The more things change the more they stay the same. Stop us if any of this sounds familiar. The Seattle Seahawks have a really good if not a great starting quarterback, a special athlete at running back, some incredibly-underrated wide receivers and the best defensive unit in the NFL by a wide margin right now.
They also have an offensive line unit with currently only one high-quality starter, and the group is bad enough collectively to ruin the whole thing. That was the state of affairs for much of the early Pete Carroll era, and it's the same now in 2024 with rookie head coach Mike Macdonald calling the shots.
Weakest link for Seahawks OL
Several spots are problematic, but the weakest link in the chain up front right now is starting right guard Anthony Bradford. Both Bradford's poor pass protection and issues with penalties are killing promising drives every single week for Seattle's offense right now. The team does have a ready-made replacement waiting in rookie Christian Haynes.
However, the team has been reluctant to play the third-round pick out of UConn so far. Haynes has only been on the field for 16 offensive snaps, just 8% of the team's total. Here's what offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb said when he was asked yesterday what Haynes has to work on to earn more playing time, per Brady Henderson at ESPN.
Ryan Grubb on Christian Haynes
"Technique and power. I think that raw power at the guard position in the NFL is so critical. And that's why Anthony, obviously, can withstand a lot in there. Just his sheer size and what he can take on inside, so Christian is not getting overpowered..."
What Grubb is saying makes sense, but it's also a little bit concerning given the level of play they've gotten from Bradford through three weeks. A lot of rookie offensive linemen really struggle in their first year with the strength of pro pass rushers, to say nothing of their speed compared to college competition. That said, it's difficult to see how Haynes could perform much worse than Bradford or Laken Tomlinson, at least in pass protection, which is the real problem right now. In virtually every other part of the game the Seahawks are grading out well according to Pro Football Focus, but they rank 29th in pass blocking.
If Haynes isn't ready to start at this level yet then the front office needs to bring in some competition to push Bradford and Tomlinson, because the results at guard this far have been bad enough to earn the dreaded U-word label. Unacceptable.
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