The Seattle Seahawks’ offensive line has gone through some early-season struggles, with pass-protection issues and costly penalties resulting in some inconsistency on that side of the ball.
The right guard spot, in particular, has come under focus. Second-year pro Anthony Bradford has started all three games at right guard and logged more than 90% of the snaps, but his struggles have left the door open for rookie third-round pick Christian Haynes to make a run at the starting job.
“It’s a week-to-week thing right now,” Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald said during his Monday press conference when asked about the state of the right guard position. “I think Christian deserves an opportunity to go compete a little bit more. How much so? We’ll kind of let the practices decide at this point.”
Bradford, a 2023 fourth-round pick out of LSU who started 10 games as a rookie last year, has posted a 46.1 overall Pro Football Focus grade this season, which ranks 64th out of 65 qualified guards in the NFL. He ranks a middle-of-the-road 33rd in run-block grading, but 61st in pass-block grading. He has allowed two sacks and eight total pressures, according to PFF.
Bradford also is tied for second in the league with six penalties, per NFLPenalties.com. He has been flagged for three holding penalties, two false starts and an unnecessary roughness.
“He’d probably tell you he didn’t have his best game,” Seahawks offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb said during his Thursday press conference. “He’s a young player still that hopefully is continuing to develop and we think he has a very good skill set, and there’s some other things that just gotta come along in his game. And we’re just still trying to develop that.”
Haynes, who was a four-year starter at UConn, played one snap at right guard in Week 1 and 15 snaps in Week 2. He has allowed one pressure in 10 pass-blocking snaps.
When asked what area Haynes needs to improve to earn more playing time, Grubb pointed to his raw power. Bradford is listed at 6-foot-5 and 332 pounds, while Haynes is listed at 6-foot-2 and 318 pounds.
“Just technique and power,” Grubb said. “I think that just raw power at the guard position in the NFL is so critical and that’s why obviously Anthony can withstand a lot in there – just his sheer size and just what he can take on on the inside. So I think for Christian it’s not getting overpowered and overwhelmed.”
Grubb acknowledged that he’d like to see the right guard position solidified sooner rather than later, so that the offensive line can build continuity. Bradford was designated as a non-participant on Thursday’s practice report with a knee injury, but he was listed as a full participant on Friday.
“I do think that the sooner you can get that (position) established, I think the more comfort those guys have working together,” Grubb said. “And that just shores up the whole operation where guys aren’t guessing. So we certainly hope that we can start to get that hammered down there.”
