“Guys get overdrafted at (guard) and, in my opinion, they get overpaid.” – John Schneider on Seattle Sports 710

The NCAA tournament begins this week, and Seahawks fans are enduring their annual March madness over John Schneider’s disinterest in building a strong offensive line.

Schneider just doesn’t like to spend on the unit. In eight of the last 10 years, the Hawks have ranked 26^th or worse in money paid along the line, according to OverTheCap. This year, just like 2016, the Seahawks have the cheapest offensive line in the NFL. And it very likely will remain that way.

The situation is so dire that they are basically holding open tryouts to replace Damien Lewis at left guard. Former Rams backup Tremayne Anchrum Jr. signed Monday, saying, “I wanted to come somewhere where there was opportunity.” This is a guy who played all of 90 snaps at right guard last season. And the Hawks apparently expect him to be in the mix to start at left guard.

The Hawks have one sure thing on the line: left tackle Charles Cross. George Fant is a solid backup plan at right tackle, if Abe Lucas is held back by his surgically fixed knee.

But center and right guard are unproven. Olu Oluwatimi and Anthony Bradford are the projected starters at this point, with no real contenders to push them. (Career backup Nick Harris is behind Olu.)

The last time the Hawks went this young and cheap on the line was 2016, and it led to their worst offense in the Russell Wilson era: 18^th in scoring and 14^th in EPA (tied for worst with the 2021 offense). Schneider actually lamented that he went too young on that line, which featured a rookie Fant at left tackle, a rookie Germain Ifedi and three others with two years of experience or less.

That is exactly where the Seahawks are right now – two third-year guys, two second-year guys and a TBD. That’s a recipe for a repeat of 2016 or perhaps 2023, when they were 17th in scoring and (somehow) 10th in EPA.

Why does Schneider think it’s OK to go cheap on the offensive line like this? And why is he unlikely to draft an interior lineman in the first round?

History.

In 2015, they had the 30^th-ranked OL payroll and ranked fourth in scoring and second in EPA, thanks to Wilson and Doug Baldwin lighting it up in the second half of that season after they switched centers from untested, overmatched Drew Nowak to Patrick Lewis. They often succeeded despite bad blocking, which ranked 30^th vs. the pass and 26^th on the ground (per Corbin Smith’s research).

In 2018, they had the 26^th payroll but a more experienced line led by Duane Brown, Justin Britt, J.R. Sweezy. They ranked sixth in both scoring and EPA.  That was the best pass-blocking line they have had in the last decade – and it still ranked just 18^th in the NFL.

In 2020, they ranked 26^th in payroll again – with Brown the only notable salary — and were top 10 in both offensive measures. They were the best run-blocking crew Seattle has had since 2013.

Of course, those lines were never good enough in the playoffs. Carolina’s stout defensive line dominated that 2015 O-line. Dallas stopped Seattle’s running game cold in 2018. Wilson was sacked five times by the Rams in the 2020 playoff loss.

The line has only gotten worse the past three years. Last year, they were playing a bunch of young guys and one low-paid center (Evan Brown), ranking 30^th in payroll. They ranked 17^th in scoring and 28^th in pass blocking and, with a big assist from their horrible defense, missed the playoffs for the second time in three years.

Schneider has very rarely paid guards. In 2011, he signed Robert Gallery from the Raiders to a three-year deal averaging $5 million. In 2017, Seattle had Luke Joeckel for $8 million. In 2021, Schneider traded for Gabe Jackson (again from the Raiders) and gave him a three-year deal worth $7.5 million. Neither Gallery nor Jackson played out those deals, which probably further validated in Schneider’s mind the idea that he should not pay guards.

Heading into this league year, Schneider knew they were not going to pay Lewis. But the GM still has done nothing substantial to replace him.

That leads some to hope and project that Schneider will draft UW left tackle Troy Fautanu and insert him at left guard. The Hawks have drafted tackles (James Carpenter and Ifedi) and bumped them inside before – but that was after trying them at right tackle first. The Hawks do not need a left tackle, so Fautanu would be coming in as a guard – and that does not fit Schneider’s MO.

He has never drafted a true guard above the third round, and Lewis is the only one of three from that round who played his entire rookie deal in Seattle. Troubled John Moffitt, drafted a round earlier than he should have been, was traded after two years and Rees Odhiambo, also overdrafted, could not stay healthy.

The Hawks drafted Bradford in the fourth round and Olu in the fifth round last year, and they likely will be looking for another guard or two in the middle rounds again.

Schneider likely will add another low-salary veteran guard at some point, and then he will hope Ryan Grubb and Scott Huff can coach up the youngsters. But that is a big leap of faith across a couple of chasms of NFL inexperience, so everyone should be prepared for yet another rough season up front.