# Hugh Millen on Seahawks Adding Guard Quenton Nelson in Colts Trade

An episode of [Softy & Dick Interviews](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1245866571), 28 Oct 2026, 15 min.

Audio: https://podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/98a2599f-cd9b-4f2a-9be4-b22c00e585f2/907d6469-cef5-4bda-9f13-b2f100f49399/3676b6c3-38ba-4a77-87da-b4f0017dc514/audio.mp3?utm_source=Podcast&in_playlist=26b16ce4-8fab-44ea-88d4-b2f100f493bc

Hugh Millen joins Dave Softy Mahler and Dick Fain to break down the Seahawks trade for Colts guard Quenton Nelson, his current playing ability after a decorated career with eight pro bowls, how he will affect the Seahawks offense and Grey Zabel with offensive line changes, Nelson’s career in Indianapolis and line partners, plus the compensation. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

## Transcript

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[0:41] Speaker 2: And obviously the big news of the day. Quentin Nelson,
[0:45] Speaker 2: three-time All-Pro, eight-time Pro Bowl guard, acquired by the Seahawks
[0:49] Speaker 2: today for a 2027 third, 2028 fifth rounder. There's only
[0:55] Speaker 2: one place we go, guys, for instant analysis on a
[0:58] Speaker 2: trade like this. And that's our friend Hugh Millen, who
[1:01] Speaker 2: joins us right now.
[1:02] Speaker 1: On the radio station.
[1:03] Speaker 3: Huey, how are you, man? I'm doing great.
[1:05] Speaker 1: Elated for the news, yes.
[1:07] Speaker 2: Well, don't give it all away yet. When you first
[1:10] Speaker 2: heard the news, man, what was the reaction and what
[1:12] Speaker 2: were the first couple things that popped into your brain
[1:14] Speaker 2: about this acquisition?
[1:16] Speaker 3: Well, I just, you know, you talk about the running
[1:19] Speaker 3: back struggles and then to be able to insert a
[1:23] Speaker 3: guy that, you know, at age 30 and seven months,
[1:26] Speaker 3: it really felt to me like, how the Vikings must
[1:30] Speaker 3: have felt when they got Steve Hutchinson. Now, Hutchinson was
[1:32] Speaker 3: 29 in three months when they acquired him, but here's
[1:36] Speaker 3: a guy, eight Pro Bowls. How about the durability? In
[1:40] Speaker 3: eight of his seasons, he's played the maximum amount of
[1:44] Speaker 3: games and started the maximum amount. Only one season he
[1:48] Speaker 3: missed any games. That was four games. So the durability
[1:50] Speaker 3: is there. The star power, he's a Hall of Famer
[1:54] Speaker 3: just like Hutchinson was, and this is going to make
[1:58] Speaker 3: the holes not just going over left guard, but when
[2:01] Speaker 3: your outside zone schemes, that backside cutoff and creating those lanes,
[2:06] Speaker 3: that's there depending on what sabermetricians you read. The Colts
[2:11] Speaker 3: are either first or seventh, but they're in the top
[2:13] Speaker 3: handful of teams in the outside zone as well, so
[2:16] Speaker 3: this guy can run that scheme. The pass blocking hasn't
[2:19] Speaker 3: given him up a sack. Uh, I, I, I absolutely
[2:23] