Flash back to the 2024 NFL Draft. The Seattle Seahawks were in need of interior OL after spending their first-round pick on DL Byron Murphy. Without a second-round pick as a result of the trade for Leonard Williams from the New York Giants, Seattle had a massive wait between No. 16 and No. 81. There were rumors that the Seahawks were trying to trade up to pick Cooper Beebe, but he was drafted by the Dallas Cowboys at No. 73. When Seattle was finally on the clock, Christian Haynes from UConn was the choice.
Haynes seemed like a safe bet at the time, starting 49 consecutive games for the Huskies with All-American honors in both 2022 and 2023. I predicted that he would start from the gun and hold down the RG position for Seattle. Obviously, that didn’t happen as Anthony Bradford won the starting job out of camp. Even when Bradford was injured, the Seahawks still didn’t turn to Haynes, starting fellow rookie Sataoa Laumea instead. That’s not a very encouraging rookie season.
Seattle brought in a whole new offense with Klint Kubiak, including new offensive line coaches and run game specialists. The thought was that this new scheme would fit Haynes better than Ryan Grubb’s offense.
New offense, new Haynes?
Nah.
Haynes started out in training camp rotating with Anthony Bradford at RG. As camp wore on, Jalen Sundell entered the RG competition and Haynes began taking snaps at C. Then, he was pushed over to LG, getting snaps behind rookie Grey Zabel. This doesn’t feel like normal cross-training, it’s more like trying to find a spot for a guy. You wouldn’t be doing that with a second-year player that you feel really good about.
A pec injury limited Haynes for a few days, and he was eventually back at RG though clearly behind Bradford with Sundell was taking the lion’s share of the C reps as Olu Oluwatimi was out with a back injury. Haynes has played relatively well in the two preseason games, but what’s his future with the Seahawks? He was supposed to fit better in the new offensive scheme, but was possibly the third-string RG behind Bradford and Sundell at one point. There were reports of him struggling to snap the ball consistently well when he was playing C, so that might be a work in progress.
The Seahawks drafted two late-round OL this year in Bryce Cabeldue and Mason Richman. Cabeldue has been playing LG primarily and Mason Richman has been training at OT, OG, and recently started taking snaps at C. Unlike Haynes’ situation of being bounced around, Richman’s is likely a case of seeing what he can handle. Cabeldue and Richman were choices under the new staff, with their skillsets in relation to the offense in mind. Haynes was not.
Even if Sundell wins the C competition, making Haynes the de facto backup RG to Anthony Bradford, I’m not sure that he would replace Bradford in case of injury. The best starting lineup in that case may be to put Oluwatimi at C and slide Sundell to RG. Sundell has played so well with Oluwatimi out that it could be hard to leave him out of the starting lineup.
Either (or both) of Cabeldue and Richman could make it through to the practice squad whereas Haynes would almost assuredly not. However, if the staff sees more of a future with Cabeldue and Richman than Haynes, wouldn’t it be better to try and get some compensation for him? It’s not that Haynes has been terrible, he just hasn’t beaten out the competition. I would think you could get a decent return for him considering he has only used one year of his rookie contract, which would be better than relegating him to the bench for the next three seasons.
The thought behind drafting Christian Haynes was solid considering his extensive experience and college production. Unfortunately, that hasn’t manifested itself into a starting job for the Seahawks. Haynes has seemingly been passed up by other OL like Bradford and Sundell, and it really looks like the shuffling around of Haynes is an attempt to try and find a spot for him under the new scheme.
Maybe that spot isn’t even on the Seahawks roster?