Could McClendon Curtis start at right guard?

Alternate title is "Who is McClendon Curtis?": Seaside Joe 1918

Many times in my life I’ve managed to talk or work my way into places, some guarded by security and others by velvet rope, that I didn’t feel qualified or even credentialed to be in. It’s just a less stressful experience when you convince someone to give you the credentials.

I used to have a weekly freelance gig at Rolling Stone (dot com) as an NFL writer and I immediately started using that credit to try and get a press pass to games because I felt like, “I have a short window when this might actually be possible, I better go for it now”. The first team to accept my press pass request was the Cowboys, so that same weekend I drove 21 hours from L.A. to Dallas (plus a night in Arizona) because I felt like that was the best way to make the most of the adventure. That Sunday, I sat in the press box for a primetime game between the Cowboys and Saints, then after it was over and unsure of what to do next I wandered through the hallways looking for the locker room until I went through a door and found myself face-to-face with Tony Romo going to the trainer’s room.

I had accidentally gone through a player’s entrance and was in the locker room before the team had allowed the press to come in. I had made a lot of rookie mistakes that day and in the ensuing weeks as I drove around the country applying for press passes over the next month, but what else would you expect? I was a rookie. I was/am a blogger who didn’t take any journalism class in college, barely graduated with a degree in broadcast production, and had just quit my job in IT less than two weeks earlier to pursure writing full-time.

Now I was on a level playing field with Sal Paolantonio and John Clayton and ESPN covering a marquee matchup between Drew Brees and Tony Romo. The press pass was the great equalizer in which “first round pick” media members like Joe Buck and Troy Aikman are on the same field as an “undrafted free agent from a D-II school who somehow managed to get a contract following a local player tryout” blogger who was losing money for the chance to be there.

And the biggest lesson I learned through that whole experience was that the barrier between being on the outside and being on the inside of those secured gates and velvet ropes was…”Well, did you ask?”

Admittedly it is easier to hear “YES” when you’re telling the venue or the agent or the celebrity that you’re writing an article for Rolling Stone—and getting that credit was just lucky, I’m not being self-deprecating but I’m sure I was one of thousands of people who were qualified to get that out-of-the-blue e-mail from that particular new editor—but regardless, I realized then that a lot of experiences are located on the other side of a simple question: “Can I do this?” “Can I have a press pass to the event?” “Is it okay if I interview you and come to your show?”

This method got me a press pass to the 2014 NFC Championship Game in Seattle, and I was literally the last person they let in. You never know if someone has one last seat available. Asking if it’s okay got me backstage at a taping of Shark Tank so I could interview Mark Cuban, who by the way I contacted by Googling “Mark Cuban e-mail address” and three active, working addresses came up, one of which he responded to within three minutes.

There was another time when I wrote a story about a comedian’s documentary that she was about to premiere and then she invited me to a party at her house celebrating the release of the movie. It seemed like everyone there was a comedian, including one of my first favorite celebrities period, Weird Al Yankovic, and a lot of others you’d recognize like Sarah Silverman and Chloe Fineman and Bob Odenkirk. And the woman I wrote the story about, her husband was my comedy icon and inspiration at the time, so the whole experience was overwhelming to not just be at a public event with other members of the press…I was at a private party in the Hollywood Hills surrounded by people I am only used to seeing on TV.

And yet it almost felt like “This sucks” because I was so embarrassed to be there due to the feeling that I hadn’t earned my ticket. Even if I was invited, even if nobody had noticed I was there anyway, it’s hard to shake the anxiety about being the person at the party who had somehow snuck through the backdoor despite being welcomed and invited.

Credentials and invitations get you past security, but in my experience they do NOT make you feel secure or invited.

I wonder if that’s anything like how NFL players feel when they don’t get heavily recruited out of high school, don’t play at a major college football program, don’t get talked about before the draft, don’t get drafted, don’t get talked about after the draft, don’t get talked about during the undrafted free agent signing period, don’t get mentioned much during training camp, don’t make a roster, don’t play in regular season games, don’t have articles written about them during the offseason projecting a bigger role next year, don’t get recognized by fans of the team they play for, and then suddenly are thrust into a starting role weeks before training camp and might actually have a realistic chance to earn a job on Sundays.

