If you write a lot about any NFL team, you are going to get some things exactly right and some other things embarrassingly wrong. Here are some things I got right about the Seattle Seahawks in 2025.
Jalen Sundell was the true starting center (that one dates back to early 2024). Nick Emmanwori was the next Kyle Hamilton (that one dates back to the pre-draft period last year). And if this team was going to really thrive this year, they would need Kenneth Walker III to claim control of the backfield.
Here’s where I whiffed. I didn’t see Drake Thomas coming at all. I thought Abraham Lucas was a major question mark at right tackle. And I seriously underestimated what DeMarcus Lawrence was going to bring to the defense. (There’s more, but that’s enough self-praise and self-flagellation for one article.)
Once reviled Seattle Seahawks player is now a champion
But here’s something I still don’t completely have a handle on. And I really don’t think anyone who follows the Seahawks does either.
How good is Anthony Bradford? Is he really as bad as Pro Football Focus (subscription required) would have us believe? He finished 73rd out of 79 graded guards in 2025. His pass blocking grade was even lower – third-worst in the entire NFL.
But what do you do with the following stat?
Anthony Bradford played the third most snaps on a team that just won 17 out of 20 games and posted a dominating win in the Super Bowl? In other words, Anthony Bradford was a significant contributor on a championship team.
I realize – everyone realizes – that this version of the Seahawks is predicated on defense. They did not win because of the offense. They won because of a spectacular defense.
But let’s not totally write off Seattle’s offense. In the regular season, that offense finished third in scoring, fourth in yards-per-play, and eighth in total yards. They did that with a quarterback who was doubted by plenty of experts and without a superior number two receiving option.
When the game was on the line, going up against a very stout Patriots’ defense, that offense ran the ball well, allowed just one sack, and did not commit a turnover. The offensive line paved the way for Kenneth Walker III to run for 135 yards and win the MVP.
Even if you agree with those PFF rankings, you have to acknowledge that the starting right guard, who played well over 1,000 snaps this season, had something to do with that.
I have seen Anthony Bradford play some very good football for Seattle. On Walker’s 29-yard run that set up the second field goal, it was great blocks from Bradford and Sundell that sprung him. That’s the good Anthony Bradford.
Later, when Milton Williams ran through him to get New England’s only sack of the night, we saw the bad Anthony Bradford.
Likely, Bradford will not be back next season. He is a pending free agent, and any team employing a straight-ahead power running game could do far worse than having Bradford at guard. That is not Seattle. They have other options who might fit into their zone blocking scheme a little better.
But none of them emerged to take Bradford’s spot in 2025. And in 2025, the Seahawks, with Anthony Bradford playing almost every snap at right guard, were the best team in the entire NFL. They didn’t do it with smoke and mirrors.
Anthony Bradford may never be an elite offensive lineman, but let’s stop calling him the worst guard in the NFL. At least for now, let’s just call him a Super Bowl champion.