Seeking Line Help, Seahawks Continue to Kick Tires on Veteran Guards
[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="1648"]
Tennessee Titans guard Dillon Radunz attempts to make a block during a preseason game against the New Orleans Saints. Credit: Sipa USA/Alamy Live News [/caption]
In the aftermath of coming up short in pursuit of signing former Indianapolis Colts guard Will Fries earlier this month, the Seattle Seahawks have played host to three additional veteran guards this week as they continue to search for reinforcements to help a much-maligned offensive line during the second phase of free agency.
Per various reports, Seattle already hosted New Orleans guard Lucas Patrick for a visit on Monday, while Chicago guard Teven Jenkins was scheduled to meet with the team on Monday night. On Tuesday, NFL Network insider Mike Garafolo added another guard to the growing list, reporting former Tennessee second-round pick Dillon Radunz would be flying out to the VMAC for a meeting that could extend into Wednesday.
Diving into that group of targets for the Seahawks, Patrick likely would be the safest signee with the highest floor, as he has generally been durable with the exception of a toe injury in 2022 and played substantial snaps for new offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak and offensive line coach John Benton with the Saints last season. Starting 10 games in 2024 - eight at left guard and two at center - he allowed just 10 pressures and no sacks in pass protection for New Orleans while receiving a solid 68.7 zone blocking grade from Pro Football Focus in the run game.
Impressively, Patrick ranked sixth among qualified guards with at least 500 offensive snaps last season with a 98.4 percent pass block efficiency rate, though he did get flagged for six penalties, including four holding infractions. Set to turn 32 years old in late July, he’s no longer in the prime of his career and likely would be a place holder rather than a long-term starting option at either center or guard, but he would still provide much-needed veteran leadership for a young offensive line featuring three guards and a center - Anthony Bradford, Christian Haynes, Sataoa Laumea, and Olu Oluwatimi - who were picked in the previous two NFL drafts.
In terms of upside, Jenkins and Radunz both came into the league as second-round selections for the Bears and Titans in 2021 respectively, but neither player quite lived up to lofty expectations as high draft picks due to injuries and inconsistent performance.
When healthy, Jenkins has flashed Pro Bowl-caliber talent in spurts, demonstrating the power and athleticism at the line of scrimmage teams covet from guards in modern NFL offenses. Last season, while he surrendered four sacks on rookie Caleb Williams, he only gave up 17 pressures and posted a 97.7 percent pass block efficiency rate, which ranked 17th out of 54 guards.
Still just 27 years old, Jenkins also received a respectable 70.5 zone blocking grade, ranking 23rd out of 62 guards with at least 225 run blocking snaps, which shouldn’t come as a surprise with him being a former left tackle who slid inside and possesses top-tier athletic traits for the position.
But Jenkins has battled frequent injuries throughout his career, including five separate ailments for the Bears last season. While he started 14 games, that number proves to be a bit misleading, as he exited three of those games early and did not return. In his first three seasons, he missed a combined 20 regular season games, creating major durability questions moving forward.
As for Radunz, the former North Dakota State suffered a torn ACL towards the tail end of the 2022 season, missing the final three games and five games total that year. But he did manage to return from that injury quickly, suiting up for 16 games and making 11 starts in 2023. He played in all but three games over the previous two seasons, proving to be more reliable availability-wise than Jenkins.
On the field, however, Radunz has been incredibly hit-and-miss while bouncing up and down the offensive line in Tennessee. He opened his career at left tackle, seeing snaps in place of injured starter Taylor Lewan, before sliding inside to see action at both guard spots prior to his ACL injury in 2022. Upon his return, the Titans moved him to right tackle in 2023 and then he finally settled in at right guard last season, playing all 903 of his snaps at the same position.
As a pass protector, while he did allow six sacks, the 26-year old Radunz made marked improvements moving back inside last year compared to the 2023 season, including boosting his pass block efficiency rate from 95.2 percent to 97.1 percent. He also cut his penalties by more than 50 percent after being flagged 11 times in the season prior, as he wasn’t as grabby going against defensive tackles in a phone booth as he was on an island against quicker edge rushers.
But unfortunately, Radunz’s game took a big step back as a run blocker, where his lean 6-6, 301-pound frame doesn’t lend itself well to being able to move defenders off the line and he regularly lost the leverage battle. Interestingly, he finished seventh (78.7) in run blocking grade among tackles in 2023 before seeing his grade plunge to 53.6 last season, ranking a dreadful 47th out of 49 qualified guards.
Thinking big picture, Patrick, Jenkins, and Radunz all remain unsigned more than a week into free agency for a variety of reasons. As an aging player now heading into his ninth NFL season, Patrick doesn’t have the untapped potential Jenkins and Radunz may still have, while the other two players carry durability concerns and neither have demonstrated enough consistency on the field to warrant lucrative contracts from other guard-needy teams.
Considering how poorly the Seahawks played in the trenches on offense last season, any one of the three aforementioned players still may be a significant upgrade from what the team deployed at the guard spots a season ago, but they each carry varying levels of risk as well. With the rest of the league now tightening up their wallets after the early free agent spending spree and the draft drawing closer, Schneider can take his time assessing all options this week before deciding whether it is worth it or not to take a flier on any of them.
