The first preseason outing for the Seattle Seahawks was largely a success. The team came away healthy and learned a lot about its young players.
A lot of focus early was on the offensive line. On the Seahawks' first offensive possession, they drove the ball down the field, largely thanks to three positive run plays totalling 42 yards. Even without a full complement of starters on both sides of the line of scrimmage, it was a positive sign for Seattle fans after an offseason of worry up front.
Of course, the bulk of the attention goes to first-round pick Grey Zabel. While there were some early hiccups from the North Dakota State product, he ultimately put in a solid performance in his first taste of NFL action.
Grey Zabel wastes no time showing his value to the Seattle Seahawks
Zabel earned two shoutouts for his performance: one from Brian Baldinger, the other from Pro Football Focus (subscription required). PFF gave Zabel an 81.2 overall grade, which was the fourth-highest grade on Seattle’s offense for the preseason opener. As for Baldinger, he sang Zabel’s praises in a tape breakdown posted to X.
“Pick any play, any play that he played last night. No bad plays,” Baldinger said. “Like, he’s just wiring these guys up one after another.”
Zabel certainly wasn’t perfect. The most critical play for many Seahawks fans was the first one, and that is a rep that Zabel lost. He recovered and prevented a hurried throw, but most fans picked up on him getting rocked back on his first snap.
From there, though, Zabel played a clean game and buried a few Raiders into the turf along the way. That’s exactly what Seahawks fans were hoping to see, and he delivered.
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Seahawks fans can grow a bit more comfortable with the state of the left side of the line moving forward. Charles Cross and Zabel anchor Sam Darnold’s blind side, drawing more attention elsewhere on the offensive line.
How things ultimately shake out remains to be seen over the next two weeks, but at least Jalen Sundell had a strong start at center with his old Bison teammate to his immediate left.
Coming out of an FCS program and even being an interior offensive lineman, many questioned the decision to take Zabel with the No. 18 overall selection. But the need in the middle of the offense was too great to ignore. Thankfully, Zabel has already gotten off to a strong start in proving his worth at such a high selection.