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Report: Seahawks Acquire Veteran G Gabe Jackson From Raiders

Desperate for offensive line help to keep Russell Wilson upright, the Seahawks opted to part ways with one of just four remaining draft picks to acquire Jackson, who should be worth the investment as one of the NFL's premier pass protecting guards.
Corbin K. Smith|
Report: Seahawks Acquire Veteran G Gabe Jackson From Raiders
Report: Seahawks Acquire Veteran G Gabe Jackson From Raiders

After missing out on several offensive linemen in the opening days of free agency, the Seahawks have made a move that should please quarterback Russell Wilson.

According to Adam Schefter, Seattle has agreed to send a 2021 fifth-round pick to Las Vegas in exchange for guard Gabe Jackson. The veteran has two years remaining on his current contract and carries a $9.6 million cap hit for 2021.

With the trade, Seattle currently has only three selections in April's draft, including only one selection in the first three rounds.

Due to Wilson's public remarks about his frustrations with pass protection after the Super Bowl in February and the ensuing trade speculation that followed, it's no secret the Seahawks have been in the market for offensive line help. The team attempted to sign guards Kevin Zeitler and Joe Thuney earlier this week, only to be out-bid by the Ravens and Chiefs to acquire their services.

But if Wilson was frustrated by Seattle's lack of activity addressing the trenches, he shouldn't be anymore, as Jackson has been one of the NFL's best pass protecting guards since breaking into the league in 2014.

Drafted by the Raiders out of Mississippi State, Jackson became an immediate starter as a rookie and has consistently ranked amongst Pro Football Focus' highest-graded guards in pass blocking evaluations. Dating back to his rookie season, he has never finished lower than 19th among qualified guards in that category and finished eighth overall in each of his first two seasons.

Last season, while Jackson posted the lowest pass blocking grade of his career (69.9) and tied a career-high with 26 total pressures allowed, Pro Football Focus didn't charge him with a single sack and only yielded two quarterback hits against Derek Carr. It marked the fifth season in his career where he surrendered one or fewer sacks and two or fewer quarterback hits, further illustrating his reliability keeping quarterbacks clean.

If there's one potential area of concern for Seattle, Jackson hasn't been quite as effective in the run blocking department, receiving a 62.0 or lower in four of his prior seven seasons. This includes each of the past two seasons when he received 58.5 and 53.6 grades - the two lowest grades of his career - which ranked 47th and 46th among qualified guards in 2020 and 2019 respectively.

At 330 pounds, Jackson is best suited for man/gap schemes where he can impose his will on opponents at the line of scrimmage. His limited mobility and lateral quickness coupled with nagging injuries have limited his proficiency over the past three years in Raiders line coach Tom Cable's zone-oriented system.

With training camp still months away, it remains unclear how much Seattle's offense will be altered under new coordinator Shane Waldron. If he emulates the scheme he helped coordinate with the Rams over the past three years, there will be a greater emphasis on wide zone and stretch runs from under center formations, which wouldn't play to Jackson's strengths.

However, line coach Mike Solari was retained amid the transition and has always preferred powerful body movers at the guard spots. An aggressive move to deal for Jackson and unload one of Seattle's few remaining draft picks suggests that won't change and there will be a blend of the two approaches in 2021.

Regardless, the Seahawks were able to fill a massive need left vacant by the retirement of Mike Iupati and few guards have been better and more dependable at protecting quarterbacks than Jackson over the past half decade. As demonstrated on social media, Wilson is ecstatic about the addition and this trade could go a long way towards smoothing things over between the franchise and the star signal caller.

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Corbin K. Smith
CORBIN K. SMITH

Graduating from Manchester College in 2012, Smith began his professional career as a high school Economics teacher in Indianapolis and launched his own NFL website covering the Seahawks as a hobby. After teaching and coaching high school football for five years, he transitioned to a full-time sports reporter in 2017, writing for USA Today's Seahawks Wire while continuing to produce the Legion of 12 podcast. He joined the Arena Group in August 2018 and also currently hosts the daily Locked On Seahawks podcast with Rob Rang and Nick Lee. Away from his coverage of the Seahawks and the NFL, Smith dabbles in standup comedy, is a heavy metal enthusiast and previously performed as lead vocalist for a metal band, and enjoys distance running and weight lifting. A habitual commuter, he resides with his wife Natalia in Colorado and spends extensive time reporting from his second residence in the Pacific Northwest.

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