Seahawks lineman on a mission of destruction heading into rookie year

Seahawks rookies will report to training camp on Wednesday, bringing an end to the team's 2024 offseason program. This year the biggest ticket item in Seattle's rookie class is first-round pick Byron Murphy II out of Texas. Going into the draft many analysts considered Murphy the top defensive prospect in the class of 2024, including general manager John Schneider.

After Murphy the Seahawks and their fans had to wait quite a while before they landed on their next pick. When they were finally back on the clock in the third round they wound up taking UConn guard Christian Haynes. While it's not hard to see Murphy thriving at this next level, Haynes (and just about every other non-first-rounder) is more of a crap shoot. He is relatively undersized for an NFL lineman at 6-foot-2, 313 pounds and so far he has only been working with the second-team offensive line unit.

However, Haynes does have the right kind of mentality. Here's what Haynes said he brings to the table for Seattle in an interview on ESPN radio after he was drafted:

“Somebody who’s going to come off the ball and just dominate the defender in front of them. Somebody who’s going to be able to pass block and put people on the ground, also just shows how athletic they are going on to the second level on the screens or in different places, and it’s destroying defenders, destroying linebackers, destroying DBs, destroying anybody that’s in his way and just always trying to be dominant each play."

It's easy to say the right thing in an interview and much harder to actually perform against this level of competition. That said, it's refreshing to hear this kind of language from a lineman. Something the team has been missing too much of in recent years is goons. During the Legion of Boom years the Seahawks had plenty of them around the line of scrimmage, from gifted goons like Bruce Irvin to mauler goons like Breno Giacomini.

One exception to the current lack of goons on the roster is last year's first-round pick, cornerback Devon Witherspoon . While he's an exceptional cover corner, Witherspoon clearly loves to hit people and relishes in the physical parts of the game, which is uncommon for most modern defensive backs. Hopefully Witherspoon's mentality becomes contagious around the locker room as he grows into a leadership role.

If Haynes can add his name to the growing list of goons, Seattle may soon finally be able to do to other teams what Baltimore did to them last year: dominate at the line of scrimmage and demoralize their opponents to the point of ruining their seasons.