Seattle Seahawks fans have watched as Anthony Bradford has been terrible for two seasons. His rookie year was certainly underwhelming, but maybe it was only a first-year struggle. He was somehow worse in his second season.
Maybe the issue is he was poorly coached. Bradford, after all, has been in the league for three years now, and he will be working with his third different offensive line coach. At least the 2025 version of his coach is a long-time NFL veteran, John Benton.
If Bradford was going to finally be successful, he has the coach to help him do so this coming season. If he fails for the third-straight season then the issue is solely Bradford and not the coaching staff. That is as much a possibility as his potential success.
Anthony Bradford (yes, that Anthony Bradford) might help make the Seattle Seahawks' offensive line good
According to ESPN's Seahawks reporter Brady Henderson, though, Bradford appears to have set himself up for success this season. The right guard has changed his body composition, slimmed down without losing any strength, and allowed himself to use his natural athleticism that should work well in new offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak's system.
Bradford might not only cement his job as the starter in training camp, as he battles with second-year pro Christian Haynes for the spot, but he could be quite good for the foreseeable future. For all the hate Bradford has had heaved at him (and we here at 12th Man Rising have certainly been guilty of saying negative things about the player), he might turn out to be OK.
In a recent ESPN article about the biggest surprises for each team ahead of training camp, Henderson wrote of Bradford, "It's time to press pause on that notion after a trimmer-looking Bradford shared first-team reps with Christian Haynes during OTAs and minicamp."
And adds that head coach Mike Macdonald said, "A.B.'s done a great job this spring. His body comp has really improved, which speaks to his work ethic. I think he's made strides... It's time to go prove it consistently."
That last part is important, of course. Bradford has always had the size to be a productive blocker, but he has never been in the league. Each of his two, Pro Football Focus (subscription) has had the right guard graded among the worst guards in the NFL. For him to be even decent would be a massive improvement.
But for the revamped Seahawks offense to have any chance of success, the new pieces need to fit together perfectly and the veterans already on the roster, especially the offensive line, need to show themselves to be good (other than left tackle Charles Cross is already quite good). This means Bradford and Haynes need to step up.
So far through OTAs and minicamp, Bradford is the one getting most of the praise and the one appearing to take advantage of his chance to show he is approaching the new season differently. If he can get the right guard spot to be good, the Seahawks O-line is going to be a lot better, likely good enough to help the team get to the postseason.
