While most of Seattle’s starting jobs appear to be settled, the competition is still on at right guard between Anthony Bradford and rookie Christian Haynes.
When the Seahawks selected UConn guard Christian Haynes in the third round of this year's draft, Anthony Bradford took notice.
Of course it would get the attention of Bradford, who started 10 games at right guard as a rookie, including the final six games of the season, that the Seahawks used their second pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, No. 81 overall, on one of the top guards in college football.
But Bradford didn't see the addition of Haynes as a threat, but rather as a chance to get better.
"I was paying attention for sure," Bradford said. "But me personally, I feel like I'm a great player. Competition is always good for anybody, and I'm looking forward to competing, so I don't look at it as a bad thing."
And just as it appeared might be the case when Haynes was added, Bradford, a 2023 fourth-round pick out of LSU, and Haynes are locked in a battle for the starting job at right guard.
"They got a great battle going," Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald said, noting he liked how both played in last weekend's preseason game, with Haynes sliding over to left guard and starting with usual starter Laken Tomlinson getting the night off with most of the rest of the starters.
Macdonald added of Bradford, "AB has been a pro about it, I just commend his attitude. He stacked a couple of good practices and some good reps throughout the game, but we're still in it right now. The competition's yet to be settled."
Bradford, who began last season as a backup to Phil Haynes before an injury pushed him into the starting lineup, said he feels "way more comfortable" heading into his second season.
"I feel more seasoned, settled in, way more comfortable," he said. "Not a lot of jitters like last year, I just feel more poised and more calm."
Haynes doesn't have experience on his side, but he does feel good about what he's shown so far in camp and the preseason, starting with, "Tenacity and versatility. Somebody that's going to go out there and give it his all every play. Communication and all of that good stuff."
The versatility in particular has shown up in the past couple of weeks, with Haynes, who played right guard throughout his college career, getting work on the left side in recent weeks, as well as last weekend's game, including plenty of work with the No. 1 offense.
"I feel like it's been great for me," he said of getting work at left guard. "I haven't played a lot of left guard until now, but just having those reps and showing them that I can play it has been really great for me. Also playing right guard, competing at both has been really great for me so far.
"I was ready for the opportunity, ready to attack it. I wasn't overthinking it or anything, just going out there and ready to dominate."
When it comes to competing for a starting job, both players obviously want to be in the starting lineup come Week 1, but both are also supportive of their teammate even as they fight for the same role.
"Just coming out there and competing every day," Haynes said. "We're professionals and we're going to go out there and do our business, but at the end of the day we are teammates so we're trying to help each other out on and off the field."
Said Bradford, "People on the outside looking in, they might think, 'He don't like him,' but it's a job; everybody's cool, everybody's trying to feed their family. It's no hard feelings, it's not like he did something to me or I did something to him. We're cool.
"He's a good player, for sure. Being a rookie coming in, he's been so calm, willing to take criticism from the older cats, really just being coachable. He's a good player, I like him a lot. That's my boy."
