The Seattle Seahawks will have six-time All-Pro and eight-time Pro Bowl guard Quenton Nelson in their lineup when they play the Chicago Bears on Monday night. Of course, that means an incumbent starter will be heading to the bench soon.
Mike Macdonald told reporters on Thursday that Nelson, a career left guard, will assume the same position in Seattle. Grey Zabel, who was touted for his positional flexibility coming out of college, will make the switch over to right guard. That leaves Anthony Bradford,
who just returned from injury last week against the Kansas City Chiefs, as the odd man out of the lineup moving forward.
“It’s not an easy situation,” Coach Macdonald said regarding Bradford’s benching. “I thought Anthony played really good football for us, and he has. He’s earned a significant role on our team—a starting level role. It’s one of those ‘through, not around”‘ type of things with AB that is not easy.
“There’s really no way to sugarcoat it—and I think he believes us when we say this about how much we love him. The guys love him in the locker room, he’s a fantastic teammate. We don’t expect him to be jumping [for] joy in this situation because that’s not realistic. He’s going to be a great teammate, he’s going to stay ready, and we know how this league works; you’re a play away from him playing every play again. It’s not an easy situation but he’s a tough cookie and the guys will have his back, as well.”
Zabel made three starts at right guard while at North Dakota State back in 2020. He has not played any right guard snaps in the NFL, but he otherwise has started at every position on the offensive line except center.
While Bradford is heading for the bench in the midst of a contract year and some of his best football to date when you include the back-end of last season, Seattle’s guard depth has strengthened through the Nelson trade. Should anything happen to Nelson, Zabel could return to LG and Bradford to RG, or if something happens to Zabel then Bradford slots in at RG instead of (the since waived) Christian Haynes or rookie Beau Stephens.
