Tag: seahawks offensive line

Seahawks starting offensive line from open OTAs practice is (sort-of) revealing

If your initial reaction is to panic about the state of the offensive line then it’s going to be a long offseason.

The biggest question mark about these Seattle Seahawks heading into the 2024 season is their offensive line. No NFL team is spending less money on that unit than Seattle and there are legitimate questions about their depth as well as every projected starter. That’s why it’s so difficult to sort out the depth chart at this early point in the offseason – at this point in time nothing is settled outside of Charles Cross continuing to start at left tackle and veteran Laken Tomlinson taking over at left guard for Damien Lewis, who’s currently swimming in a pool of David Tepper’s money somewhere.

Cross and Lewis were part of the starting five at yesterday’s practice, and Olu Oluwatimi was taking first-team reps in the middle over former Browns/Huskies center Nick Harris. Meanwhile, at right guard 2023 undrafted free agent McClendon Curtis was rolling with the starters while rookie Christian Haynes worked with the second team unit. With Abe Lucas still sidelined by his knee injury, veteran George Fant was the next man up at right tackle. All this is per Brady Henderson at ESPN.

If your initial reaction is to panic about the state of the offensive line then it’s going to be a long offseason. The time to panic will come in the first week of September when general manager John Schneider is scrambling to sign another starter before the season begins.

For now, fans should remember that OTAs are voluntary and most of the team’s premiere players weren’t even at practice on Wednesday. Stone Forsythe might be RT2 instead of George Fant and Anthony Bradford was sitting out with a tweaked ankle – so he may still be ahead of both Haynes and Curtis at right guard.

Their positional spending says otherwise but based on their offseason comments, we expect Schneider and head coach Mike Macdonald to make a bigger investment in this unit. If that’s the case, it’s going to take time.

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Ranking all 32 offensive lines in the league after the 2024 NFL draft

Let’s see where the Seahawks offensive line ranks compared to the rest of the competition.

Offensive line play remains one of the most misunderstood and underrated parts of the game, even as fans get more knowledgeable every year thanks to the wealth of football #content out there. You probably don’t need to remind Seahawks fans how important that unit can be, though. They have had to suffer through poor offensive line play for a long time, with that front line usually ranking somewhere between mediocre and atrocious for most seasons during the Pete Carroll era.

Carroll might be gone, but heading into the 2024 season we may be in for more of the same. Seattle is spending less money on this unit than any other team thanks to four projected starters playing on their rookie contracts and most analysts are not very high on this group. Let’s see where the Seahawks offensive line ranks compared to the rest of the competition.

Today we’ll be sharing a composite ranking for all 32 OL units around the league. To arrive at our composite, we made an average of the most recent offensive line rankings at Footballguys, FTN Fantasy and Pro Football Network.

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Over time you see certain patterns develop within certain organizations around the NFL.

Over time you see certain patterns develop within certain organizations around the NFL. To name a few, the Eagles tend to have a dominant defensive line, the Seahawks always have a strong wide receiver corps, the Steelers usually have a superb run game and the Bears have been searching for a star quarterback for roughly 100 years.

One thing you can usually count on for Seattle is the offensive line being a liability, as was the case for most of the Pete Carroll era. Missing on several first-round draft picks didn’t help, but in recent years the issue has been a lack of investment. Last season the Seahawks spent less money on their offensive line than any other team in the league. According to Jason Fitzgerald at Over the Cap, that’s the case again this year.

 

To review, at OT the Seahawks have Charles Cross and Abe Lucas on their rookie contracts and there’s no guarantee either one will be re-signed for longer than that. At center they’re likely to start Olu Oluwatimi, who’s played 128 offensive snaps in his career. At right guard rookie Christian Haynes is projected to start and at left guard they splurged for Laken Tomlinson, who’s at the tail end of his career and has a cap hit of just barely over $1 million.

Actually hitting on an offensive line draft pick and signing them to a second contract would help in this department, but whether they are home-grown or outside free agents, either way they’ll eventually have to pay a couple of proven veterans in order to field a good unit, here.

