It is no big surprise that the Seahawks once again missed out on adding a
notable veteran lineman.

It has been apparent since Teven Jenkins — an injury risk — left the VMAC without a deal that the Hawks likely were going to end up settling on a middling one-year vet again – a la Laken Tomlinson in 2024.

But John Schneider needs to get serious about the offensive line in this draft.

The guard market is always pretty watered down. Most teams keep their best linemen before they hit free agency, so there are always a limited number available.

The Hawks were never in on the top center, Drew Dalman, nor any other snappers – they apparently like their own guys, Olu Oluwatimi and Jalen Sundell.

To their credit, they bid high for the top guard, Will Fries, and they then did their diligence on oft-injured Jenkins (listed by The Athletic as the fourth-best guard on the market). He signed with Cleveland. They also brought in two other second-tier guards, Lucas Patrick and Dillon Radunz. Patrick signed with Cincinnati and Radunz went on to other visits.

The remaining veteran options all have flaws: Brandon Scherff is 33, Will Hernandez is coming off an ACL injury, Dalton Risner is coming off a back injury. There are a few other backups out there as well. Not really any good options.

As Schneider told 710 AM on Thursday: “You can’t just throw money at marginal play. We want to be a championship team. We don’t want to be an average team. And so we can sign guys that can fill a specific role, but it’s not at a point right now where you’re gonna go sign a guy that’s for sure gonna be your starting left guard or right guard. That’s just what it is. I wish I could tell you different.”

This means the Hawks really need to consider using two picks in the first two rounds on O-linemen – a left guard and a right tackle/guard.

Schneider seems to understand that, saying previously that he wants to pattern the Hawks’ line development after the Philadelphia Eagles. If he does, that means drafting linemen high. The Eagles have a first-rounder and two second-rounders on their line – and most of the top NFL lines are built with that kind of draft capital.

“The draft is strong. It feels like a really nice group,” Schneider said. “And we like the guys we drafted last year – the younger guys that we have in that room. And our coaches were excited to come here and work with those guys as well. (They) saw an upside in them.”

But the Hawks simply cannot rely on their inexperienced Day 3 linemen to all take big steps under Klint Kubiak’s staff – even if the coaches might like what Schneider has given them to work with.

Looking ahead to five weeks from now, the Hawks need to focus very clearly on adding talented linemen at the top of the draft. They ideally need a guy who can play left guard, even if he is moving inside after playing left tackle in college. And they should look ahead to a possible replacement for Abe Lucas at right tackle in 2026 – find a guy who might also be able to play guard.

With the 18^th pick, the top options appear to be Alabama left guard Tyler Booker (6-5, 321) and Texas left tackle Kelvin Banks Jr. (6-5, 315), who would move inside to left guard.

If Schneider were to move down in the first round, he could look at North Dakota State’s Grey Zabel (6-6, 305) or Ohio State left guard Donovan Jackson (6-4, 320).

If Schneider decides to use the first-round pick on another position, the second-round line prospects would include:

• Oregon left tackle Josh Conerly (6-5, 311)
• Minnesota left tackle Aireontae Ersery (6-6, 330)
• Purdue right tackle/guard Marcus Mbow (6-4, 303)
• Arizona right tackle/guard Jonah Savaiinaea (6-5, 336)
• West Virginia left tackle Wyatt Milum (6-6, 313)
• Georgia right guard Tate Ratledge (6-6, 308)

One best-case scenario would be getting Banks or Booker at 18 and then Mbow or Savaiinaea in the second round. That would create a line of Charles Cross, Banks/Booker, Olu, Mbow/Savaiinaea and Lucas in 2025, with Mbow/Savaiinaea possibly moving to right tackle in 2026 to replace Lucas.

An even better move, if possible, would be to trade down to the bottom of the first and draft Jackson or Zabel while getting another Day 2 pick.

If Schneider forgoes a lineman until the 50^th or 52^nd pick, he will be looking at that second group of linemen and then having to shuffle guys around – not ideal.

New coaches John Benton, Rick Dennison and Justin Outten might already have ideas. Maybe they are thinking of moving Christian Haynes or Sataoa Laumea or Anthony Bradford to left guard.

No one wants to rely on those guys though. Schneider needs a plug-and-play left guard. So if he does not get Booker, Banks, Jackson or Zabel, that will be considered a fail.

If, however, he adds one of those guys and a right-side lineman in the second round, it could be a good first step to a much better offensive line.

After another free agency fail, that is the only hope we have.