Seattle Seahawks need 'more definitive front-runner' for biggest position battle

On paper the Seattle Seahawks look better than they were going into last season. Their defense has new weapons up front (DeMarcus Lawrence) and on the back end (Nick Emmanwori) and their passing personnel has been radically changed, as well.

There's no guarantee it will all work out, but Sam Darnold, Cooper Kupp and company offer more depth than Geno Smith and DK Metcalf did last season. However, all of this is contingent on one big x-factor: the offensive line absolutely has to perform significantly better than they have over the last two seasons, otherwise none of the other changes will matter.

Heading into the 2025 season, the team's most-important position battle is at right guard, where right now Anthony Bradford is once again the favorite to start. However, Moe Moton at Bleacher Report isn't sold on Bradford as the RG1.

B/R on Seahawks RG battle

"Rookie first-rounder Grey Zabel looks like the presumptive starter at left guard. Head coach Mike Macdonald told reporters that Olu Oluwatimi is dealing with back tightness. He's in line to retain his starting position at center. The Seahawks need a more definitive front-runner at right guard."

If it's not Bradford starting at right guard Week 1 then it'll be Christian Haynes, or possibly Jalen Sundell if neither of those two work out. Head coach Mike Macdonald is expected to officially decide the winner of this particular battle following Friday night's preseason game against the Chiefs.

Whoever Macdonald picks, it does't necessarily mean that the Seahawks will be getting any improvement at this spot. This offseason we were treated to some accounts that Bradford looked slimmer and better at practice - but until we actually see it on the field we have to consider that the kind of propaganda that every NFL team disseminates during the offseason.

Bradford has been Seattle's lowest-graded starting offensive lineman each of the last two years, and considering how poorly the whole unit has played during that time it's a pretty big indictment.

Then again, it's not unusual for offensive linemen to take a while to really get up to speed at the NFL level. The college game is so dramatically different schematically than pro offenses now that they're coming into the league completely unprepared. Bradford is entering this third year - which is usually when players either figure things out or they finally lose their spot and are never heard from again.

Seahawks fans have to hope it's the former for both Bradford at right guard and Oluwatimi at center, otherwise the Sam Darnold experiment is likely to fail.