With the 81st general choose of the 2024 NFL Draft, the Seattle Seahawks chosen UConn proper guard Christian Haynes. Guard was a necessity for this group after the departures of Damien Lewis and Phil Haynes in free company. Final 12 months’s fourth-round choose Anthony Bradford did have a good rookie season, permitting only one sack, however nonetheless Seattle pushed to improve inside of the offensive line after deciding on two offensive tackles in Charles Cross and Abe Lucas again in 2022.
Haynes will not be a elegant product but, therefore why he was a 3rd spherical choose, however he does have some true strengths to his sport that we are going to evaluation under.
Nastiness
Haynes, to place it properly, performs a bit like a bully, which is one thing you need in your offensive lineman. He has a tenacity to him the place he continues his blocks after the whistle and can attempt to throw each single participant to the bottom in the course of the course of the play. Within the second clip, which appears in any respect of his one-on-one drills from his Senior Bowl observe, he both will get into it after the play, takes a swipe at, or pancakes a defender on 4 of the primary 5 performs.
Run Sport
Haynes has some areas that he must work on within the operating sport that he must additional refine, that’s with out query. Nonetheless, he exhibits flashes of somebody who could be above-average on attain and seal blocks. Haynes has the ability to have the ability to transfer defenders to clear operating lanes on runs designed to go in between the tackles. He excels at getting his shoulders turned and parallel with the road of scrimmage in these situations. On attain blocks, Haynes is fast sufficient out of his stance with the intention to beat defenders to the spot which permits him to seal the bottom.
Haynes will not be heavy handed within the run sport. However he packs sufficient punch to have the ability to knock defensive linemen off of the trail and redirect them away from the run lane if he’s not sealing them off.
Passing sport
Off of the ball, Haynes goes to cede just a few yards on bull rushes. Nonetheless, he has the power to anchor down after a step or two, which he pairs with a flexible higher physique that permits him to each keep upright and preserve his play energy. Haynes does a terrific job of handing off and receiving stunts and twists. He doesn’t lose leverage from the skin defender and as a rule is ready to preserve his blocking energy. A part of the explanation for it’s because he’s a four-year starter, a constructive in itself, but additionally as a result of Haynes is a affected person blocker in these conditions. He doesn’t get antsy and overplay one aspect or get grabby, however as a substitute lets the play develop in entrance of him and accepting the twisting defender along with his fingers.
Within the display sport, the best guard doesn’t have the high-end athleticism of different inside offensive linemen within the draft class. Nonetheless, his open subject angles, one thing that can be prevalent in second degree blocking within the run sport, are robust sufficient to the place he’s ready capable of make an influence on screens.
