Seattle Seahawks shuffle offensive line starters

After giving up seven sacks and getting one the quarterbacks injured in last Friday’s preseason game, the Seattle Seahawks are making changes. The offensive line played very poorly, and it seems the coaches took notice.

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The big news out of camp today was the shuffling on the offensive line. Justin Britt, the 2nd year player who started at RT as a rookie, becomes the 5th player to get a tryout for the starting LG job. In his absence, Gary Gilliam was the starting RT today.

This isn’t just the typical “moving guys around” thing by Tom Cable. None of the LG candidates have looked competent. Glowinski and Sokoli need time to develop. Martin and Bailey just aren’t guys who will ever play at a level high enough to be a starter at that spot.

While a bit tall for an OG at 6’6″, Britt profiles almost exclusively as a guard from an athletic standpoint. His stocky build, short-ish arms, and below average lateral footwork have always made it an uphill battle for him to stick at OT.

That doesn’t mean that Britt cannot be a decent starter at RT. He can, but the things that hold him back on the outside won’t do so on the inside. Britt’s run blocking power gives him a chance to become an elite guard.

Gilliam getting a shot at RT should make Seahawks fans happy. He’s a guy with the quick feet of an elite pass blocker. It’ll be a nice change of pace from the Britt and Breno Giacomini type that the Seahawks have used in recent years.

Gilliam was an undrafted free agent a year ago. He’s a converted TE, and he showed off his athleticism when he caught a touchdown for the Seahawks in the NFCCG last year.

His body type still looks a bit like a TE though. While he’s got great footwork, he lacks the power to be a true road grater in the running game.

Overall, we still don’t know if this change will stick for the Seahawks. It is the type of thing that works on paper, but we won’t know for a few days if Cable likes what he sees from this new alignment.

Next: BJ Daniels making a case to stick on the 53 man roster

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