The biggest question mark for the Seattle Seahawks heading into the 2025 season is its offensive line. Most experts rank the Hawks’ front five as one of the league’s worst units, and the stats back it up.
According to PFF, the Seahawks allowed the most pressures (232) and hurries (165) in the NFL last season. And that’s despite Geno Smith getting the ball out of his hands at the fourth-quickest rate in the league, per Sharp Football Analysis.
This math equation doesn’t bode well for new QB Sam Darnold, who’s prone to holding onto the ball and taking avoidable sacks. In fact, Darnold had the lowest quick-throw rate of any starting quarterback last season.
If the offensive line underperforms again and Darnold fails to get the ball out quickly, it could spell disaster for Seattle. The team allowed 54 sacks in 2024 (third-most in the league), and that number could balloon even further if the current consensus on the O-line proves correct.
“There is not much to suggest that the Seahawks won’t again field a bottom-tier offensive line,” Zoltán Buday wrote for PFF. The site currently has the Seahawks’ offensive line ranked No. 30 overall, ahead of only the Bengals and Texans.
With all these clouds looming over Seattle’s 2025 season, it’s imperative the team finds the right combination of starting linemen. Three spots have long been cemented: Charles Cross at left tackle, Abraham Lucas at right tackle, and rookie Grey Zabel at left guard.
Now, it appears one of the last starting spots has been locked up by third-year guard Anthony Bradford.
Bradford Emerging as a Starter After Stellar Preseason
Bradford, a fourth-round pick in 2023, has had a slow start to his Seahawks career. A Week 12 ankle injury sent him to the IR last season, and his struggles prior to the injury stripped him of his starting spot and landed him in a rotation with rookie Christian Haynes. PFF rated Bradford 118th out of 136 guards.
However, there’s newfound optimism around the mauling, 330-pound lineman. Bradford dominated in this week’s preseason game against the Kansas City Chiefs, helping the offense accrue 268 rushing yards. He received the highest PFF grade of any offensive player and was named player of the game by PFF’s Ben Cooper.
“Anthony Bradford called it a night after 19 dominant snaps. The 2023 fourth-rounder, Seattle’s projected starting right guard, didn’t surrender any pressure across six pass-blocking snaps and racked up an impressive six positive grades on 13 run-blocking snaps, pending reviews,” Cooper wrote.
Coach Mike MacDonald Discusses the Starting Spot
In addition to Bradford’s impressive performance against the Chiefs, there have been positive reports out of Seahawks’ training camp. All of which has led insiders to believe Bradford will start at right guard in Week 1 against the San Francisco 49ers.
Bob Condotta of The Seattle Times wrote, “Sunday’s practice provided even more evidence that Anthony Bradford appears to be the winner of a battle at right guard with Christian Haynes as Bradford again took most of the snaps there with the No. 1 offense following a standout performance in Friday’s 33-16 preseason win over the Chiefs.
“There are no caveats to the right guard spot, where Bradford appears to have just simply played better than Haynes, who was the 81st overall pick of the draft in 2024. Haynes is now working almost solely with the backups at both left and right guard,” Condotta added.
Bradford’s turnaround hasn’t gone unnoticed by coach Mike MacDonald either. “I think [Anthony’s] taking control of his career,” MacDonald said. “I think it’s his mentality that it’s up to him. Nobody else can want it for him. We obviously know he has the talent to be a great player in this league, and he’s shown it in practice consistently.”
MacDonald has been mum on declaring an outright starter. “I don’t know if we’re going to announce it or whatever. But we’re getting close,” he said.
However, if Bradford continues playing this well, he’ll earn the right guard spot and become a major factor in improving the Seahawks offensive line.
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