Seattle Seahawks' D.J. James Excited to Play with Auburn Teammate Nehemiah Pritchett

The Seattle Seahawks scouting department watched a lot of Auburn defensive back tape in preparation for the 2024 NFL Draft.

At the top of the fifth round, the team selected Nehemiah Pritchett. But in the sixth round, the Seahawks decided one Auburn cornerback wasn't enough, so they took his teammate D.J. James, who is excited to continue playing alongside Pritchett.

“It means a lot just knowing I’m going in there with someone I just played college football with," James said. "It means a lot, especially because he also plays the same position as me.”

James had nothing but kind words to say about his collegiate and professional teammate.

“Great guy. He’s going to be a great locker room player," James said. "He’s going to bring the juice. He loves what he does, he loves playing cornerback. And he has fun doing it as well.”

While it may seem uncommon, 14 of 32 teams picked multiple players from the same school in this year's draft, including all four NFC West teams. The Arizona Cardinals selected Isaiah Adams and Tip Reiman from Illinois, the Los Angeles Rams started their draft with Florida State's Jared Verse and Braden Fiske, the San Francisco 49ers also doubled down on Seminoles with Renardo Green and Tatum Bethune, while the Seahawks have Pritchett and James.

That immediate chemistry between the two will help the overall position group and the team at-large, which is important when building a football team.

James, Pritchett and the rest of the Seahawks rookies will begin their journey at minicamp this weekend.