By the time the 2025 NFL Draft actually took place, it was pretty well-known that Seattle Seahawks general manager John Schneider was going to select North Dakota State’s Grey Zabel in the first round. Longtime observers of Schneider had been initially skeptical. Schneider had never seemed to value interior linemen all that highly.
That isn’t news. In general, guards and centers are not held in the same esteem – or paid as highly – as offensive tackles. In his fifteen years as GM, Schneider had spent one first-round pick on an interior lineman.
In an odd twist, that player, Germain Ifedi (class of 2016), ended up playing tackle for much of his NFL career. That counterbalanced James Carpenter (class of 2011), a first-round tackle who rather quickly shifted to guard.
With the Seattle Seahawks' Grey Zabel, ignore the hype and accept the results
That is the same trajectory Zabel was to follow. He was a tackle in college but was projected at either center or guard in the pros. With the departure of veteran left guard Laken Tomlinson after the 2024 season, there was a gaping hole on the Seahawks' line, one that Zabel was expected to step into.
Zabel did everything he was asked to do. The Seahawks' offensive line, which had been a problem area in 2024, got a lot better at blocking for both the pass and the run. Much of that success had to do with the healthy return of right tackle Abraham Lucas.
But Zabel certainly deserves a lot of credit. Just how much credit can be hard to gauge. Zabel’s ceiling rises or falls depending on who is providing the analysis. I have seen him listed right up there with the league’s best young linemen in some reports. Others have him lingering in the middle of the pack.
NFL.com recently included him on their all-under-25 team, along with the only guard chosen ahead of him in the 2025 draft, Dallas’ Tyler Booker. That seems about right. But, to be fair, there isn’t a lot of competition. Interior linemen can and do start early in their careers, but given the immense physical strength required to play the position, most don’t hit their peak until later in their 20s.
Other guards like Tennessee’s Peter Skoronski and Dallas’ Tyler Smith just missed the age cutoff for the NFL.com list. If not, they almost certainly would have displaced Zabel. Perhaps if Las Vegas’ Jackson Powers-Johnson had not missed half of 2025 with an ankle injury, he would have taken Zabel’s place.
But the fact is, those things did not happen, and Zabel was justly recognized. He stepped into a difficult situation and more than held his own.
Another recent ranking – this one from Pro Football Focus (subscription required) – may put Zabel’s current status in a more realistic perspective. PFF had him ranked 25th out of all NFL guards. That essentially means that he is clearly above-average, but is still far from elite. And quite frankly, that sounds about right.
For now.
One of the things that everyone who knows Zabel raves about is his workmanlike attitude. Upon his return to camp last week, the 24-year-old spoke about how he spent his summer working on the family farm. That not only endears him to fans … it also indicates a player who is going to basically keep his head down and keep working.
That makes him an ideal fit with Seattle. To be sure, the Seahawks have some big-time talent. Zabel had three teammates – Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Byron Murphy II, and Nick Emmanwori – on that under-25 team. But for the most part, their players do not grab headlines.
Not like the Rams with their Myles Garrett and Aaron Donald news. I’ve seen Puka Nacua’s name in print far more this offseason than Smith-Njigba’s, and usually not for the right reasons.
Zabel is an almost classic Seahawk. Not many FCS players turn into first-round draft picks. (North Dakota State has now moved into the FBS, but were FCS when Zabel was there.) He stuck it out at the school when he had offers to leave. He played wherever he was needed. He won championships.
In just one season as a pro, Grey Zabel has basically done the same thing he did in college. So, it’s true, he may not be the best guard in the NFL right now. And he may never rise to that level. But I wouldn’t come to any conclusions just yet. Grey Zabel is already a very good player, and he is going to get better.
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