Seahawks Position Preview: Offensive Line
How will Connor Williams' presence reshape a group that needs to improve?
If there is one position group that most national pundits are down on when it comes to the Seahawks, it is the offensive line. While it may be fair, there is also a lot of potential in this group. However, potential is just another word for “no one knows what is happening!” ESPN.com recently rated the Seahawks offensive line as the worst in the NFL. Ouch.
Offensive Line
Projected starters: Charles Cross (LT), Laken Tomlinson (LG), Connor Williams (C), Anthony Bradford (RG), Abe Lucas (RT)
Likely on the roster: George Fant (T), Christian Haynes (G), Olu Oluwatimi (C)
Fighting for a spot: Stone Forsythe (T), McClendon Curtis (G/T), Sautoa Laumea (G), Raiqwon O’Neal (T), Mike Jerrell (T)
Much of ESPN’s critique is fair. Charles Cross has not been a Russell Okung or Walter Jones up to this point. He hasn’t even approached Duane Brown status. However, Cross is having a good camp and expectations are high for the third-year left tackle. For the Hawks to take the next step offensively, they need to not worry about Cross in one-on-one situations with elite defenders. The more Cross can win those matchups on his own, the more Seahawks offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb can employ weapons away from the line of scrimmage or chip with a back on the right side instead.
That right side is a real question mark right now for the Hawks. With Abraham Lucas still missing in action, George Fant is the current starter at right tackle. You may remember that Fant started 24 games over three years for the Seahawks before signing a free agent deal with the New York Jets. After starting for four years at both left and right tackle, Fant is back in Seattle and could end up being the most significant signing of the offseason due to Lucas’s lack of availability.
The guard position is fascinating. It feels like decades since the Seahawks had a good guard on their offensive line as they continued to plug in late-round draft picks and undrafted free agents. While the approach hasn’t changed much, the hopes are higher in Seattle despite losing both starters from 2023. Damien Lewis signed a four-year, $53 million deal that included a $15 signing bonus with the Carolina Panthers while Phil Haynes went on injured reserve and hasn’t been heard from since. For anyone that watched the Seahawks the last couple years, there was no scenario where matching a deal for Lewis made sense. That is a lot of money for a guy coming off his second lowest PFF grade in his career. Way too much money actually.
Instead, the Seahawks signed Laken Tomlinson to a one-year, $1.2 million deal. Tomlinson has not graded well in the past few years in New York, but his value is more like a $4 million player.
The other guard spot could be filled by second-year player Anthony Bradford or rookie Christian Haynes. While Bradford has been penciled in by most to start, Haynes has looked better and better each week. Haynes provides the youthful optimism needed for a position that has been pretty bleak, even in this training camp.
One position on the offensive line that no longer seems so bleak is center. Most Seahawks bloggers and writers are giddy over the signing of Connor Williams, but he is coming off an ACL injury. Upon the signing of Williams, the Seahawks traded center/guard Nick Harris to Cleveland, so Seattle is confident Williams will be ready for week 1. In 2023, Connor Williams was rated the #2 overall center by PFF, including first overall in run blocking. If he can play healthy, the Seahawks just got a Pro Bowl caliber player for $6 million at most. Even if Williams isn’t to the level he was in 2023, the upgrade at the position is massive for this unit. Olu Oluwatimi slides in to the backup center spot, providing depth but no longer being counted on to be the man.
The Seahawks will keep either 10 or 11 offensive linemen, so the battles for the last couple spots will continue into the last preseason game. The most likely young player to make the roster is McClendon Curtis due to his versatility as a guard and tackle. With players out in minicamp, Curtis was running with the first unit and earned some early praise from coaches. In last weekend’s game against Tennessee, Curtis earned some early reps while quarterback Sam Howell and running Kenny McIntosh were still playing. That makes me think he is an almost certainty to make the roster at this point. The other spot or two probably comes down to any of the other guys listed on the bubble above. Nobody seems to have any insight into which way the Hawks’ coaches are thinking and every Seahawk blogger has a different projection.
If Williams can return to even 80% of his former self and Cross makes the jump many expect him to, the Hawks line should be much better than 32nd in the league. If the Fant/Lucas combo at right tackle is average and Haynes pops a little bit, now we are talking about a group in the top 20 or top 15 in the NFL. That changes the trajectory of this football team tremendously and gives Grubb more options in the playbook.
Past position previews:
C'mon Seahawks! Nice article! C'mon Brian! Latsgo!
Thoughts on whether Grubb can scheme around bad O-line? Screens, horizontal action, getting Smith out of the pocket? Might be hard to speculate because UW OLine last season was elite.