Coe’s Seahawks midseason reports card: The offensive line

Let’s flash back to the glory days for just a moment.

The Legion of Boom. Marshawn Lynch. The quarterback… are we allowed to mention his name yet, or is it too soon? Super Bowl XLVIII and the one after that.

An underrated part of the first Seahawks team to win a Super Bowl was the offensive line. It wasn’t perfect, but the group of left tackle Russell Okung, left guard James Carpenter, center Max Unger, right guard J.R. Sweezy and right tackle Breno Giacomini played together for most of 2013, and the center and left tackle took the field at the same time when healthy for four playoff seasons.

For the past 10 seasons, the center position in particular has been a revolving door since the Seahawks traded Unger and a first-round draft pick to the New Orleans Saints for tight end Jimmy Graham and a fourth-round pick.

Call it that curse of Max Unger if you will, but since then, the center position has been an adventure. Seattle started its season with a different center each of the past four seasons, and there’s been plenty of flux at the other four positions as well.

This season began with some hope. Left tackle Charles Cross hadn’t quite been the next Walter Jones, but blocked Geno Smith’s blind side well enough. Abe Lucas, on his way back from a knee surgery in January, looked to be solid at right tackle. Guard Christian Haynes, drafted in the third round this year, would be plug-and-play at right guard, and veteran Laken Tomlinson would be good enough to fit in at left guard. Ulu Uluwatimi, who was named the best center in college football after his 2022 season at Michigan, would be ready to take over snapping to Geno Smith.

Most of it hasn’t gone down quite like that, though.

Cross is playing like a first-round pick — ranking fifth overall per Pro Football Focus.

Uluwatimi fell out of favor with the new coaching staff during training camp, and the Seahawks signed free agent center Connor Williams — a standout player for Dallas and Miami who was recovering from a knee injury. Williams hasn’t been great, either. He’s snapped the ball over Smith’s head at least twice, and a few others have been a challenge for Smith to haul in. He’s currently the 18th-ranked center per PFF.

By the way, the center many thought would be perfect for the Seahawks during the 2021 draft was Creed Humphrey, currently PFF’s No. 1-ranked center for Kansas City. The Chiefs selected Humphrey seven picks after Seattle picked wide receiver D’Wayne Eskridge in the second round.

With the usual disclaimer of PFF grades not always being exactly what we see on the field, the numbers for the offensive line seem to add up based on the eye test. Tomlinson ranks 30th out of 77 players who have played regularly. Haynes, a healthy inactive last week, rotated in at times for starter Anthony Bradford for the first eight games. Both have struggled with their opportunities. Bradford ranks 72nd among guards with a PFF grade of 50.4 out of a maximum of 100. Haynes has not played enough to be ranked, but his grade is 48.0.

That brings us to the right tackle position. Archbishop Murphy graduate Abe Lucas’ recovery has taken longer than the team expected, and he has yet to play. George Fant started two games, but knee injuries forced him out of both early on. Stone Forsythe started five games, enough time to build up a No. 74 PFF ranking. For most of the past two games, the team has turned to Michael Jerrell, a sixth-round pick out of Findlay last spring. He ranks 76th among tackles.

So, what does all the mean for the Seahawks offense?

It means Smith is seeing pressure more than just about anyone in the NFL. The Rams pressured Smith on 60 percent of drop backs during their 26-20 overtime win over Seattle on Nov. 3. The season total is 44.7%, meaning Smith is being hurried on almost half of his throws. Per PFF, Smith receives blame for just 4% of the pressures due to holding the ball too long. His average time between snap and throw is 2.74 seconds this season per Next Gen Stats, which is above average among regular starters in the NFL. Smith’s overall PFF ranking is seventh.

The offensive line grades stand at 25th for pass-blocking and 20th for run-blocking.

So what’s our grade? If we’re going off straight PFF grades, the 62.6 pass-blocking score is a D-, while the 59.7 is an F. If we’re grading on a curve, that puts the line in the C-minus, D-plus range. I have seen enough of Smith side-stepping pass rushers and running back Kenneth Walker III turning a loss into a short gain to believe that the line has been a major issue this season. Until this unit develops or Seattle finds a strong starting five once again, the Seahawks will struggle to get back to the glory days.

Offensive line grade: D

This story originally appeared in seattlesportsnow.com, of which Aaron Coe is a co-founder. Follow Seattle Sports Now on X.