he longest Seahawks draft day in two decades was the most important and fulfilling day in Josh Wilson's life.

All because of his dad, Tim Wilson, who died suddenly 11 years ago, but still remains close to his son's heart. On top of it, actually.

Seattle's second round draft choice on Saturday, at 55th overall, has a tattoo likeness of his father, the former Houston Oilers' blocking back for Earl Campbell, inked over his heart. The younger Wilson, five-foot-nine with a 40-yard dash time in the low 4.3-second range, also carries a 1981 football card of dad inside his wallet. Always.

"Every boy wants to grow up and be just like his dad," Wilson said Saturday night from his family home in Upper Marlboro, Md.

His father died of a massive heart attack when Josh was 11.

"Everywhere that he walked, I wanted to walk. I went to Maryland, and he went to Maryland.

"Now that I get to follow him to the NFL, this is the greatest thing. ... I finally accomplished one of the major goals of my life."

The Seahawks accomplished their goal of finding a defensive back for passing situations and kickoff returner, while initially ignoring more obvious needs at tight end, guard and the defensive line. Because they had traded their first-round pick to New England last September to get receiver Deion Branch, the Seahawks had to wait 8½ hours for their latest initial pick since 1988, when they used their first-round choice in the '87 supplemental draft on Brian Bosworth.

They can only hope Wilson turns out far better than that bust did.

Seattle general manager Tim Ruskell said Wilson will get an immediate chance to win the fifth, "nickel" defensive back and kickoff returner jobs beginning with minicamp next week.

"We think someday he can be a starting cornerback in the National Football League," Ruskell said.

In the third round, at 85th overall, the Seahawks chose defensive tackle Brandon Mebane from California. The six-foot-one, 309-pound Mebane, who is known for his quickness as well as his ability to plug holes along the line of scrimmage, fills a need for a run stopper along an injury-depleted defensive front.

"I think I stop the run well," Mebane said on the telephone amid a raucous family celebration at his home in Los Angeles. "I'm (an) all-around good athlete."

Ruskell said Seattle wanted tight end Zach Miller from Arizona State, who went to Oakland in the second round 17 spots ahead of the Seahawks. Ruskell said there remain tight ends available for Sunday's drafting that Seattle likes.

Wilson joins a defensive backfield already with Marcus Trufant and Kelly Jennings, last year's No. 1 draft choice who will likely join Trufant as a starting cornerback this season. Seattle also has veteran cornerback Kelly Herndon, who is coming back from a broken ankle sustained Dec. 31.

"You could look at our team and say, 'Why did they get another corner?' But he was the highest-rated guy on our board," Ruskell said of Wilson.

"We thought Josh Wilson was one of the most competitive kids in all the draft, no matter what the position. ... He just sticks out that way - his competitiveness."

Wilson is the first player the Seahawks have ever drafted from Maryland. He follows Jennings as the Seahawks' second consecutive cornerback selection to have graduated with a business degree before he got drafted. Wilson earned a marketing degree from Maryland and has interned for a summer at Morgan Stanley, the global financial services firm.

"I was more interested ... on learning what to do with the income I would get, and how to turn it into wealth - instead of wasting it away as a lot of young men have done in the past," Wilson said.

The man whom the Atlantic Coast Conference awarded as its top student-athlete among football players last season then began talking about stocks and mutual funds.

Oh, yeah, he can run, too.

Wilson has been on track teams since he was 11. His high school team in the 4x100-metre relay finished second in the nation. At Maryland, he was on the Terrapins' track team for two years.

Last October, he covered Georgia Tech superstar receiver Calvin Johnson for most of a game. Saturday's second overall pick by Detroit, who is eight inches taller than Wilson, caught a season-high 10 passes for 133 yards.

OK, he's short. Like he hasn't heard that before.

"My size, it is what it is," Wilson said. "I know how to compete at the size I am."

"Some people might see it as a negative. But I see it as what God gave me."

Ruskell said the Seahawks would seek players Sunday who can immediately contribute to the special teams with their remaining choices - one each in the fourth, fifth and seventh rounds, with two in the sixth.

"We know there was not a lot of glitz and glamour to it," Ruskell said of Saturday's picks. "But we helped our football team."