Uncertainty reigns supreme for most of Seahawks offensive line

There’s been no shortage of discussion about the need for John Schneider to address the offensive line during the offseason. However, before fixing anything, the starting point is taking inventory of what the team has.

Monday marked seven weeks since the Seattle Seahawks unloaded offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb after a disappointing offensive season played a material role in the the Hawks ending the year on the outside looking in when it comes to the playoffs.

In the time since, former offensive line coach Scott Huff has found new employment as the tight ends coach for the Los Angeles Rams, but there have been exactly zero roster moves that have addressed the biggest impediment the Seattle offense faced in 2024, specifically the offensive line.

So, with just two weeks until the start of free agency and less than two months until Day 1 of the 2025 NFL Draft, plenty of questions remain about how the Hawks will address the offensive line. Of course, before being able to address the offensive line, it becomes necessary to understand exactly what the team has and what position or positions it needs to address.

Most will agree that Charles Cross at left tackle has certainly not performed at a Pro Bowl level, but that shouldn’t come as a surprise given the fact that Cross is just 24 years old, and likely has a lot of very good football ahead of him. He has steadily improved over the first three seasons of his career, and has the athleticism to likely have a significant amount of upside potential remaining, especially given that tackles tend to continue to improve as pass blockers all the way through their twenties.

Moving left to right, the big questions for the offseason surround the interior of the offensive line. Maybe Laken Tomlinson comes back to once again steal developmental practice reps and game snaps from the young trio of guards the Seahawks have in Christian Haynes, Anthony Bradford and Satoa Laumea. Or maybe Tomlinson moves on and Seattle opts to bring in another bargain bin veteran. Or maybe the Hawks simply tell Geno to strap in while the line rolls with Haynes, Bradford and Laumea competing for the two starting spots at guard.

Keeping the same development curve as was presented for tackles, here are what things look like for interior offensive linemen, at least in terms of the Pass Block Win Rate (PBWR) metric from ESPN.

Thus, the question at guard is how much will the Seattle front office be willing to invest at a position at which it already has three young players who saw playing time in 2024? Especially when all of them are young enough that they should see significant improvement in the coming years? Fans certainly didn’t like the on field results from the interior of the offensive line in 2024, and that included the team having signed a bargain bin veteran in free agency, so does it make sense to add another bargain bin veteran who is going to prevent those youngsters from getting the practice reps and game experience necessary to develop?

If the answer to that question is no, then it becomes a question of whether John Schneider will be willing to invest in the interior of the offensive line in free agency. In 2017 he (in)famously signed Luke Joeckel and tried very hard to add T.J. Lang, but in the years since it’s been largely back to the bargain bin. And the results have largely been the kind one would be expected to find in the bargain bin.

In addition to adding Tomlinson and George Fant in free agency in 2024, Schneider also added center Connor Williams shortly after training camp started, a move that certainly did not turn out as well as the Hawks had likely hoped. Williams, of course, retired midseason, leaving second year Olu Oluwatimi to start for the rest of the year. Oluwatimi played well enough that many fans would love to see him get the first shot at the starting role in 2025, but there are legitimate questions about his fit in the system of new offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak. Is he athletic enough, and specifically does he possess the footspeed necessary for success in a wide zone scheme?

If Oluwatimi isn’t the answer, could the Seahawks turn to second year man Jalen Sundell? Or is Sundell too inexperienced with just 48 NFL snaps at center under his belt?

Given the amount of inexperience at the position, it won’t be a surprise if Schneider and Kubiak bring in an inexpensive experienced vet who has played for Kubiak in the past, whether that be Connor McGovern, Mason Cole or someone else, even if it’s just to teach the system during the offseason.

Moving on to right tackle, the Seahawks again have a whole lot of names, all of whom come with their own questions. Will Fant be able to stay off injured reserve in 2025? Of course, that question assumes he’s even on the roster to begin with, with there at least being a chance he could become a cap casualty. Will Mike Jerrell find better success in his second season, or will the jump from Division II to the NFL prove to be too great? And perhaps the biggest question is how will Abe Lucas look in his second season back after whatever surgery was performed on his knee last offseason?

Lucas appeared a shell of his former self on many of his snaps during the 2024 season. That certainly should not come as a surprise, given his recovery from offseason surgery kept him out of practice until late October and his first game action was not until late November. With that in mind, questions about exactly what Lucas brings to the team will persist until fans get a chance to see him in game action on the field.

In short, with free agency just over the horizon, the Seahawks have Cross at left tackle, and then four question marks, with a general manager in charge of addressing those question marks whose track record when it comes to the offensive line isn’t great.