Clayton: Seahawks are not the only contender with offensive line woes

The Seahawks’ lagging offense is one of the main takeaways from the preseason, and the lackluster offensive line play has been a primary culprit. But John Clayton said Seattle is not alone, as the NFL seems to have a shortage of quality offensive linemen.

“Obviously there are concerns in the Seahawks offensive line,” Clayton said Monday on 710 ESPN Seattle’s “Brock and Salk.” “You go around the league, you can find probably 28 spaces between guard and guard where there’s offensive line problems.”

Clayton specifically called out Indianapolis, Denver and New England – all major Super Bowl contenders – as having holes on the O-line.

“There are a lot of substandard offensive lines starting out this season,” Clayton said.

Guard is one of the most underwhelming positions, Clayton said, with players like Marshal Yanda and Jahri Evans, who stick around with the teams that drafted them, being fewer and far between. Clayton said the seven or eight highest-paid left guards are ones who jumped to other teams in their first chance at free agency.

“What happens is a guard moves onto another team, then he turns out to be maybe a little bit of a disappointment,” Clayton said.

The Seahawks are starting converted defensive lineman J.R. Sweezy at right guard and former offensive tackle Justin Britt at left guard. Seattle’s starting offense is yet to score a touchdown in three preseason games, but running back Marshawn Lynch has played just three snaps.

You can listen to the discussion as part of John Clayton’s Morning Drive, starting at the 14:55 mark of the podcast of the first hour “Brock and Salk.”

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