Seattle, WA
The Hutch Effect: Hall of Famer Providing ‘Unbelievable Resource’ For Seattle Seahawks
Putting an emphasis on the trenches in their first draft entering the Mike Macdonald era, the Seattle Seahawks invested three of their eight picks on offensive linemen, including snagging UConn guard Christian Haynes in the third round as a potential day one starter.
Considering Seattle lost all three of its interior starters from last season in free agency, starting with four-year starting left guard Damien Lewis, the shift towards the line of scrimmage shouldn’t have come as a surprise. Luckily for general manager John Schneider, he has an asset at his disposal that most NFL teams can’t rival in Hall of Famer Steve Hutchinson, who serves as a football consultant for the front office and actively takes part in pro scouting.
Having witnessed Hutchinson’s fantastic NFL career and building a strong relationship with him dating back to his time as a scout for the Seahawks, Senior Bowl director Jim Nagy believes his presence gives the organization a tremendous advantage evaluating the offensive line, which unfortunately wasn’t a strong suit for the scouting department during most of Pete Carroll’s tenure as head coach.
“They’re lucky to have Hutch as part of that scouting department now, that is an unbelievable resource for them.” Nagy said during an interview on the Locked On Seahawks podcast. “Not all players who scout are great scouts. But just talking offensive linemen over the years with Hutch, he knows exactly what he’s looking at. He’s really dialed into the makeup of these players.”
Since Hutchinson, who earned All-Pro honors seven times in his illustrious career, joined the scouting department prior to the 2020 season, Seattle has found more success selecting quality offensive linemen via the draft. In his first year back with the organization, Lewis arrived as a third-round pick out of LSU and immediately earned a spot in the starting lineup at left guard. Prior to bolting for Carolina in March, he started 61 games in four seasons with the franchise.
With only three picks in the 2021 draft, Hutchinson carried a strong voice in Seattle’s decision to select of Stone Forsythe in the sixth round. Thrust into action for eight starts at right tackle in 2023, the former Florida standout has developed into a solid reserve swing tackle as he enters the final year of his rookie deal, providing good value for a late day three pick.
Two years ago, the Seahawks reinvented their offensive line by selecting tackles Charles Cross and Abraham Lucas, installing them as Week 1 starters and only the third pair of rookie tackles to open a season starting for an NFL team since 1970. Though injuries marred Lucas’ second season, both players remain foundational pieces for the offensive line moving forward, while center Olu Oluwatimi and guard Anthony Bradford, who were drafted in 2023, will have a chance to carve out long-term starting roles this summer.
As Nagy noted, Hutchinson has continued to swing a big stick for Seattle’s scouting department, spending extensive time visiting with line prospects this past fall as well as at the Senior Bowl.
“When you get a Steve Hutchinson coming to your school, you’re not going to treat him like every other scout on the road right?” Nagy said. “I’m surprised more teams haven’t done that with legendary players because these schools roll out the red carpet for Hutch when he goes in. Not only does he get to watch the guy practice and watch tape like all the other scouts, I’m sure he sits there for however long as he wants to sit there and watch tape and talk football with them. So you know it’s a great resource for John [Schneider].”
Having done his homework on the road meeting and speaking with numerous prospects, Schneider leaned heavily on Hutchinson’s expertise and opinion throughout draft weekend. As everyone in the room sweated out the process waiting to pick at 81 overall, per Seahawks.com, the esteemed general manager turned to Hutchinson and asked him what he thought of Haynes.
In response, Hutchinson told Schneider he thought Haynes was going to be a “really good [expletive] player,” and moments later, the Seahawks turned his name in as the selection. With the Hall of Famer actively involved throughout the process entering a busy day three of the draft, the team later added Utah guard Sataoa Laumea and Findlay tackle Michael Jerrell in the sixth round, adding more depth and upside to the offensive line.
Per Nagy, who reached out to Hutchinson after the draft concluded, the consultant couldn’t have been happier with the trio of linemen Seattle landed despite not having a second round pick due to the Leonard Williams trade from last October.
“I know he liked Christian Haynes,” Nagy said, again referencing Hutchinson’s presence as an underrated move for the Seahawks front office. “He was fired up after the draft after those three guys. I texted him and he was excited about all of the offensive linemen they took.”
Looking towards the 2024 season and beyond, the Seahawks have plenty of questions left to address along the offensive line with a new coach in Scott Huff taking over. After missing 11 games last season, Lucas underwent offseason knee surgery and likely won’t be back on the field until the start of training camp at the earliest, while Cross has yet to take the jump towards becoming a top-10 left tackle as the organization envisioned when they drafted him ninth overall two years ago.
In the interior, with three starting jobs left to fill, Oluwatimi has just one career start under his belt and Bradford endured a rocky stretch of play starting 10 games as a rookie last season. It remains to be seen whether either of them will emerge as a viable long-term option, but veteran center Nick Harris and Haynes will be ready to push them for a starting spot right away, while Laken Tomlinson should provide a steady stop gap at left guard for Seattle with Laumea developing behind him.
Given the youth and lack of experience overall up front, time will tell if the Seahawks can finally assemble a cohesive offensive line that becomes a strength for the team. But unlike most of the 2010s where the franchise struggled to draft and develop linemen, with Hutchinson leaving a major imprint on the construction of the group and Huff ready to make his mark, there’s no shortage of optimism and excitement about what the unit can potentially become.
Ted Land had almost given up on being a homeowner.
When he moved to the Pacific Northwest in 2014, he was an award-winning television journalist, having lived and reported in Indiana and Alaska before arriving in Seattle to work for a local station, King 5. At first, he rented a studio apartment in the Capitol Hill neighborhood.
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“It’s very walkable, with lots of transit, very L.G.B.T. friendly, great restaurants, nightlife, parks,” said Mr. Land, 40. “It has everything I like in a neighborhood.”
His journalism career had been fraught with unexpected transitions, so it didn’t seem sensible to buy a home. “I thought I was going to move up and be a reporter in New York City or L.A. or D.C.,” he said. “I had my sights set on that. It really wasn’t even on my mind. Buying a house seemed so out of reach for me.”
As the years passed and he bounced from rental to rental, the hustle of TV news began to wear him out. Finally, in 2022, he grabbed an opportunity to move into corporate communications. With that choice came a higher income and a more stable future in Seattle with expanded living options.
“I kept signing lease after lease, not wanting to confront the daunting process of purchasing, and increasingly frustrated with the fact that I didn’t lock in a low interest rate during Covid like so many of my peers did,” Mr. Land said.
He had up to about $620,000 to spend, but as a single-income buyer, he was vexed by the down payment. “Everyone says that you’ve got to put down 20 percent. It’s like, ‘Where am I going to get $100,000? Does anyone know? Can you please tell me that?’”
With help from his broker, Mark Chavez of Windermere Real Estate, Mr. Land arranged to structure a purchase with 10 percent down using a mortgage insurance that costs him less than $100 per month, with his payments reducing in size until they total 20 percent of the home price. “I mean, $50,000 is a lot easier to save for than $100,000,” he said.
But even with that cushion, options were limited in pricey Seattle, especially for the kind of home he wanted. “Apartments are noisy places,” Mr. Land said. “They just are. And that kind of gets old after a while. I was looking for something a little quieter where I’m not hearing neighbors all the time.”
Most of Mr. Chavez’s clients want single-family homes, the broker said, but “it’s a bigger expense and there’s more to take care of, like the landscape. It used to be that to get into a condo, the entry point was more affordable. However, with many homeowner associations underfunded for future expenses, it is becoming more challenging to buy into a condominium.”
The middle ground? Townhouses. But every square foot needed to count, and location was critical. Mr. Land loved Capitol Hill, but felt he couldn’t afford to buy there. “I just really like being in the central part of the city,” he said. “The more I looked, the more I realized that walkability is a really important attribute for me.”
Find out what happened next by answering these two questions:
One of the Seattle Seahawks’ biggest rivals delivered the first big shockwaves of the 2026 offseason.
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Los Angeles Rams have agreed to a deal that would send four draft picks to the Kansas City Chiefs in exchange for All-Pro cornerback and former UW Huskies standout Trent McDuffie, according to a report from ESPN’s Adam Schefter on Wednesday morning.
McDuffie, who is entering the final season of his rookie contract, is expected to sign a long-term extension with the Rams, according to Schefter.
Shortly after the news broke, former NFL quarterback Brock Huard gave his reaction on Seattle Sports’ Brock and Salk.
“This feels like a direct move to match up with JSN and the Seahawks,” Huard said.
Widely considered to be the two best teams in the NFL this past season, the Seahawks and Rams squared off in three epic battles, capped by Seattle’s 31-27 win over Los Angeles in the NFC Championship.
Over those three games, the Rams’ shaky secondary struggled to contain NFL receiving leader and AP Offensive Player of the Year Jaxon Smith-Njigba. The Seahawks star wideout totaled 27 catches for 354 yards and two touchdowns across those three matchups, including 10 catches for 153 yards and a TD in the NFC title game.
Smith-Njigba also had a career-high 180 receiving yards and two touchdowns in an overtime loss to the Rams in 2024.
“It’s kind of like an old NBA world,” Huard said. “Like, alright, we know we’re gonna have to deal with Jordan or we’re gonna have to deal with Pippen or we’re gonna have to deal with Bird. Like, how do we match up? And (the Rams) know that that was the one area – in their back seven – that could not match up.”
Listen to the full Brock and Salk conversation at this link or in the audio player in the middle of this story. Tune into Brock and Salk weekdays from 6-10 a.m. or find the podcast on the Seattle Sports app.
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The countdown to the FIFA World Cup hit a milestone Tuesday, approximately 100 days from the start of the global soccer tournament, which is being played this time in the U.S., Canada and Mexico.
Seattle is one of 16 host cities for the tournament, with the first game at Lumen Field scheduled for June 15.
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City leaders at a press conference on Tuesday described specific changes underway to welcome an estimated 750,000 people during the six matches, from adding new artwork in downtown to bolstering security.
“Our aim is actually to revitalize, reinvigorate, rejuvenate the downtown core,” Seattle World Cup Organizing Committee CEO Peter Tomozawa stated.
People who take a trip through downtown Seattle will see that part of that work has started in anticipation of the World Cup, with 53 colorful paintings on the columns of the monorail, showcasing the flags of the countries of the competing teams.
“In just 100 days, people will come back to Seattle and will be using the system to travel back and forth to various events related to [the] FIFA World Cup,” Seattle Monorail Services Megan Ching said.
“The visitors who are coming here for the World Cup are already booking their trips: where to stay, how to get around and what to explore,” added Jorge Gotuzzo with Visit Seattle.
Darkalinos restaurant hopes the events planned for Pioneer Square will convince new customers to return beyond the tournament.
“The summer season is what keeps us going,” General Manager Crystal Hernandez told KOMO News. “We’re going to have a beer garden in the plaza. There will be some live music outside.”
Behind the scenes, work continues to plan for crowd control and security. That means round table meetings and partnerships at the international, federal, state and local levels.
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“We’ve been working on the security plan for over three years,” Tomozawa explained. “We hired former SPD Chief John Diaz to design the plan and I have to say this is one of our highest priorities, for sure.”
Downtown Seattle Association President and CEO Jon Scholes adds that businesses are eager to build on the success of the recent Seahawks Super Bowl parade. He said there will be watch parties for the matches at Westlake, Pacific Place and along the waterfront.
“Seattle’s a big event town, and we can do it well and produce a lot of joy for hundreds of thousands of people,” Scholes stated.
The World Cup Organizing Committee mentioned Seattle’s walkability makes it a great location for the tournament. It’s why they also announced a new walking path to connect multiple neighborhoods that will stay beyond the summer.
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It’s called the Unity Loop, runs about four-and-a-quarter miles and will connect the stadiums, waterfront, Seattle Center, Westlake and the CID, but no specifics were provided.
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