Seahawks projected offensive line and depth

Why the Seahawks didn't draft a guard in the first but did draft a guard in the third: Seaside Joe 1903

I’m looking high and low for follow-up articles explaining why the Seattle Seahawks didn’t draft Washington tackle Troy Fautanu, as all the mock drafts told me they would do. Fautanu, a tackle who would have played guard on the Seahawks and is currently working at right tackle for the Steelers, was basically a wire-to-wire consensus mock pick for Seattle at 16.

From Mel Kiper’s first mock draft to the final consensus pick at NFLMockDraftDatabase, the Seahawks were essentially cited as a destination of destiny to reunite Fautanu with college offensive line coach Scott Huff. Except that it did not happen. Why not?

As I’ve been saying, the year will come when the Seahawks don’t repeat history but it shouldn’t be this hard to recognize a pattern when you see it: GM John Schneider doesn’t think guards and centers are worth first round picks. Out of 29 first and second round picks since joining the Seahawks in 2010, the only player drafted to play guard or center was Ethan Pocic, the 58th overall pick in 2017. Though James Carpenter, Germain Ifedi, and Justin Britt would move inside, that wasn’t the intention when they were drafted.

They also were not top-20 picks.

This is nothing against Troy Fautanu. This is nothing against fans who wish the Seahawks placed a higher value on centers and guards. This is not intended to diminish the fact that Byron Murphy II’s availability at 16 may have wiped out the possibility of Schneider bucking history and drafting Fautanu at 16 to play right guard next to Abe Lucas at right tackle. We’ll probably never know for sure if Fautanu was choice 1b, but we’ll also never know if Fautanu had been completely dropped from Seattle’s board because of a medical red flag on his knee.

But we DO know that during the Schneider/Pete Carroll era, the Seahawks did not value guards and centers as much as the average NFL team—Seattle could actually be ranked 31st or 32nd in that category—and in this regard the first five months without Carroll have gone the same as the previous 14 years: The Seahawks did not re-sign Damien Lewis, the Seahawks did not re-sign Evan Brown, the Seahawks did not use their first pick on a guard or one of the popular center-ish picks like Jackson Powers-Johnson and Graham Barton, two others commonly linked to Seattle in mock drafts.

Yes, the Panthers priced Lewis out of their market at $13.25 million, but that’s also the point. Carolina didn’t even need to go to $13 million per year to make him too expensive for the Seahawks, but it was the overpay that guaranteed he’d play for Dave Canales instead of Mike Macdonald even though plenty of teams overpay to keep their own guards: The Eagles gave left guard Landon Dickerson $21 million per year, a figure that no expert thinks is a good value for Philadelphia, but having the “biggest, baddest, and most-expensive offensive line in the NFL” is their identity.

It is the furthest thing from Seattle’s identity and while I don’t fault the experts for looking at the Seahawks depth chart before the draft and assuming that Schneider would merely address a need, I DO fault the ones who get paid for it for not at least acknowledging how massively “un-Schneider like” that would have been.

We don’t have to like it or agree with it, but we should ACCEPT it.

Many won’t and because the Seahawks are set for competitions between vet journeyman, day three picks, street free agents, and inexperienced unknowns, I can confidently say that between February and May of 2025 that I will be re-writing these same messages at Seaside Joe again…that even if Seattle has no obvious plan at guard and center next offseason, that doesn’t mean the team will automatically use their first pick on that position. If a 14-year pattern didn’t convince people of that, then a 15-year pattern didn’t make any difference.

By drafting guard Christian Haynes in the third round, 81st overall, the Seahawks actually made him the fourth-highest picked guard or center in Schneider’s history. Pocic would be the highest-drafted at 58, then Lewis would be next at 69th overall in 2020, then John Moffitt is third at 75th overall in 2011. Rees Odhiambo would be the other third round pick, 97th overall. It is almost as common for Schneider to seek guards in the fourth round than the first three rounds combined, including Terry Poole, Mark Glowinski, Phil Haynes, Anthony Bradford.

If Schneider’s draft history doesn’t convince you of Seattle’s frugality on the offensive line, maybe this will: The Seahawks are set to spend $26.1 million on the entire offensive line unit in 2024, over $5 million less than 31st place.

If those drafted names don’t inspire you to have high hopes for Haynes, maybe the most significant difference between now and then is not Carroll or Schneider’s draft history. Maybe it is the addition of Huff as offensive line coach.

(The author asks you to overlook the fact that Huff was Odhiambo’s coach at Boise State.)

It is more like the Seahawks to invest in somebody who can coach up “cheap” players on the offensive line than it is for Schneider to start spending more money and using higher draft picks on guards and centers. The franchise can choose to change that philosophy at any time—the Rams used to be just as cheap at guard and center prior to drafting Steve Avila at the top of the 2023 second round and then paying Kevin Dotson and Jonah Jackson $16-$17 million per season—but until that happens, the job of a predictor and prognosticator should be very easy.

When it comes to the Seahawks and the offensive line: Trust the history, play the odds, and cross your fingers.

Who will the Seahawks be suiting up to start on the offensive line in 2024 and who should we expect to fill out the roster behind those five?

Seahawks 2024 starting OL

LT Charles Cross-LG Laken Tomlinson-C Olu Oluwatimi-RG Christian Haynes-RT Abe Lucas

The only position that feels “totally obvious” to be set for Week 1 is Charles Cross at left tackle, although Abe Lucas is just as secure at right tackle if he can make it through the year without any injury flare ups. The other positions necessitate competitions in the next few months.