In other words, is that how McClendon Curtis feels right now?

McClendon Curtis “starting” at right guard

The Seahawks have been criticized this offseason for not doing enough to address the guard positions since parting ways with Damien Lewis in free agency. Seattle’s opportunities at left and right guard have been referred to as “the biggest needs on the team” with no real respect for the players who were signed prior to adding Laken Tomlinson and drafting Christian Haynes, which is understandable given that there are not many success stories that have similar beginnings to the likes of McClendon Curtis, Raiqwon O’Neal, and free agent addition Tremayne Anchrum, Jr..

Still, it appears few fans have expected any of those three, or Anthony Bradford for that matter, to be adequate starters at left or right guard in 2024. However, in practices last month, the Seahawks decided to bring Haynes along slowly and have had Curtis starting at right guard next to Charles Cross, Tomlinson, Olu Oluwatimi, and George Fant on the first-string offensive line.

What does this imply?

It only means that as of MAY, the Seahawks have decided that Curtis is the best option to start at right guard while Bradford (ankle) is injured and Haynes is getting his feet wet. We could get to July and find out that Curtis is the third-string right guard, but it is still notable to me that a player who has gotten zero mention during his Seattle career is now “credentialed” to be just as important as Charles Cross under these circumstances.

Hey, “these circumstances” often—OFTEN—lead to regular season games in which a team is having to start at least one undrafted free agent on the offensive line. So to me it is still a revelation that McClendon Curtis, a player who the Seahawks kept on the 53-man roster for the entire season after the Raiders waived him at final cuts, could be one awesome offseason/training camp/preseason away from actually holding off Bradford and Haynes from starting right now.

I don’t think Pete Carroll is the only coach who believes in “always compete”. I think Mike Macdonald, Ryan Grubb, and offensive line coach Scott Huff will let anybody who dominates that right guard job in practice be the right guard in the regular season too. And right now the person who gets the first chance to prove himself is Curtis.

Who is McClendon Curtis?

Though this will be the first time that many football fans have heard of McClendon Curtis, his post-high school career goes all the way back to being in the 2017 recruiting class out of Central High School in Harrison, Tennessee. To give you an idea of how long ago 2017 was, Curtis is in the same graduating class as Tee Higgins, the third-ranked player in his state while Curtis was ranked 87th. Curtis was the 236th-ranked offensive tackle behind such top-ranked recruits as Andrew Thomas, Jedrick Wills, Alex Leatherwood, Tristan Wirfs, and Abe Lucas. Not many high school recruits have survived being ranked 236th overall, let alone 236th just at his own position.

Curtis was a two-star recruit and “chose” to go to Chattanooga over offers from Western Kentucky and Eastern Kentucky.

(He is listed as a 6’8 recruit, but measured 6’6 at the 2023 combine.)

From 2019 to 2021, Curtis started all 27 games that Chattanooga played over those three seasons, including 26 at right guard and one at left guard. In 2022, Curtis started four games at right guard, but then had seven at left tackle. He was named the top lineman in the Southern Conference and was a second-team All-American for his senior season performance.

Curtis also received several accolades for his academic commitment and received a master’s degree in School Leadership.

“I’m all about using my time wisely, and with this master’s program I’m getting the best of both worlds: sports and education,” he said.

He gravitated to education naturally, he said, gaining experience working as an advisor and tutor in the UTC Student-Athlete Enhancement Center and volunteering with Hamilton County students and first-year UTC students. He also was selected to the NCAA’s Football Oversight Committee in the 2021-22 and 2022-23 academic years.

“I firmly believe that McClendon will pay it forward and change lives no matter where he goes and what he does. I wish him nothing but the best as he pursues his NFL career, but I also know that he will make a great academic advisor someday. Preferably here at UTC,” said Emily Blackman, UTC assistant vice chancellor for athletic academic enhancement.

