for players,” Wolf said. “Becoming a scout, it’s not an easy job. I’ve had a lot of people think they could do it. Some people, can. Most people, can’t. But those who can, you draw circles around their name and do everything to keep them.”

For more than 20 years, Seale has shown he can while scouting college prospects on the West Coast for the Packers. And during last weekend’s NFL draft, it only seemed like he had seized control of the Packers’ draft room.

Five of the team’s seven picks — first-rounder Kenny Clark (UCLA), third-rounder Kyler Fackrell (Utah State), fourth-rounder Blake Martinez (Stanford), fifth-rounder Trevor Davis (California) and sixth-rounder Kyle Murphy (Stanford) — all came from Seale’s region. And all told, 14 of the Packers’ 35 selections over the past four drafts have been from the west.

Go West, Young Men

Over the past four drafts, the Packers have selected 14 players from the West Coast, 12 of whom played in the Pac-12.

YearRound (Overall)PlayerPositionSchool20161 (27)Kenny ClarkDTUCLA3 (88)Kyler FackrellLBUtah State4 (131)Blake MartinezLBStanford5 (163)Trevor DavisWRCalifornia6 (200)Kyle MurphyTStanford20151 (30)Damarious RandallDBArizona State3 (94)Ty MontgomeryWRStanford5 (147)Brett HundleyQBUCLA20142 (53)Davante AdamsWRFresno State3 (98)Richard RodgersTECalifornia4 (121)Carl BradfordLBArizona State20131 (26)Datone JonesDEUCLA4 (109)David BakhtiariTColorado4 (125)Johnathan FranklinRBUCLA

“The [other scouts] upstairs are like, ‘Why are we going to the West Coast so much? We ought to go down to the SEC,'” Seale said with a laugh. “But to me, football is football. I went to Western State College in Colorado and I played nine years [in the NFL]. So if you’re a player, you’re a player.

“I don’t care if you’re from Alabama, if you’re from USC, wherever you’re from. You just have to come in and compete and play. And hopefully all these guys we drafted from the West Coast know that if they come in here and compete, they’ll have an opportunity to be part of something that’s great.”

And that’s how Seale views his role — as a small part of something great. Including general manager Ted …

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