Announcing Bradford as a full-time starter may not seem like earth-shattering news, as LSU’s second-year tackle started all eight of Seattle’s games and played 80 percent of the team’s offensive snaps. But getting a 20% snap share rarely happens in the NFL when it comes to the offensive line, because teams don’t often rotate players in the trenches, and that’s still a substantial amount of snaps that he did not receive this year following a development. point of view.

Thanks to these opportunities, Bradford had a tough sophomore season, especially in pass protection. According to Pro Football Focus rankings, he allowed 20 quarterback pressures and four sacks, fifth and third among guards in those two categories, respectively. His pass blocking efficiency rate of 95.6% ranks him 52nd out of 55 qualified blockers at his position, and when he’s taking away screens, playing play action and playing with fewer than four rushers in the equation, he was even worse in “real passing sets” with a 91.7. percentage efficiency rate.

But as Grubb noted Thursday, the Seahawks have felt that Bradford has been the more consistent player compared to Haynes and has made major strides in recent weeks, citing his performance on the practice field as a major factor in the decision to end the peloton.

After allowing 18 pressures in the first six games, Bradford has given up just two total in the last two games without giving up any sacks, ranking 12th out of 47 guards in pass blocking efficiency (98 %) during this period. Playing with better discipline as the season has progressed, after being flagged seven times in the first three weeks, he has also not been penalized in the five games since.

While the PFF grades may not bear it out, Seattle also feels much better about Bradford as a run blocker than Haynes does at this point. Earlier in the season, Grubb indicated that Haynes needed to improve his play strength by working against NFL defensive tackles, acknowledging that Bradford was well ahead of him in that regard and implying that the coaching staff had much more confidence in the veteran to get the job done. the line of scrimmage.

Rather than continuing to shuffle his rookie counterpart into the lineup, after seeing Bradford take another positive step in last week’s loss to the Bills, the Seahawks want to maximize his chances for growth and help build cohesion right away. departure.

“He’s getting better,” Grubb said. “I thought he did a better job finishing. His execution was better and he had a really good week of practice. I thought that was something that showed in the game. He didn’t certainly wasn’t perfect, far from it He’s still working on things as a young player, but he’s finishing stronger and he’s playing with a better level of pad and he’s starting to live up to some of the things that. we think it can do.

Long term, the decision to stick with Bradford as the every-down starter right now doesn’t mean Haynes won’t become a starter in time and it’s still far too early to characterize him as a third-round bust. Given Grubb’s blunt assessment of his strength earlier in the season, a full offseason of hitting the weight room will be critical to his development, and Seattle could still plan for a future with him and Bradford in the lineup together as meetings at each guard post. .

But right now, after giving him 104 snaps over the first eight games to show what he can do, the Seahawks clearly don’t think Haynes is ready for prime time yet. Understanding the importance of allowing the same five blockers to build camaraderie during games, choosing to roll with Bradford moving forward likely gives the team the best chance to win games for the rest of the schedule while also providing a thorough evaluation of the player for the future.

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