And while center looks to be a two-man battle, right guard could be even more open. Anthony Bradford, who opened last season as the starter at that spot before landing on injured reserve, is trying to win that job once again, but he'll have to hold off Haynes, who competed with him for the job last season, as well as Sataoa Laumea, who started six games in place of Bradford last season. Bryce Cabledue, a sixth-round pick out of Kansas, is further down the depth chart heading into camp, but as Laumea showed last year, late-round picks can always play their way into the competition as well.
While the Seahawks won't rush decisions when it comes to those spots, Macdonald and his offensive coaching staff would like to settle on the starting five not too far into camp in order to build some cohesion with that group.
"I think we would like to make some decisions sooner than later, but we're going to let the play speak for itself," Macdonald said during last month's minicamp. "We're not going to force the decision. We're going to be intentional in what happens probably within the first two weeks."
As for the line as a unit, the Seahawks have high hopes for that group in 2025 despite some inconsistent play and pass protection issues last season. For starters, whoever wins those jobs at center and right guard will be a young player who should only be improving in what would be, depending on the player, his second or third season. Lucas, who played at less than full strength last season, should be at his best, which would give a big boost to a line that only had him for part of last season. Then of course there's Zabel, a player the Seahawks liked enough to select in the first round, making him the highest drafted interior lineman for the franchise since Hall of Fame guard Steve Hutchinson in 2001.
And that's just looking at things from a personnel standpoint. Another big reason the Seahawks expect more from their line this year is the change of offensive scheme, with Klint Kubiak bringing with him a proven wide-zone run scheme and an emphasis on the running game, both of which should make life easier on linemen. Kubiak also brought with him to Seattle some very experienced coaches with proven track records teaching line play, led by offensive line coach John Benton and run game coordinator/senior offensive advisor Rick Dennison.
"It's definitely going to help us," Macdonald said earlier this offseason when asked about the offensive scheme. "I felt like what they've done in their past in college, that's part of their best film. Some of the wide-zone stuff, running off the ball, things like that. But I think it wouldn't be wise to underestimate a Year 1 to Year 2 jump. These are guys who we are really excited about, they showed flashes last year, and you can kind of go all the way down the line—Abe having a whole offseason to work and train and get stronger, be in the same system the whole time, that's really valuable. Charles Cross, same thing, another off-season to get stronger, take his game the next level and then obviously the guards are point of conversation.
"But again, going from being a rookie and you're just kind of like, 'What the heck's going on? I'm just going to go in there, and I'm working all offseason, draft and all this crap.' Now it's, 'Hey, I've been training in the same spot all off season. I get the whole offseason program from Day 1, any rookie should have an expectation to be able to really take their game to the next level, especially those guys."
General manager and president of football operations John Schneider also sees a lot of potential in a new scheme and offensive coaching staff when it comes to getting more out of the line.
"Zone stuff is coming off the ball and running, and anytime you can instill your will on someone else first, especially as an offensive lineman—instilling confidence in those guys is huge," Schneider said. "If you're sitting backed up and you're in shotgun and you're throwing the crud out of it, that doesn't help those guys' confidence. These guys are like, all right, we run off the ball, we establish the run game, all the boots, all the movement, everything moves off of that.
"It's pretty cool with this staff—there's a system, which is awesome, now here are the teachers," Schneider said. "These guys are all proven teachers. To see those guys assimilate as quickly as they did to working with the other coaches and our personnel staff and the whole operations group, it was awesome."