The Seattle Seahawks’ most competitive starting position battle heading into the season has been at right guard.
Throughout training camp and the preseason, it was a two-man competition between second-year pro Anthony Bradford and rookie third-round pick Christian Haynes.
Bradford started all three preseason games at right guard and is currently listed ahead of Haynes on the team’s public depth chart. That would seem to indicate he’s in line to start Sunday’s season opener against the Denver Broncos.
When asked last week who the Week 1 starter will be, Seattle head coach Mike Macdonald didn’t want to divulge any information.
“We have a pretty good feel for how we’re going to line up next week at this point,” Macdonald told reporters on Aug. 29. “We’ll just kind of keep it under wraps and let them figure it out the first snap of the game.”
Bradford, a 2023 fourth-round pick out of LSU, holds the advantage in NFL experience. He started 10 games for Seattle at right guard last year while filling in due to injuries.
However, Seahawks Radio Network analyst and former NFL offensive lineman Ray Roberts was more impressed by Haynes in the preseason. During an appearance Wednesday on Seattle Sports’ Bump and Stacy, Roberts explained what stood out about the rookie.
“I thought that Haynes played better in the preseason and did things that you’d see veteran players do,” Roberts said. “A lot of little things along the offensive line that the average fan doesn’t see or doesn’t understand – this dude was doing them. Like, he was really good in the hand-battle games.
“(One time), he was getting bull-rushed, and he knocked the defensive lineman’s hands down and the guy went to the ground. And some of those little games where you’re knocking the guy’s hands down are things that you don’t necessarily know right off the bat when you come to the league, and he was able to do that to deter the bull rush.”
Roberts also thought Haynes did a better job than Bradford at finishing his blocks.
“Bradford was good at getting into a guy – like grabbing him and getting his strong hands on him, and they’re not going to go very far after that,” Roberts said. “But he wasn’t working to finish blocks. … And there were several times where you saw Haynes driving this guy four or five yards down the field really trying to finish blocks.”
Haynes is listed as the backup right guard to Bradford on Seattle’s depth chart, but he also split time at left guard during the preseason. That could potentially mean Haynes is the primary backup at both guard spots – behind Bradford at right guard and veteran Laken Tomlinson at left guard.
“I think Haynes is more than ready to step in there,” Roberts said. “And obviously you’re going to have rookie bumps and mistakes, but if Bradford can’t hold it down, I’m pretty confident in Haynes.”
