Grey Zabel is still the kind of player the Seattle Seahawks can build around, but Week 8 was not the night to throw him into the fire at right guard.
Seattle got blasted by the Chicago Bears 34-17, and the final score almost made the game look closer than it was. Sam Darnold was under pressure early and often, and a big reason was the Seahawks’ decision to start Zabel at right guard for the first time. The result was rough from the jump.
The move came after Seattle acquired Quenton Nelson via trade after Week 7. Shifting Nelson over to the right side would have been a bad ask after everything he has done on the left, and Zabel, a first-round pick in 2025, was never going to sit. That left the Seahawks with a tough choice, and they made the wrong one by benching longtime right guard Anthony Bradford for Zabel right away.
That decision should have waited, at least until Week 9.
Offensive lines need time. They need reps, timing, and communication that usually don’t show up overnight.
Seattle was asking a reshuffled group - with left tackle Charles Cross out - to function like a unit that had been together for much longer than it had. Too much of the line was new, or playing out of place, for that to work cleanly.
Chicago made them pay. The Bears had recently added Jeffery Simmons, and he changed the tone of the game. One elite defensive lineman can blow up an offensive plan, and Simmons did exactly that.
Zabel, meanwhile, had a difficult debut on the right side. He gave up a sack and struggled when asked to pass protect or drive in the run game. The strength is there, but his hesitation showed.
The cleaner solution would have been to keep Bradford at right guard for now. He may not be better than Zabel, but he knows the position better, and that kind of familiarity matters when the rest of the line is already adjusting. Seattle could have started Nelson and Josh Jones, let the group settle in for a week, and then made the switch to Zabel in Week 9.
Instead, the Seahawks took their lumps. Chicago had more energy, Seattle’s line got punished, and the whole thing turned into a forgettable Week 8.
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