Mike Macdonald told reporters Thursday that Nelson, a career left guard, will hold the same position in Seattle. Gray Zabel, noted for his positional flexibility coming into college, will make the move to right guard. That leaves Anthony Bradford, who just returned from injury last week against the Kansas City Chiefs, as the odd man out of the lineup moving forward.
“It’s not an easy situation,” Coach Macdonald said of Bradford’s benching. “I thought Anthony played really good football for us, and he has. He’s earned an important role on our team—a starting-level role. It’s one of those ‘through, not around”‘ kind of things with AB that’s not easy.
“There’s really no way to sugarcoat it—and I think he believes us when we say it about how much we love him. The guys in the locker room love him, he’s a fantastic teammate. We never expected him to jump. [for] joy in this situation because that is not realistic. He’s going to be a great teammate, he’s going to stay ready, and we know how this league works; you play away from him replaying every play. It’s not an easy situation but she’s a tough cookie and the boys will have her back, as well.
Zabel made three starts at right guard while at North Dakota State in 2020. He hasn’t played any right guard snaps in the NFL, but has otherwise started at every position on the offensive line except center.
While Bradford is headed to the bench in the midst of a contract year and some of his best football to date when you include the back-end of last season, Seattle’s guard depth has been bolstered by the Nelson trade. If something happens to Nelson, Zabel could go back to LG and Bradford to RG, or if something happens to Zabel, Bradford goes to RG instead of (since waived) Christian Haynes or rookie Beau Stephens.