Christian Haynes has taken a few snaps at center in the Seattle Seahawks’ minicamp this week, and there are two ways to look at the move.
If you are an optimist, you could think that the gifted second-year lineman might constitute an upgrade over both Olu Oluwatimi and Jalen Sundell, two other young players who are projected to compete for the starting center spot. Haynes has not played the position before, but he moves well and has the physical tools to thrive in the middle of the line.
On the other hand, perhaps this is an early sign that Haynes is clearly behind the other right guard options and the Seahawks are desperately looking for a way to salvage the career of last year’s third-round draft pick. The University of Connecticut product struggled mightily last season.
Were he a serious contender at the guard spot, why would new line coach John Benton start shifting him around? Wouldn’t it seem more logical to let Haynes focus all his attention on his primary spot?
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Even if the latter is true, there is still a glass-half-full and a glass-half-empty interpretation available to fans. Perhaps moving Haynes says nothing about his performance but is a sign that at least one of the other right guard candidates – young vets Anthony Bradford and Sataoa Laumea and rookie Bryce Cabeldue – has impressed Benton and offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak so much that they feel comfortable tinkering with other positions.
Or maybe it is indeed all about Haynes. Maybe he has not been able to keep pace with those other players, and, again, Benton is trying whatever he can to find his second-year player a home.
We won’t have the definitive answer to this question until we get a lot closer to the season, but chances are things are not as dire as that last scenario would suggest. We’re just in early June, and this is a time when coaches try a lot of things on for size. You’ll see a lot of surprising players taking turns fielding kicks or lining up at positions they have never played before.
I don’t think we will see Christian Haynes starting at center this season, but it would be nice to know that he could do it in the event of injury to either Oluwatimi or Sundell. And were he ever pressed into service in an emergency, it would be nice for him to have at least had a few reps snapping the ball.
Chances are, that’s all this is. One of dozens a little experiments the coaches will try out over the summer. And even the experiments at center are a signal that Haynes continues to struggle at guard, the prognosis is not all gloom and doom.
Though he did not play the position in college, Haynes does exhibit a lot of the attributes teams want in a center. Scouts have praised his football IQ – the way he picked up stunts and blitzes at Connecticut is evidence of a player who sees and understands the game in the trenches.
The deficiencies he may have in terms of raw athleticism and power may be easier to mask at center, where he will often be tasked with double-teaming opposing tackles.
The Seahawks are putting a new offensive system in place, and in Benton, they have an experienced coach who is developing a very young group of linemen. The hope is that Seattle will have a more consistent approach to running the ball, which will rely on the zone blocking concepts that Haynes played in college.
If that proves to be the case, it may not matter where Christian Haynes lines up. Over the next year or two, he is going to prove whether he belongs in the NFL. If he succeeds, guard or center will be a moot point. Simply having another good young lineman is the key.
Then again, if he shows that the NFL game is simply too physically demanding for him to handle, that position won’t matter either. Seattle currently has eight interior linemen on its roster. There will be others available via free agency throughout the summer. They are likely to keep five on the final roster.
As of now, Christian Haynes would seem to have one of those five spots locked up. But his usage throughout the summer bears watching to see if a few snaps at center is an expansion of his role or a last-gasp attempt to find a spot for a recent high draft pick.