Seahawks rookie Grey Zabel earns special honor from Pat McAfee & crew

Zabel hasn't gotten much love from PFF, but ball-knowers are very high on Seattle's first-round draft pick.

Dec 28, 2025; Charlotte, North Carolina, USA; Seattle Seahawks tight end AJ Barner (88) celebrates with guard Grey Zabel (76) after scoring a touchdown against the Carolina Panthers during the third quarter at Bank of America Stadium. | Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images

Hitting home runs in the NFL draft is what made the Seattle Seahawks a championship team during their legendary Legion of Boom run. 15 years later, they're at it again, having built another serious Super Bowl contender primarily from a series of strong draft picks.

After an inexplicable nine-year run of mostly-misses, the Seahawks front office suddenly remembered what they were doing going into the 2022 draft - and came out of it with an unheard of six long-term starters. They followed that up by adding two undeniable superstars in the next draft, and another one in 2024.

While it's still early to make any kind of definitive judgment about the class of 2025, the early returns from this group have been phenomenal. It starts at the top with first-rounder Grey Zabel, who's helped transform what had been one of the game's worst offensive lines for a decade.

Zabel is still flying under the radar for a lot of folks, but line gurus like AQ Shipley know Zabel is legit. He's gifted Seattle's rising star his Trenchy award for NFL rookies this year.

Grey Zabel earns Rookie Trenchy

"THE ROOKIE TRENCHY GOES TO @GreyZabel

HE'S SO PHYSICAL" ~ @aqshipley #PMSLive https://t.co/KEWGa9KfTX pic.twitter.com/O4UWjIV9I2

— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) January 7, 2026

For most of the season, Pro Football Focus has been unimpressed by Zabel's work at the line of scrimmage. However, they did make a big exception at the end of the season. For Zabel's effort in the Seahawks' Week 18 win over the San Francisco 49ers, he earned a 93.4 overall grade - the highest for any player around the NFL.

The highest-graded player in the NFL in Week 18:

🔵 Grey Zabel - 93.4 pic.twitter.com/dtfUh0K3yT

— PFF (@PFF) January 5, 2026

Zabel wound up playing every game at left guard for the Seahawks, despite suffering what was supposed to be a serious knee injury in November. In the end, Zabel put in 1,051 offensive snaps for Seattle - 98.78% of the team's total.

Looking ahead, the Seahawks should be targeting more upgrades for their interior offensive line this coming offseason. Anthony Bradford has made some progress, but the team should be looking to replace him at right guard. Center Jalen Sundell should also be on the chopping block if they can find an upgrade.

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