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‘An awesome pick here’ – Experts grade Seahawks’ Grey Zabel pick, NFC West picks

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‘An awesome pick here’ – Experts grade Seahawks’ Grey Zabel pick, NFC West picks


The NFC West recorded three picks in the first round of the NFL draft, with the Los Angeles Rams trading back completely out of Round 1.

A mixed bag for rivals San Francisco 49ers and Arizona Cardinals, with the Grey Zabel pick for the Seattle Seahawks being highly praised.

Here’s a quick round up of the expert draft grades following the conclusion of Round 1.

San Francisco 49ers – Mykel Williams, Edge

Bleacher Report: C
FOX Sports: B-
Sports Illustrated: B-
CBS Sports: B
The Athletic: A
USA Today: B
And finally, Danny Kelly at the Ringer : C+

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Arizona Cardinals – Walter Nolan, DL

Bleacher Report: A
FOX Sports: C+
Sports Illustrated: B
CBS Sports: B
The Athletic: B-
USA Today: B+
The Ringer: C

Seattle Seahawks – Grey Zabel, OL

Bleacher Report: A
FOX Sports: A-
Sports Illustrated: B+
CBS Sports: B
The Athletic: A+ (!)
USA Today: B-
The Ringer: B
Pro Football Network: A

Let’s dig a little deeper into the Seahawks praise.

Here’s why The Athletic gave a glowing review:

One of the smartest players in this class, Zabel played every position along the offensive line in college — and did so at a high level. He turned down big-time NIL money to stay at North Dakota State, then ultimately dominated at the Senior Bowl as arguably the best offensive lineman there.

For a team like Seattle, which has been trying to fix the interior of its offensive line for a half-decade now, this feels like an elite pick. Zabel (who helped run his family farm in college and will continue to do so during NFL offseasons) is one of the draft’s hardest workers. He’s a high-floor player who fills multiple needs for the Seahawks — an awesome pick here and a great fit.

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Grade: A-plus

More insight from Pro Football Network:

There was talk that the Seahawks were eyeing a trade down at 18th overall, but in the end, they stood firm and selected Grey Zabel. Zabel was my 19th overall prospect, and he fills perhaps the Seahawks’ biggest need with Sam Darnold now in tow, reinforcing their interior offensive line.

There’s always a little bit of trepidation with FCS prospects making the jump to the NFL, but Zabel projects especially well on the interior. At 6’6”, 315 pounds, he’s quick, explosive, and malleable in recovery, with unnaturally easy flexibility and leverage acquisition. He can channel those athletic traits into impressive closing range and driving power.

Zabel will need to keep upping his play strength at the NFL level, but he has the athleticism, wicked hands, and tenacious road-grader mentality to prove he belongs, and he could feasibly grow into a quality starter at either guard or center.

This is the second year in a row the Seahawks have stuck with their mid-round pick and taken a player on the line of scrimmage. It unquestionably fills the biggest need on the team, and consensus at the moment was that Gray Zabel wasn’t an excessive reach, either. Hopefully John Schneider hit that beautiful space where need meets talent, as Zabel has been mocked to Seattle for nearly a month now.

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Kraken Extend Streak In Comeback OT Loss | Seattle Kraken

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Kraken Extend Streak In Comeback OT Loss | Seattle Kraken


And while Dunn’s head coach insisted afterwards he doesn’t believe in “measuring stick games” the Kraken measured up fairly well in this one considering they played a pretty poor first period and needed half of the second frame to get any type of offense going against the league’s No. 2 defensive unit.

But they eventually got it going and the salvaged point, as Dunn mentioned, was huge in that it allowed the Kraken to remain in third place in the Pacific Division – just two points behind leaders Vegas and Edmonton – as they now embark on a five-city road trip. They extended their points streak to 10 games in the process, going 8-0-2 that stretch to transform a season hinging on the brink.

Mats Zuccarello got the overtime winner for Minnesota, converting a Kirill Kaprizov pass off a 2-on-1 break after the Kraken had been foiled just moments prior on their own odd-man rush. That foiled an outstanding night for Kraken goalie Philipp Grubauer, who’d made several huge stops in both overtime and the third period to keep things tied, as well as prior to that frame to give his team the shot at a comeback.

The Kraken had spent the past week filling opposition nets with pucks but waited until the final 17 minutes to score their first goal of this game. By that point, they’d been trailing 2-0 since a pair of 42-foot wrist shot goals by Ryan Hartman and Brock Faber in the first period silenced the home crowd.

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“The first period was awful, and our execution was probably the biggest part of that,” Dunn said. “It’s just tough when you’re chasing the game a little bit to start the game. So, we kind of set ourselves up for the second period to come out and play the right way and I thought as the game went on, we got a lot better.

