Film Breakdown: Could Brandon Shell Offer Potential Upgrade for Seahawks' Offensive Line?

After starting 40 games in four seasons with the Jets, the Seahawks are banking on Shell playing at a higher level than former starting right tackle Germain Ifedi - who the team allowed to leave in free agency - at an affordable cost.

It’s been an offseason of immense turnover for the Seahawks along the offensive line, as they could open the 2020 season with as many as four new starters in the trenches. Among a litany of moves made by the organization this spring, they released two long-time starters in guard D.J. Fluker and center Justin Britt shortly after the draft.

But before those two cap casualties occurred in April, Seattle also opted to start from scratch at the right tackle position, allowing Germain Ifedi and George Fant to depart in free agency, with both players signing with Chicago and the New York Jets respectively. In an informal trade of sorts with the Jets, the Seahawks signed Brandon Shell to a two-year contract as the expected replacement.

With 40 starts under his belt in four NFL seasons since entering the league as a fifth round pick out of South Carolina in 2015, Shell brings plenty of game experience to Seattle, though he's battled inconsistency throughout his career to this point. Still, at just 28 years of age, there still may be some untapped potential for line coach Mike Solari to try to coax out of the nephew of Hall of Fame tackle Art Shell.

Likely to be the Week 1 starter in Ifedi’s old post, what kind of player are the Seahawks getting in Shell? Could he be a long-term answer at the position? Or will he be a stop-gap starter?

Check out my latest film breakdown as I analyze Shell's strengths and weaknesses from several of his starts during the 2019 season and compare him to the incumbent starter in Ifedi.