An interesting experiment has landed in the laps of the Seattle Seahawks. Much-maligned right guard Anthony Bradford was placed on injured reserve and will miss at least four weeks. This isn't a problem; it's an audition.
I, along with a whole lot of the 12s, would be shocked if the Seahawks offer Bradford a contract extension past this season. It's hardly a secret that he's never been an exceptional player. In fact, it's become something of a cottage industry to talk about how bad he is. Rightly so.
Yet here we are, discussing the impact on the Seahawks of losing him for at least a month. That's the wrong attitude. I'm sure the Seattle coaching staff is looking at it in a different light as well, especially offensive line coach John Benton. Maybe a black light with one of those cool posters... Nah, not even that would make Bradford look good.
Who steps up for Bradford: Haynes or Stephens?
I'm not saying they've been dying to move on from Bradford. If that were the case, they simply would have promoted Haynes or Stephens. Of course, the Seahawks are always looking for ways to improve the roster. "Always compete" may not be up on the walls at VMAC anymore, but it doesn't mean the idea has disappeared.
John Schneider moved up in the draft specifically to take Beau Stephens in the fourth round. That wasn't on some random whim or a tip from the coffee guy. This isn't the NY Giants. So far, Stephens hasn't panned out as expected. Then again, he is a rookie in his third week of professional football. Considering the patience Seattle has shown Bradford, we can cut him some slack. Just a little.
As for Christian Haynes, he's had ample opportunity to step up and take Bradford's place. Even if you apply the same logic to him as for Stephens, giving him time to grow into the role, Haynes is overdue. This is his third year in the league, not his third week. It's definitely time for him to step up.
One thing that a lot of fans, and especially the media outside Seattle, overlook is a prized Seahawks concept: continuity. More so than under Pete Carroll, they see the offensive line as a single entity, not just a collection of five guys. Man, I could use a burger right now... Oh, sorry. Anyway, Benton wants not just the five best players on the line - he wants the same players on every play.
There's no freelancing on the offensive line. Whether blocking on pass plays or on a run, the line has to function as a whole. That's why we see the Seahawks O-line play on every snap so often. On the defensive line, even great players like Leonard Williams or Byron Murphy only get about 70 percent of the snaps. Yes, a lot of that is situational, but tell me exactly what situation the Big Cat cannot handle.
So, will it be Haynes? He looked solid when he started for Bradford against the Cardinals last week. Haynes didn't allow a single pressure on 43 snaps or commit a single penalty.
Both are enormous improvements over Bradford, who collects flags like a kid covering his walls in pennants, and earned a pass-blocking grade of 3.1 from Pro Football Focus (subscription required). Remember, that's on a scale of 0-100,
Stephens wasn't terrible, though. He did allow two pressures, which certainly isn't good. But he didn't allow a sack, and the Seahawks' run game was actually a bit more productive with him in the game than with Haynes (4.12 yards to 4.0). Yeah, that's a minuscule difference on a small sample, but he wasn't exactly garbage, either.
What matters is that the Seahawks have a four-week audition to determine who will be playing at right guard next season and into the future. You can expect both Haynes and Stephens to get every chance to prove they're one of the five guys. Okay, I'm out to grab a burger.
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