Iowa Guard Beau Stephens was selected by the Seahawks in the fifth round of the 2026 NFL Draft.
byAri Horton&John Boyle
The Seahawks came into Day 3 of the draft with only a pair of sixth-round picks, but with Iowa guard Beau Stephens still on the board early in the fifth round, they made a move up to get him at pick No. 148.
To acquire the pick they used on Stephens, the Seahawks sent a 2027 fourth-round pick to the Cleveland Browns, a decision that likely was easier to make given that Seattle is expected to have multiple compensatory picks next year.
"It's going to be nice to stay a Hawk," Stephens said. "I've got my boy, Mason Richman, up there, and my visit up there was awesome. I loved (offensive line coach John) Benton. It was just a cool place. I knew it was going to be a right fit for me."
In Stephens, the Seahawks are adding a standout from one of the best college programs in the country for producing offensive linemen.
Iowa's starting left guard the last two years, Stephens was a first-team Associated Press All-American and first-team All-Big Ten selection in 2025, and was part of a line that won the Joe Moore Award as the nation's top offensive line.
Stephens, who was also Iowa's starting left guard in 2024, started at right guard in 2022, and said he is equally comfortable at either spot.
"I think it's just preference in blocks, honestly," Stephens said. "Like, if I'm on the left side, I have a preference for backside blocks, and if I'm on the right side, I have a preference for frontside blocks. But overall, it's not too much of a difference, because I've been able to play both and rep at both. Wherever they put me, it'll just take a little bit of time to be set, then it'll be full speed ahead after that."
Wherever the Seahawks ask him to play, Stephens plans to bring physicality to Seattle's line.
"You're going to get a mauler in the run game, technical in the pass game," he said. "I love going to hit, I'm not one to shy away from contact, for sure. Overall, just a professional person, a person that takes things seriously. A guy that's from Iowa who's always considered an underdog, who always has that chip on the 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."
Stephens was asked what being a mauler means to him, and responded, "Breaking an opponent's will to play, he doesn't want to stay in his gap. Make the linebackers have to make a play. It's making it so the guy wants to put his eyes down and not really care about where the ball is at, just, 'I don't want to get killed by this person across from me.'"
NFL.com Lance Zierlein's Analysis of Beau Stephens:
