Some things are inevitable. The list includes death, taxes, Thanos and Pro Football Focus hating the Seahawks offensive line. To be fair, Seattle’s front five has never been a strength for this team during the Pete Carroll era, even when it was the most-expensive unit in the league. No matter the personnel involved, over the years, PFF has consistently ranked the Seahawks offensive line as one of the NFL’s worst. This year is no different.
Their newest offensive line rankings have dropped. As expected, the Eagles continue to dominate the competition, remaining at the No. 1 spot. Down at the bottom of the list you’ll find the Cardinals (31) and the Titans (32) – the only two teams ranked lower than these Seahawks (30).
At least they admitted that if both Abe Lucas and Charles Cross take a step forward then their ranking will be too low:
“Seattle’s line largely rests on the development of its young tackles, Charles Cross and Abraham Lucas. While both played well early, each fell off substantially as their rookie seasons wore on… If those tackles play well, this ranking is too low. But if they don’t improve, this is a group that could struggle badly given its interior personnel.”
It’s not a great interior, but by their own grades left guard Damien Lewis had a very respectable 2022 season, posting a perfectly-decent 66.7 run blocking grade and a solid 72.6 pass blocking grade (71.8 overall).
Seattle got rid of the weakest link – which was right guard Gabe Jackson. He’s been replaced by Phil Haynes, who played about half the snaps at that spot last season. He had below-average grades (57.1 overall) but not terrrible.
Much will hinge on the center spot – where we are expecting rookie Olu Oluwatimi to take over as the starter at some point this year, even if it’s not Week 1. For now Evan Brown remains PFF’s projected starter and they must not think very highly of his game. He posted a strong run blocking grade last year (69.5) but was poor in pass protection (45.5).
As for Lucas and Cross, they may have fallen off some in the second half of the season but that’s to be expected of most rookies playing challenging positions for the first time at this level. We saw enough to be convinced of their potential and fully expect them to develop into quality starters. If Oluwatimi can do the same then this ranking may seem absurd by mid-season.
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