General manager John Schneider may have a point about guards being overdrafted and overpaid, but it’s starting to look like the entire front line may be a blind spot for him – and this wasn’t just an issue for Pete Carroll alone.

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Mike Macdonald calls Seahawks offensive line ‘a work in progress’

Specifically, it’s the interior that still needs a lot of work.

Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald shared some updates with beat reporters today in Orlando at the owners meetings. For one thing, he says there is currently no timetable for right tackle Abe Lucas to return from the knee surgery he recently underwent. Lucas missed 11 games last season due to chronic knee soreness. Seattle has brought back George Fant for some insurance, but the team has to hope Lucas can make a fully recovery, otherwise the offensive line may buckle once again on the right flank.

Macdonald also told the media that the team isn’t done building up this unit. He called the offensive line a work in progress, per Bob Condotta at the Seattle Times.

Specifically, it’s the interior that still needs a lot of work. Gone are all three 2023 starters in Damien Lewis, Evan Brown and Phil Haynes. If the season were to start today the Seahawks would likely start Nick Harris, Olu Oluwatimi and Tremayne Anchrum in their place, and together they have combined for just six NFL starts.

Building a more experienced offensive line made mostly of veterans would have been the way we went about it, but after their work in the first two weeks of free agency the Seahawks have less cap space than any other team and can’t afford any quality vets. That means Seattle will have to draft multiple linemen up front. Fans should keep an eye out for prospects who can play either center or guard in particular.

Getting those picks right will be critical for the team’s success, both in 2024 and beyond. For what it’s worth, Mike Clay’s annual unit rankings has their offensive line as the worst in the league.

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We can’t mock draft Pete Carroll to be more aggressive on fourth down or stop wasting timeouts, but we can mock a whole new offensive line.

One recurring theme this season when the Seattle Seahawks lose is that they have been dominated at the line of scrimmage. The last three starts for Geno Smith underscores that lesson as much as anything. While Smith has done an exceptional job of avoiding pressure and extending plays there’s only so much any quarterback can do when his pass protection collapses in less than a second. All this pressure has kept a low lid on what should be a top-five scoring offense given all the talent they have at the skill positions.

We can’t mock draft Pete Carroll to be more aggressive on fourth down or stop wasting timeouts, but we can mock a whole new offensive line. That’s the strategy we went in with for our latest seven-round 2024 mock draft. Here’s how it played out.

Geno Smith credits offensive line, playcalling after Seahawks win

Success in the NFL depends on many moving parts working in harmony.

Success in the NFL depends on many moving parts working in harmony. Even the most gifted quarterbacks can be stunted by unimaginative playcalling or poor pass protection. The last few weeks those have both been an issue for Geno Smith and the Seahawks, who continue to struggle on third down more than they should given the level of talent they have.

However, when crunchtime came around on Sunday they got it together. Seattle’s offensive line put in their best performance in weeks, Shane Waldron finally managed to get some yards after catch and Geno Smith answered the call by putting together two flawless drives in the fourth quarter to win the game.

After it was over, Smith naturally deferred to his supporting cast, crediting the offensive line as well as Waldron for their work. Watch.

Smith also deserves a lot of the credit, especially since he managed to avoid committing a turnover for the first time in five games. Through nine games, he’s at 2,171 passing yards, 11 touchdowns, seven interceptions and a 54.2 QBR that ranks right in the middle (No. 17) of the league.

All things considered – especially the size of his contract and the overall offensive drop-off this year around the NFL – this is some solid production from No. 7.

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Pro Football Focus gives Seahawks offensive line their annual brutal ranking

This year is no different.

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Some things are inevitable. The list includes death, taxes, Thanos and Pro Football Focus hating the Seahawks offensive line. To be fair, Seattle’s front five has never been a strength for this team during the Pete Carroll era, even when it was the most-expensive unit in the league. No matter the personnel involved, over the years, PFF has consistently ranked the Seahawks offensive line as one of the NFL’s worst. This year is no different.

Their newest offensive line rankings have dropped. As expected, the Eagles continue to dominate the competition, remaining at the No. 1 spot. Down at the bottom of the list you’ll find the Cardinals (31) and the Titans (32) – the only two teams ranked lower than these Seahawks (30).

