Field Gulls
The Seahawks’ 2024 third-round pick rarely saw the field as a rookie and struggled when he did play.
The term “disappointing” may be a bit of an exaggeration. One year is too short to evaluate a player, especially a rookie. However, this word was used to illustrate more the narrative of Christian Haynes’ first year than his performance on the field. The Seattle Seahawks had to wait a long time after the first round. Seattle waited patiently and managed to draft one of the best guards in the class. The expectation was that Haynes could be the new RG, but he ended the year as a backup to sixth-round pick Sataoa Laumea. Could we expect a jump in production in his second year?
Anthony Bradford starts training camp as the starter. Many head coaches prefer to keep the players who were already in the group, out of “respect.” However, Bradford gets injured and what seemed like the perfect time for Haynes to take over the position does not happen. Who becomes the starter? McClendon Curtis. If you watched Seattle’s preseason games, you’ll notice the concern that Haynes wasn’t be able to beat him.
The season starts and Haynes starts sharing snaps with Bradford. Even though Laken Tomlinson and Bradford form one of the worst guard duos in the league, Haynes can’t get the starting job. That’s until Ryan Grubb and Mike Macdonald say that Haynes was missing snaps due to strength and technique issues.
Bradford gets injured and is placed on IR. Once again, it seems like the perfect time for him to take over as the starter, but that’s not what happens. The team prefers to use Sataoa Laumea, a player who has been inactive all year. This reflects well on what the coaching staff thought of him and, therefore, is a concern for his future.
He finished his rookie season with 167 snaps, 6 pressures allowed, 5 hurries and 1 sack, in addition to 2 fouls. His PFF Pass Block Grade was 51.9 and his Run Block Grade was 49.8.
The Seahawks won this game in Week 2 by a hair. This play would have been a TD for DK Metcalf on a deep pass, but Geno Smith didn’t have time and to make matters worse, it almost turned into an interception. The problem is all from a technical standpoint. Haynes stops moving his feet and tries to make contact with just one hand.
Once again, the pressure he gives has an impact on the pass. This time Geno didn’t have a window, but the pressure made the pass go badly. Haynes has his head up but simply takes too long to get from one defender to another and can’t recover.
Lining up against Dexter Lawrence is not an easy task for anyone. He tries to win with leverage with a technique similar to the forklift, but the DT is very strong. Haynes...
