While trading for Quenton Nelson was a no-brainer, the addition could make the Seahawks face a question that nobody — not a single one of us — thought could be reasonably asked a couple of months ago:
“Is Grey Zabel Seattle’s best option to start at any position right now?”
This is not a “doom-and-gloom + the sky is falling” scenario.
It actually highlights that the Seahawks have two strengths that weren’t necessarily known or available until recently: Nelson is on the roster (we know Zabel isn’t a better left guard than him), and Jalen Sundell is a really good center.
Even if Zabel’s upside as a center is higher than Sundell’s, it wouldn’t make sense for Seattle to displace the current starter in the middle of a season. Sundell does not cause any obvious problems — Seahawks fans know what that looks like compared to Connor Williams two years ago — and Zabel hasn’t played center since college and that was sparingly.
Moving Zabel to center is only something done in the offseason and only if the team has a good reason to part with or move Sundell, a player who is a restricted free agent in 2027.
But trading for Nelson put Zabel in the toughest spot he’s been in during his young NFL career so far:
If he’s not the best option at left guard, center, or either tackle position, then Grey Zabel HAS to be the best option at right guard.
Is he though?
Zabel vs Anthony Bradford
To think that the Seahawks would use a top-20 pick on a guard in 2025 because of Seattle’s perpetual issues at the position — including repeat offender Bradford, who we (namely Seaside Joe) constantly pointed to as the worst starter on the team — and then 18 months later we’d be debating if the team should go back to the guy who got benched for him …
It’d be a great plot twist if it didn’t hurt so much.
The fact is that the Seahawks rushed for 153 yards against the Chiefs in Week 7 when Bradford returned from a stint on IR, and then Zabel was the weakest link on Seattle’s offensive line as the offense rushed for just 81 yards against the Bears. He was blamed for allowing one sack and three pressures, but furthermore fans were irate that the Seahawks weren’t running behind Nelson more often.
I agree with that—it just says a lot that Seattle wasn’t able to run behind their 2025 first-round pick and a right tackle who was extended just last year.
“But it was Zabel’s first game at right guard!”
100%. No doubt about it, making a transition mid-season from one side to another must be difficult and the challenge can’t be overstated, especially to fans like us who have no idea what it’s like to play offensive line. Zabel said himself this week that he was disappointed with how he played and that switching positions was like being asked to write with your other hand.
Even so, this is not about whether Zabel is a better guard than Anthony Bradford. I think we can mostly all agree that Zabel is a better guard and that he likely has more upside than any offensive lineman on the team besides Nelson.
However, is Zabel a better right guard than Bradford today?
Bradford hasn’t had to change positions. He knows right guard, as he’s had 43 starts there. Although his track record is spotty, Bradford is only 25 and in limited action this season hasn’t been apparently bad…or “Brad”, as it were.
And my answer is:
I don’t know.
It feels just as strange to me to write this suggestion as it must feel to you to read it. If it were August and the Seahawks were moving Zabel to right guard during training camp after trading for Nelson, the answer would be simple. “YES”. They’d probably even trade Bradford before the season to clear room.
But to make a change in November, there’s no denying that Zabel struggled at right guard — and he wasn’t playing that great at left guard before last week — and it is reasonable to wonder if that transition will continue to wreak havoc on the offensive line for many games to come.
I hope not!
Because I’m certain that if it were my decision, I would not bench Zabel for Bradford. That’s too big of a move. It feels like coaches would get less heat for trusting that Zabel will figure it out quickly (which is more than possible) than they would for making a change and finding out that Bradford is still not that great.
That does not mean that Seattle’s actual best interior offensive line combination is Nelson-Sundell-Zabel when it still could be Nelson-Sundell-Bradford.
It could be that. Much of our admiration for Zabel’s ability and value still comes from the draft, right? He’s one of the highest-drafted interior offensive linemen of the modern era and he had a good rookie season. But he’s been struggling this year. The team traded for a left guard who, if extended, guarantees that Zabel won’t play the position he started at for his entire rookie season. That’s telling.
The Seahawks won’t be making any changes to the interior of their offensive line this week, as far as we’re aware, but Seattle could be getting back Charles Cross from a high-ankle sprain. Should his return open up the possibility of a different Seahawks starter getting benched?
I think it has to be a consideration.
Did you set your expectations yet?
How many yards do you think Drew Lock, Jadarian Price, and Jaxon Smith-Njigba will get against the Cardinals this week? Will Seattle’s offensive line perform better this week without Jeffery Simmons to deal with?