The Seahawks are seeing a little bit of change on the inside of their offensive line this offseason. Charles Cross and Abraham Lucas return at deal with and Anthony Bradford returns after beginning 10 video games in 2023, however the departures of Evan Brown and Damien Lewis required updates to the depth chart. Throw in the truth that Seattle drafted UConn guard Christian Haynes within the third spherical of this 12 months’s draft and never even Bradford is a certain factor to return to a beginning function this 12 months.
We talked about this a bit in a current breakdown of the crew’s offensive line, however a newer replace from the tip of minicamp might inform issues a bit in a different way.
As a fourth-round rookie out of LSU final 12 months, Bradford was one of many bigger linemen in final 12 months’s rookie class, weighing in at 332 kilos. His energy and dimension had been well worth the funding, however an absence of pure athleticism and quickness had been thought to restrict Bradford to a developmental function to start out his profession.
A number of accidents to gamers like Phil Haynes, Lucas, and others compelled Bradford right into a beginning function a lot sooner than anticipated. Bradford carried out respectably as a starter however definitely left a great deal of room for enchancment. As anticipated, the world he was predicted to want growing in, cross safety, was an enormous handicap to the offensive line. Professional Soccer Focus (subscription required) graded his cross blocking because the Seventieth-best within the league out of 77 graded guards.
In our breakdown we entertained the potential for Haynes beating out Bradford for the beginning job as a rookie. All 49 of Haynes’ begins for the Huskies got here at proper guard, so it’s a place with which he’s very acquainted. A second-team All-American in 2022, Haynes excels within the areas Bradford struggles in. Throughout his faculty profession, Haynes was famous for his plus athleticism and nice short-area quickness. With scouts noting his energy, soccer IQ, and ending mentality, as nicely, lots of indicators appear to be pointing to Haynes being the favourite to take over the job in 2024.
ESPN’s Brady Henderson set the report straight earlier this month after interviewing new head coach Mike Macdonald following the ultimate day of minicamp. Per Henderson, Macdonald claimed that Bradford is “proper within the combine” to start out. Bradford hadn’t been collaborating within the offseason program as he labored his approach again from an ankle harm however was lastly working with the crew within the ultimate days of camp. With the beginning expertise, it feels like he’ll proceed to be given each alternative to retain his beginning job.
One participant to control was additionally talked about in our earlier breakdown. McClendon Curtis, an undrafted rookie final 12 months, has been an under-the-radar choice for Seattle. As Bradford missed time in restoration, it was Curtis taking the vast majority of first-team snaps on the offensive line, whereas Haynes spent most of his time on the second-team unit. McClendon isn’t boasting a ton of expertise, solely enjoying 4 particular groups snaps in his rookie 12 months, however coaches appear to understand what he’s achieved up to now within the offseason.
It is a battle that’s certain to rage into coaching camp. Haynes will proceed studying and rising within the new system, trying to usurp his predecessor; Bradford will proceed working his approach again from harm, trying to point out his improvement from a rocky rookie season; and Curtis will dangle round as an unlikely however potential choice to take the job.
