Seahawks have pre-draft visit with former Pittsburgh offensive tackle

Matt Goncalves missed almost all of his senior season with an injury.

The Seattle Seahawks (and the rest of the NFL) have a week left to bring in draft prospects for official visits, so we should expect more names to surface over the next few days.

According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, University of Pittsburgh tackle Matt Goncalves met with the Seahawks and Dallas Cowboys.

It’s been an interesting career for Goncalves, who played exclusively at tackle in college. The Long Island native redshirted his freshman season, then had a truncated 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, played all 13 games in 2021 and earned third-team All-ACC honors in 2022. As a redshirt senior, Goncalves played only three games at left tackle before a season-ending big toe injury.

Rapoport’s write-up says Goncalves is a likely Day 2 pick, but he’s a consensus Day 3 pick in most mock drafts, and The Athletic’s Dane Brugler has a fifth-round grade on him.

SUMMARY: A four-year starter at Pittsburgh, Goncalves bounced between left and right tackle in former offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti’s balanced run-scheme. After he earned All-ACC honors as a junior, he received strong draft grades from NFL scouts in the summer but missed most of the 2023 season and draft process with a foot injury. In pass protection, Goncalves plays with controlled urgency and makes good use of his physical, independent hands, although his average athleticism and high cut, upright playing style make it tough for quick recoveries. When he bends and runs his feet, he has the drive power to create displacement in the run game. Overall, Goncalves has several skills that will translate to tackle in the NFL, but a move inside to guard as a phone-booth blocker should better accentuate his size, strength and play style. He projects as an NFL reserve who can provide depth at multiple positions.

GRADE: 5th Round

Goncalves is listed at 6’6 and 317 pounds with an arm length of 33 1/4” and a wing span of 81 1/4”. If we pretended the Seahawks wanted to move him to guard, his physical traits are generally in line with previous guard draft picks since 2011. Obviously his deep experience at both tackle positions give him the potential to be a T/G hybrid in the pros.

As always, while an official visit generally indicates interest in a prospect and can sometimes lead to selection, this doesn’t automatically mean the Seahawks will draft that player. Seattle is clearly exploring as many options as it can to improve depth at the guard and tackle positions.