“So many people helped me get to where I am; that’s why I’m so invested in education and being a part of the community and working with youth,” said Curtis, who had a rough start in life.

Curtis mentions being homeless as a child and a desire to get into coaching so that he can mentor students who are struggling in life.

“Push yourself now because you don’t want to struggle later.”

Even though he’s playing with the first-string offensive line of the Seahawks today, Curtis could still have a clearer path towards a career in education and coaching than starting in the NFL. It all depends on how much he’s improved on the parts of his game that were considered weaknesses in 2023.

McClendon Curtis scouting reports

NFL.com gave Curtis a 6.00 grade before the draft, which is “traits or talent to be above-average backup” and Lance Zierlein gave him a 5th-6th round grade.

Guard prospect with the build of a long-armed offensive tackle. Despite his traits, Curtis has too many holes in his game to trust he will be ready to step up in competition early on. His struggles in trying to separate and sustain against Illinois’ interior defenders really shined a bright light on the work he needs to do to get stronger and more technically sound. Despite these concerns, Curtis is capable in pocket protection and is likely to be viewed as a Day 3 prospect requiring a plan and coaching to help him develop.

Curtis ranked 11th at the combine for athleticism score among guards, and his 35” arms have surely helped keep him on the radar for NFL teams like Seattle.

Zierlein notes a “broad frame with good muscle mass” and an ability to “redirect B-gap rushers away from the pocket” but was worried based on bad tape in a game against Illinois (Devon Witherspoon alert) and that he needs to add upper body strength to improve as a run blocker.

A scouting report at Bleacher Report highlights that Curtis played in a zone-heavy run scheme that was a 55/45 run/pass split and that he has a “violent, physical demeanor that leads to knockback power when he connects”. But that he struggled to sustain blocks against good competition due to a “high pad level and inconsistent hand placement”. Are those issues that Scott Huff’s offensive line coaching can repair?

We know that Washington’s offense with Grubb and Huff necessitated athletic guards who are able to pull to the other side and connect on blocks in the run game, so that could be where McClendon shines if he’s moving his 6’6, 324 lbs frame at a fast clip.

But isn’t he just keeping the seat warm?

I don’t believe there is an “ideal” scenario in which eventually Christian Haynes becomes the Seahawks starting right guard by Week 1. The ideal scenario for Seattle is merely that ANYONE on the roster right now ends up being a really good right guard. Who cares if it’s Haynes, Bradford, Curtis, Michael Jerrell, Sataoa Laumea, George Fant, Anchrum, O’Neal, or Nick Harris? I mean, seriously…What does it matter?

It doesn’t matter at all, not to me.

Picking nits over whether or not Player A will be a free agent sooner than Player B, or if Player C had a higher draft grade than Player D, is TOTALLY INCONSEQUENTIAL measured against the fact that the Seattle Seahawks just need two guards capable of playing at a high level. Other than Tomlinson, they’re all young. They’re all equals. They’ve all been credentialed to be Seahawks otherwise they wouldn’t be in camp at all. The draft is nice, free agency is cool, but now everybody on Seattle’s roster who can play guard is on an even playing field. The fact that you’re there at all is the great equalizer and right now it appears that McClendon Curtis has done more to impress—or at least interest—coaches than Anchrum or O’Neal, while the rookies appear to be held back for whatever reason. Whether that’s a lack of experience or because the Seahawks actually do want a longer look at Curtis.

Which is what their job is, to find the best players who are here now, not to just reward “the best players” in March or April.

For now, Curtis needs to look the part and ignore any feelings of imposter syndrome. You weren’t supposed to be here, some people may not know your name or recognize your face, but you were invited and allowed to take part so you shouldn’t feel like you don’t belong. In case you do, I know someone who can offer good advice if you e-mail him: mcuban@axs.tv, mcuban@gmail.com, or mark.cuban@dallasmavs.com.

It wouldn’t hurt to ask.