The Seattle Seahawks have several needs to address entering the 2025 NFL draft. Adding another high-end cornerback would be nice. Getting a young receiver to join the group that includes 30-plus-year-olds Cooper Kupp and Marquez Valdes-Scantling would also be a nice find. But the team has to try to fix its offensive line.
Seattle has done little to address the need in free agency. If anything, the team is worse than it was last year after losing left guard Laken Tomlinson in free agency. General manager John Schneider has missed on every offensive lineman that has visited except presumed backup Josh Jones.
If Seattle does not find linemen, especially interior offensive linemen, early in the draft, then Schneider's job should be in question. Overall, the team has been successful since he became the GM in 2010, but the clear need this offseason, even before the team traded quarterback Geno Smith and wide receiver DK Metcalf, was to try to fix the O-line.
Many NFL pundits expect the Seattle Seahawks to take Grey Zabel in the 2025 NFL draft
The positive part is that the 2025 draft appears deep with potentially high-quality guards and centers. Expecting Seattle to take one of those positions with the team's first-round pick seems foolish, as Schneider simply does not do that, but that has not stopped several draft analysts from predicting the Seahawks would go in that direction in round one.
One name is beginning to emerge as well.
According to Bucky Brooks of NFL.com, Michael Middlehurst-Schwartz of USA Today, and Ben Standig of The Athletic, Seattle will choose North Dakota State offensive lineman Grey Zabel at pick number 18 overall. Except for the fact that Schneider eschews taking IOLs in the first round, the choice makes sense.
Zabel has excellent technique, excellent strength, good size at 6'6" and 312 pounds, and quickness, which makes him a perfect fit in offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak's scheme, which uses a lot of outside zone runs. He played left tackle in 2024, but during his college career, he also played right tackle and left guard. During Senior Bowl week, he played a lot of center and did so very well.
Middlehurst-Schwartz wrote, "(Zabel) can shore up the pressing deficiency at guard and looks tailor-made for a heavy dose of outside zone runs."
Brooks said, "As a five-position player with a high IQ and polished technique, Zabel's perfect for a Seahawks front that needs upgrades across the board."
Standig wrote, "This might be the most need-versus-best-player-available battle in the first round...The powerful lineman can play everywhere. Seattle needs him at guard."
This all goes to say that Zabel gets nearly universal praise and is ready to step in and contribute on day one for the Seahawks. He is an elite fit in what Kubiak wants to do. The issue is that John Schneider is unlikely to select him in the 2025 NFL draft.
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