3 low-key Seahawks who could make a big impact in 2020

Seahawks Player 3: LG Phil Haynes

The Seahawks offensive line has been one of the weakest positions since their last Superbowl run. With a full changing of the guards outside of Duane Brown, there is a lot of potential with this new unit. I am especially high on guard Phil Haynes.

For the improvement to occur, several young players will need to make a big-time impact. Many believe RG Damien Lewis and C BJ Finney will be the difference makers. While I am excited about both players. I think Haynes will showcase he is not only a good guard but a premier guard in the NFL.

Position: Left Guard

Height: 6’4″

Weight: 322lbs

  40-Yard Dash: 5.2s      65th percentile

                     Vertical Jump: 31″       84th percentile      

 Broad Jump: 108″       81st percentile

Bench: 33 reps            91st percentile

Phil Haynes is an explosive athlete. In fact, he graded out as the second-most explosive offensive lineman in his draft. He can play the run or the pass. Haynes is an absolute brute of a man. When you watch his film, he plays like a brick wall. Once he gets his hands on the opponent’s jersey, that player is done.

Last season was more or less a redshirt year for him after he succumbed to an injury early. However, He was forced into the starting left guard position halfway through the Packers playoff game last year.

Haynes was consistently tasked with containing players like Za’Darius Smith, Preston Smith and Kenny Clark. All of which are near-elite players. The Packers after all had a top 5 pass-rushing defense last season. You can watch every offensive snap he had during this game in the below video.

During that game, he did not allow a single sack or a penalty. He was a real difference-maker, on a struggling offensive line. He accomplished this while being thrown into the deep end. Again, I remind you he had not played a single snap across the entire season. While there were obvious lessons to be learned watching the film. One thing is clear, he has the potential to be great.

I fully believe year two will be something special for Phil Haynes and the offensive line. Seattle stumbled across a truly special player and it is about to pay off. Honestly, it was probably for the best that Haynes sat out in year one. This helped him absorb as much knowledge as possible without any of the pressure of being an immediate starter.

He is a late bloomer and was late to the game of football. He didn’t start playing until he was a senior in high school. Last year was just his 6th year playing the sport. Having a season to absorb as much knowledge as possible could end up being key to his development.

Pro Comparison: Laken Tomlinson, G

Role: Full-time starter

Snaps Played: 1025

Sacks Allowed: 2

Penalties Allowed: 3

Snaps Per Sack/Penalty: 205

This snaps per sack/penalty count would have had him ranked second on the 2019 Seahawks roster. Duane Brown would have been the only player to beat him at one sack/penalty per 264 offensive snaps.