At least they admitted that if both Abe Lucas and Charles Cross take a step forward then their ranking will be too low:

“Seattle’s line largely rests on the development of its young tackles, Charles Cross and Abraham Lucas. While both played well early, each fell off substantially as their rookie seasons wore on… If those tackles play well, this ranking is too low. But if they don’t improve, this is a group that could struggle badly given its interior personnel.”

It’s not a great interior, but by their own grades left guard Damien Lewis had a very respectable 2022 season, posting a perfectly-decent 66.7 run blocking grade and a solid 72.6 pass blocking grade (71.8 overall).

Seattle got rid of the weakest link – which was right guard Gabe Jackson. He’s been replaced by Phil Haynes, who played about half the snaps at that spot last season. He had below-average grades (57.1 overall) but not terrrible.

Much will hinge on the center spot – where we are expecting rookie Olu Oluwatimi to take over as the starter at some point this year, even if it’s not Week 1. For now Evan Brown remains PFF’s projected starter and they must not think very highly of his game. He posted a strong run blocking grade last year (69.5) but was poor in pass protection (45.5).

As for Lucas and Cross, they may have fallen off some in the second half of the season but that’s to be expected of most rookies playing challenging positions for the first time at this level. We saw enough to be convinced of their potential and fully expect them to develop into quality starters. If Oluwatimi can do the same then this ranking may seem absurd by mid-season.

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They still have a lot of work to do before they’re ready to take on the true contenders around the NFL – especially in the trenches.

The Seattle Seahawks have made it to the playoffs largely thanks to the improvement of Geno Smith and the efforts of a magnificent 2022 rookie class. That said, they still have a lot of work to do before they’re ready to take on the true contenders around the NFL – especially in the trenches. While tackles Charles Cross and Abe Lucas had strong rookie seasons, the rest of Seattle’s offensive line leaves a bit to be desired.

Here’s how their rotation of offensive linemen graded out for the year:

LT Charles Cross: 63.7 overall
LG Damien Lewis: 71.8 overall
C Austin Blythe: 51.2 overall
RG Gabe Jackson: 55.0 overall
RT Abe Lucas: 68.5 overall
G Phil Haynes: 57.1 overall
OL Kyle Fuller: 55.6 overall
OL Jake Curhan: 31.2 overall
OT Stone Forsythe: 37.0 overall

Overall, their offensive line finished the season on the lower end of PFF’s rankings. Here is where all 32 teams stand going into the playoffs.

1. Philadelphia Eagles
2. Baltimore Ravens
3. Green Bay Packers
4. Kansas City Chiefs
5. Atlanta Falcons
6. Cleveland Browns
7. San Francisco 49ers
8. Detroit Lions
9. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
10. Las Vegas Raiders
11. New England Patriots
12. Dallas Cowboys
13. Minnesota Vikings
14. Chicago Bears
15. Carolina Panthers
16. Pittsburgh Steelers
17. Los Angeles Chargers
18. Indianapolis Colts
19. Jacksonville Jaguars
20. Washington Commanders
21. Denver Broncos
22. Miami Dolphins
23. Buffalo Bills
24. Arizona Cardinals
25. Los Angeles Rams
26. Houston Texans
27. Seattle Seahawks
28. Cincinnati Bengals
29. New Orleans Saints
30. New York Giants
31. New York Jets
32. Tennessee Titans

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Seahawks rookie Ken Walker explains his second half breakout in Kansas City

Walker ended the day with 107 yards on 26 carries.

Geno Smith says the Seahawks running more up-tempo was the reason why their offense improved in the second half of yesterday’s loss to the Chiefs.

Rookie running back Ken Walker was another reason. After getting limited to just 16 yards on nine carries in the first half, Walker exploded in the second – helping spark a potential comeback that never really came together as the passing game couldn’t get off the ground. Seattle’s offensive line deserves some of the credit for coming out of the break with some far better run blocking. However, after the game Walker said his being more decisive was the key.

Walker ended the day with 107 yards on 26 carries.

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