Tomlinson brings experience: 138 career starts, including every game since 2018. His place as the starting left guard is probable, but I can never get over the fact that the Seahawks signed fringe Hall of Famer Jahri Evans in 2016 and then cut him before the season started. Evans was 33 then, Tomlinson is 32 now, and he’s no Jahri Evans. When it comes to starting at guard in Seattle, I believe it when I see it.

Though Christian Haynes has to fight history a little bit here—the Seahawks don’t guarantee that any third round pick will start as a rookie—he’s probably on more of the Damien Lewis path than the Rees Odhiambo path. Haynes started 49 games at UConn and there’s no real thought around the league that what he needs is time to sit and learn. TheDraftNetwork called Seattle the best fit for Haynes before the draft and said he’s a plug-and-play starter at right guard.

His biggest competition is Anthony Bradford, a fourth round pick in 2023 who at pick 108 had roughly the same draft value as Haynes; but if Bradford had won the Seahawks over last season then the team probably wouldn’t have drafted Haynes at all. Maybe in an ideal world Bradford wins the job on the right side and Haynes moves to the left side. For now, playing the odds would put Tomlinson at left guard and the early favorite for right guard is probably Haynes.

And though center Nick Harris played for Huff at UW, the 25-year-old needs to pull an upset to beat Oluwatimi. Harris has had four seasons in the NFL and started four games. Late career breakouts are not impossible—49ers center Jake Brendel didn’t become a starter until he was 30—but Oluwatimi has a head start, would be a cheap starter for the next three seasons, and seemed to play well enough in limited action last year.

Seahawks OL Depth: C Nick Harris, G Anthony Bradford, OL George Fant, OL Mike Jerrell, G Sataoa Laumea, OT Stone Forsythe

It won’t be clear how many offensive linemen Mike Macdonald will keep this year until the final 53-man roster is set and even then there could be some immediate fluctuation, as is common from football’s biggest “position group”. But the Seahawks kept 11 last year and somewhere between 9-12 is a normal number. I would lean closer to 11.

Fant is signed to be on the team and he could be an immediate starter if Lucas or Cross can’t go, if not at least a regular sixth man/eligible based on his career history.

Any of Harris, Bradford, Jerrell, or Laumea not making the roster would be an upset. Of cousre, in Bradford’s case it would be hugely disappointing if he didn’t make the roster, but that’s not expected. He could start! Jerrell seems to be the standout at the first rookie minicamp and we’re only getting started…Laumea can’t be overlooked either.

Perhaps the only question mark here is Stone Forsythe and how much longer do the Seahawks want to use a 53 spot on him as opposed to players who are younger and will be signed past 2024? Forsythe is entering his final contract year and it would be surprising if the NFL views him as anything other than a career backup. Perhaps someone like Raiqwon O’Neal or McClendon Curtis or an undrafted free agent will be more appealing.

Didn’t Make It: G Tremayne Anchrum, OL Raiqwon O’Neal, G McClendon Curtis, C Michael Novitsky, OT Garret Greenfield, OT Max Pircher

The closest I had anyone here to making the roster was Anchrum because he has four years of NFL experience and worked with Seattle passing game coordinator Jake Peetz while they were on the Rams, but it just doesn’t seem necessary after adding not just four guards (Tomlinson, Haynes, Laumea, Jerrell), but also two other players who could slide to guard (Fant, Harris). The Seahawks have guards. They are not low on guards!

Anchrum doesn’t have anything in his history to suggest a future breakout is coming and his best place is probably on the practice squad waiting for a call-up, which Seattle is probably going to need at some point.

There’s just not a lot to go off with O’Neal, Curtis, and the others. Pircher isn’t likely to have an NFL career, he’s a huge athlete who has spent several years learning how to play football on practice squads but that doesn’t often result in a future starter. The Seahawks could keep adding to their offensive line, although that doesn’t seem necessarily unless an injury happens. Not only do they have 10 players seemingly locked in, the team held onto O’Neal and Curtis all year last season, so maybe Schneider really doesn’t want to lose one or both of them.

You couldn’t rank the Seahawks as having a great offensive line based on their past. But this is a unit that is banking on its future….they just don’t take that much out of the bank to pay them.

THANK YOU

This is a message for people who have subscribed to Seaside Joe’s Regular Joes or Super Joes club in recent months. If you recently signed up, I won’t get to you today, I’m still catching up, but I will not forget you! Just keep watching for these messages…Thank you Seasider Rob Run, Seasider Perry, JT Holl, Marty Dee, Seasider Mandels, Bradittude, Tyson (also the name of one of my favorite Survivor players), Gabriel A, Adore Dalton, Gorman, David Lee Rothermel, JP Lester, and Matt WC!

Thank you Seasider Andy G, Neil W, CoffeeHusky, Rowan K, R Howe, Jake B, C-Hawk4Life, Seasider Angus (a movie I related to as a kid), M Clark (good last name), Dustin W, Bryn, Chinn (those rhyme), Chris the Case Man, PreferPow, Roderick, Daniel O, J Moon (like the NFL team in Washington), desert fox, John DeLorie, Carbex, Doug Z, Austin Z (thanks to a GIFT sub by Shep), Seasider Stick Flick, and Daryo, who just goes by “RAD”.

Thank you for joining SUPER JOES to Nick, Lou Slugger, Ben S, Richard H, and Eduardo! If you want to go from Regular Joe to Super Joe, you can click here to upgrade.

Again, if you recently subscribed and don’t see your name, I’m still playing catch up. Hopefully I catch you on the next one!