“And I thought it was a pretty competitive game both ways. A lot of chances both ways.”

Grubauer kept things close from there, stopping 31 of 34 shots on the night to give his team a chance to get back in it.

Adam Larsson then got the Kraken on the board three minutes into the final period with a slap shot goal from the right circle after Dunn had rung one off the post on a prior blast seconds earlier. And the Kraken weren’t done yet.

The Wild ran into penalty trouble not long after and the Kraken capitalized on the power play with Matty Beniers banging home a net front rebound off a Jared McCann shot that lifted the home side into a 2-2 tie and sent the Climate Pledge Arena crowd into a frenzy.

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Valter Walker vs. Marcin Tybura booked for UFC Seattle

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Valter Walker vs. Marcin Tybura booked for UFC Seattle


Heavyweights will collide in “Rain City.”

MMAmania.com confirmed with multiple sources today (Thurs., Jan. 8, 2026) that No. 10-ranked Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Heavyweight Marcin Tybura will take on surging Brazilian prospect Valter Walker at UFC Seattle on Sat., March 28, 2026, inside Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle, Washington.

Walker (15-1) stumbled out of the gate in his UFC debut, suffering a loss to Lukasz Brzeski in 2024. Since then, however, “Clean Monster” has completely rewritten the narrative — and the UFC record books.

Walker opened 2025 by submitting Don’Tale Mayes with a heel hook (watch highlights), his second straight victory via the technique. Five months later, he followed it up with another first-round heel hook against Kennedy Nzechukwu (watch highlights), setting a new UFC record for most consecutive heel hook submission wins with three.

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But he wasn’t finished.

At UFC 321 in Oct. 2025, Walker once again locked in a first-round heel hook — this time against Louie Sutherland — tying Rousimar Palhares for the most heel hook submissions (four) in UFC history while extending his own record for consecutive heel hook finishes (watch it).

A win in Seattle would almost certainly vault Walker into the Top 10 of the Heavyweight rankings.

Tybura (27-10), meanwhile, will be defending his No. 10 spot when he steps into the cage. The Polish veteran went 1-1 in 2025, handing highly touted U.K. prospect Mick Parkin his first professional loss at UFC London before suffering a quick knockout loss to debuting Ante Delija at UFC Paris (watch highlights), snapping a two-fight win streak.

Now 40 years old, Tybura is 5-3 over his last eight appearances.

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Here are some other bouts currently scheduled for UFC Seattle:

Casey O’Neill vs. Gabriella Fernandes

Alexa Grasso vs. Maycee Barber

Nicolle Caliari vs. Carol Fiori

To checkout UFC’s upcoming schedule of events click here.

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Around 200 protest fatal ICE shooting in front of Seattle’s federal building

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Around 200 protest fatal ICE shooting in front of Seattle’s federal building


There were at least 200 protesters that showed up in Seattle Wednesday night in what speakers called an “emergency protest” in response to the fatal ICE shooting in Minneapolis Wednesday.

“We want justice, we want peace, we want justice, we want peace, we want ICE off our streets, we want ice off our streets…” they chanted.

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Seattle protest on fatal ICE shooting in Minneapolis

Seattle protesters outside the Federal Building following a fatal shooting by ICE agents in Minneapolis. (FOX 13 Seattle)

After listening to speakers, protesters went on the march and circled the blocks near the Federal Building in Seattle.

Though the protest was organized on short notice, some protesters say they were compelled to come out Wednesday with urgency because they felt what happened in Minneapolis was a bridge too far.

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What they’re saying:

“ICE has gone too far. We’ve felt this, we’ve known this for a long time. There have been people protesting,” said Raleigh Watts, protesting the ICE shooting. “We’ve been hearing the news. Today I came out because when I heard, it was my sign that a line has been crossed that I can’t stand anymore. So, I’ve come to say, ‘No ICE, you’ve gone too far’.”

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“A lot of people out here are really, really angry, confused and sad, but I think we have what it takes to fight back,” said Sophia Van Beek, protesting the MN ICE shooting. “I’m certain there are going to be actions.”

Sophia says in order to make a difference, protesters need to create an actionable political program.

Seattle protest on fatal ICE shooting in Minneapolis

Seattle protest on fatal ICE shooting in Minneapolis

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Members of law enforcement were in the area and helped to block off the streets during the protest and march. There were no clashes during this protest and it wrapped up at around 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday. 

“I am proud of all the hundreds of people who have turned out tonight at the federal building in Seattle. I’m proud of the people who are in Tacoma that are protesting at the ice detention center and in Minneapolis and in cities across the country. This is not okay for ICE to kill somebody,” said Watts.

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What’s next:

Some people at Wednesday’s demonstration said they were planning to organize more protests in the coming weeks.

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The Source: Information in this story came from original FOX 13 Seattle reporting and interviews.

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