Seattle Seahawks 90-Man Roundup: Can Anthony Bradford Maintain Starting Role?

After being selected in the fourth round of the 2023 NFL Draft, Anthony Bradford started 10 games for the Seahawks. Can he fend off a new challenger?

Dec 10, 2023; Santa Clara, California, USA; Seattle Seahawks guard Anthony Bradford (75) blocks San Francisco 49ers defensive tackle Javon Kinlaw (left) during the third quarter at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-USA TODAY Sports / Darren Yamashita-USA TODAY Sports

The Seattle Seahawks will open training camp at the VMAC in less than a month, officially ushering in the first season under new coach Mike Macdonald.

In preparation for the new incoming season, we’ll be detailing every member of the Seahawks 90-man roster over the next several weeks, diving into scheme fits, exploring best and worst case scenarios and predicting what to expect from each player entering the 2024 campaign.

Will Anthony Bradford be able to maintain his starting job at right guard with Christian Haynes breathing down his neck?

Background

A four-star recruit per 247 Sports from Muskegon High School in Michigan, Bradford enrolled at LSU in 2019, playing for the Tigers over the course of four seasons. During 2019 and 2020, Bradford played just 29 snaps and followed that up with just 259 snaps as a junior in 2021. He started all but one game protecting for Jayden Daniels. During 2022, he was a consistent run blocker with a Pro Football Focus grade of 70.0. His pass blocking was massively inconsistent. Bradford had three games with PFF grades above 83.0 but three other games that were disasters at 30.3, 20.2 and 17.8. The Seahawks selected Bradford in the fourth round at 108th overall in the 2023 NFL Draft. His run-blocking consistency took a slight hit and the pass-blocking issues persisted. Some of that is the transition to the NFL game, but a 0.0 pass-blocking grade over 37 pass-blocking snaps against the Philadelphia Eagles stood out as one of the worst performances by a guard in the league. He finished with an overall grade of 51.7 as a rookie over 659 total snaps.

Scheme Fit

With Bradford's size and power profile, he thrives when the Seahawks runs gap concepts. He moves bodies with relative ease, especially in power and duo runs where he can thrive in double teams. Zone concepts are a little more difficult, as he lacks the foot quickness to get into space despite testing better than expected at the 2023 NFL Combine.

Best Case Scenario

As the incumbent starter, Bradford gets the first opportunity to run with the first team. He shows growth from year to year as a pass blocker by preventing the disaster plays from happening and raising his floor. In the running game, an offseason in the strength and conditioning program helped him this offseason to be more fleet of foot and he can operate well in the zone concepts offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb likes to run.

Worst Case Scenario

Despite being a second-year player, Bradford doesn't learn enough from his struggles and past issues continue to haunt him. His pass blocking continues to see a wide disparity of success which hinders the offense in a major way. In turn, Bradford struggles to make reach blocks in zone concepts due to his size and lack of foot speed. He loses the starting job to rookie Christian Haynes and is a reserve for the season.

What to Expect in 2024

Having starting experience is a good thing when it comes to playing offensive line in the National Football League. Bradford's experiences, both poor and good, will make a difference for him going into his second year. However, with Grubb bringing in a new offensive scheme, that doesn't give him the same advantage it would have if Shane Waldron would have stayed.

Bradford is the likely starter in Week 1 due to his experience and being the incumbent. However, the Seahawks did draft Haynes in the third round. He possesses the same power profile that Bradford does but is a better mover in space and was a much better and more consistent pass blocker in college, including one game under a 62.7 pass blocking grade per PFF. Keep an eye on that position battle once camp opens, as it could be the most competitive in regard to a starting spot up for grabs, with Bradford entering the season as a slight favorite.

Previous 90-Man Roundups

Buddha Jones | Devin Richardson | TaMerik Williams | Rason Williams II | Ro Torrence | Nathan Pickering | Dee Williams | Devere Levelston | Kobe Lewis | Sunny Anderson | Mike Novitsky | Max Pircher | Easton Gibbs | Hayden Hatten | Garret Greenfield | Carlton Johnson | Matt Gotel |George Holani | Cody White | Ty Okada | Drake Thomas | McClendon Curtis | Easop Winston Jr. |Nelson Ceaser | Jonathan Sutherland | Lance Boykin | Joshua Onujiogu | Patrick O'Connell |Jack Westover | Raiqwon O'Neal | Tyler Mabry | Dareke Young | Tremayne Anchrum | DJ James | Artie Burns | Kenny McIntosh | Myles Adams | Dee Eskridge | Stone Forsythe | Tyrice Knight |Jerrick Reed II | Mike Morris | Coby Bryant | Jake Bobo | Jon Rhattigan | Nick Harris | Johnathan Hankins | Derick Hall | Laviska Shenault | PJ Walker | K'Von Wallace | Sam Howell |Sataoa Laumea | Pharaoh Brown | Michael Dickson | Tre Brown | A.J. Barner | Darrell Taylor | Mike Jackson | Zach Charbonnet | Rayshawn Jenkins