The biggest position battle on the Seahawks’ O-line

There’s going to be a new look on the Seattle Seahawks’ offensive line this fall, specifically on the interior.

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During the team’s mandatory minicamp this past week, veteran offseason addition Laken Tomlinson held down left guard and second-years Olu Oluwatimi and McClendon Curtis manned center and right guard, respectively, for most first-team reps. Those positions aren’t necessarily set in stone with about three months left until the regular season opens, and one in particular is set up to be the most-contested position battle on the front, according to former Seahawks offensive lineman Ray Roberts.

Roberts joined Seattle Sports’ Wyman and Bob recently for a discussion about the O-line and more, and he explained why right guard is the position battle to watch in the trenches.

“I think it’s going to be at the right guard spot, because I think with (Anthony) Bradford missing a lot of the OTAs – and he’s been out there the last couple of days – but for Curtis and for (rookie Christian) Haynes, he kind of opened the door for them to get reps with the first team, to get some tape for the coaches to watch and for them to kind of build confidence in themselves,” Roberts said.

Bradford, an LSU product, was a fourth-round pick in the 2023 draft and comes in with the most experience of the trio, having played 14 games with 10 starts for Seattle as a rookie. He was on the field for 76% of the team’s offensive snaps, per Pro Football Reference. However, as Roberts pointed out, Bradford missed time at camp after tweaking his ankle.

His competition for the position is still rather unproven, though. Curtis was an undrafted free agent by the Las Vegas Raiders out of FCS Tennessee-Chattanooga. Seattle signed Curtis after he was waived by the Raiders, and he played just four special-team snaps in one appearance for the Seahawks. Haynes, a Connecticut product, was Seattle’s third-round pick this season.

“I think that could be a three-man battle right there,” Roberts said, “and it’s going to be interesting to see how they roll the reps once they get in pads and get into the preseason. But I think either three of those guys at this point could maybe win that position.”

Listen to the full conversation with former Seahawks OL Ray Roberts at this link or in the audio player near the top of this story. Tune in to Wyman and Bob weekdays from 2-6 p.m. or find the podcast on the Seattle Sports app.

More Seattle Seahawks coverage

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• After standout spring, JSN primed to be ‘massive piece’ of Seahawks’ offense
• Are LB injuries a concern for Seahawks? A look at where things stand
• Seahawks takeaways: What stands out after minicamp

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