Is Seahawks’ O-line heading the right direction? Big Ray weighs in

The Seattle Seahawks’ offensive line is coming off one of its better performances.

Bump: How Seattle Seahawks’ DK Metcalf fooled defense on TD catch

The unit surrendered just one sack and paved the way for over 100 yards on the ground during Sunday’s 34-14 victory over the Atlanta Falcons.

It was a far from perfect performance, however, as quarterback Geno Smith was still pressured on 47% of his throws, the third most of any quarterback in Week 7. And there’s also the caveat that it came against an Atlanta defense that was last in the league with five sacks and 26th against the run coming in.

But it was a still welcomed signed for a much-maligned group that’s been dealing with injuries at right tackle all season.

Seahawks Radio Network analyst and former NFL O-lineman Ray Roberts shared what he’s seen in the group so far when he joined Seattle Sports’ Brock and Salk on Tuesday.

Searching for continuity

The left side of the line and center have been positions of stability across the front this season. Left tackle Charles Cross, left guard Laken Tomlinson and center Connor Williams have started all seven games.

But the right side of the line has been a different story. Right guard Anthony Bradford has made all seven starts, but he’s been in a rotation with rookie Christian Haynes for multiple weeks. And right tackle has been a revolving door with top option Abraham Lucas still out after having offseason knee surgery and second- and third-stringers George Fant (knee) and Stone Forsythe (hand) each missing time with injuries.

The injuries at right tackle led to fourth-string rookie Michael Jerrell, a sixth-round pick out of D-II University of Findlay, drawing the start Sunday against the Falcons.

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“You would like someone to just take over that (right guard) position and make it so you don’t have to do this rotation which kind of messes up some of the chemistry along the offensive line, especially when you’re playing with your fourth right tackle,” Roberts said. “So you want some stability in that.”

Head coach Mike Macdonald said Sunday that Fant could be back from injured reserve this week, and Monday he said there is a possibility of Lucas returning to practice this week.

“You’d like to be able to throw five guys out there and everything is clicking on all cylinders, and you have a new system and a new staff and new players and every thing is working great. But that just hasn’t been the case,” Roberts said. “… I think it’s still a work in progress. Hopefully they’ll be finishing strong. If you think of the season in quarters, they’re into the second quarter and hopefully by the end of the second quarter into the second half of the season, they’ll start playing and clicking along.”

What the O-line does well

The struggles on the offensive line have been well documented for the Seahawks. But is there something the unit is doing well? Brock and Salk co-host Mike Salk asked Roberts for his thoughts.

“That’s a hard one because they haven’t had a real good chance to kind of really get grooved in the run game. I think they could be good downhill runners,” Roberts said. “I think last week when you saw Kenneth Walker kind of start to the left and then cut it back to the right (on a 20-yard touchdown run) – kind of (a) between-the-tackles-type offensive line – I think that’s what they could do best. And then I do think that they’re good pass blockers if you get to throw in some play-action pass and get to move the pocket, that kind of stuff. But if you just want them to drop back 55 times and Geno stands in the same spot, then it’s going to be difficult for them.”

Listen to the full conversation with Seattle Seahawks Radio Network analyst Ray Roberts at this link or in the audio player near the top of this story. Tune in to Brock and Salk weekdays from 6-10 a.m. or find the podcast on the Seattle Sports app.

More on the Seattle Seahawks

• Seahawks injury updates on Abe Lucas, DK, Woolen and more
• Macdonald: Seahawks CB made ‘shocking effort’ on touchdown
• How Seahawks’ 6th-round RT Jerrell impressed Macdonald, Geno
• Seahawks’ Ken Walker III celebrates birthday with epic ‘flu game’
• ‘No flinch’: Seahawks’ patchwork secondary steps up in win

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