Biggest Position Battle That Will Define Seahawks Offseason

Arguably the biggest weakness for the Seattle Seahawks entering the 2025 season was their offensive line. It was a unit that had gotten a dismal ranking for Pro Football Focus the previous season as only the New England Patriots finished with a lower grade.

Seattle’s offensive line made strides in 2025 after a poor showing in '24

It’s safe to say that this unit made strides this past season thanks to the addition of 2025 first-round pick Grey Zabel, who became a fixture at left guard, first-time starting center Jalen Sundell and the hiring of former Saints’ offensive line coach John Benton. Seattle’s offensive front graded out at No. 15 this past season in PFF’s rankings.

The team bullied people down the stretch and in the playoffs with their ground attack. Also consider that after allowing 54 sacks in 17 contests in 2024, the ‘Hawks permitted only half that total (27) during the regular-season and only six more sacks in the team’s three-game playoff run. All were against quarterback Sam Darnold, who took nearly every snap for Mike Macdonald’s Super Bowl LX champions.

Seahawks’ RG Anthony Bradford will face competition this summer

Zabel and Sundell, along with tackles Charles Cross and Abraham Lucas and right guard Anthony Bradford, make up this emerging unit. However, Bradford is this group’s weakest link and is facing competition for his job. He finished 2025 as Pro Football Focus’ 71st-ranked guard out of 79 qualified performers. And his 32.3 grade in terms of pass protection was the third-worst amongst guards this past season.

Conventional wisdom has 2026 fifth-round pick Beau Stephens pushing Bradford—a fourth-round pick from LSU in 2023 who is in the final year of his rookie deal—for the starting job. However, it should also be noted that during the team’s final OTA session on June 3-4, 2024 third-round pick Christian Haynes (Connecticut) replaced an injured Bradford during Wednesday’s practice (via Justin Melo of Seahawks Wire). Bradford missed the Thursday practice as well.

Is rookie Beau Stephens the heir apparent at right guard?

Iowa guard Beau Stephens is one of the most underrated IOL in the 2026 class imo. One of my favorite players in a stacked Day-Two guard group

- + movement skills in a 6'5 315 frame
- tracks well in space
- bulldozer in the run game; powerful block finisher and a people mover at… pic.twitter.com/KvhwnehRHb
— Drew Beatty (@IronCityFilm) March 19, 2026

What does it all mean? It could very well wind up being a battle royale for that right guard spot. While some may believe that Haynes has a slight advantage over the rookie from the University of Iowa when it comes to challenging Bradford, it’s worth noting that the former has appeared in a total of 24 regular-season games with the Seahawks, he’s never made a start and has logged only a combined 199 offensive snaps (32 in 2025).

All told, Bradford started all 20 contests for Macdonald’s team this past season. It’s likely he will be the Week 1 opening lineup against the Patriots, but that spot on the offensive front certainly bears watching.

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