Barring injuries, the Seattle Seahawks could probably pencil in three of their five starting offensive linemen for this fall: Charles Cross at left tackle, Abraham Lucas at right tackle and rookie first-round draft pick Grey Zabel at left guard.
The other two spots, meanwhile, could produce the fiercest position battles on the entire team.
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At center, it’s expected to be a two-man competition between third-year pro Olu Oluwatimi and second-year Jalen Sundell. And at right guard, it could end up being a four-man battle between third-year pro Anthony Bradford, second-year Christian Haynes, second-year Sataoa Laumea and rookie sixth-round pick Bryce Cabeldue.
With the Seahawks’ offseason program ramping up, former NFL quarterback Brock Huard touched on those two potential position battles during a recent Blue 88 segment on Seattle Sports’ Brock and Salk.
In particular, Huard highlighted a physical trait that could play a major role in who wins the starting jobs.
“One’s ability to bend and to just be fluid,” Huard said, referencing the need for athletic and agile linemen in new offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak’s wide-zone blocking scheme. “… In this system in particular, your ability to bend and have some elasticity (is important).”
Huard then mentioned how that could benefit linemen like Cabeldue and Sundell. This spring, Cabeldue ran the 40-yard dash in a very impressive 4.95 seconds and the 20-yard shuttle in 4.59 seconds. And during last year’s pre-draft process, Sundell ran the 40-yard dash in 5.18 seconds and the shuttle in 4.58 seconds.
“Keep an eye on Bryce Cabeldue,” Huard said. “I know I will once this thing gets going. … Same thing with Sundell at center. In this system, are you gonna be surprised if it’s Sundell ahead of Olu at center? I won’t be because of the requirements of this system.
“Olu’s got the head start (with nine career NFL starts). Olu’s pretty verbal. Olu’s got those skills. But as far as just that bend and move – you saw it with Abe Lucas, you see it with Charles Cross. In today’s NFL, and in this system in particular, you’ve gotta maximize those gifts.”
Listen to the full Blue 88 segment at this link or in the audio player near the middle of this story. Tune in to Brock and Salk weekdays from 6 to 10 a.m. or find the podcast on the Seattle Sports app.
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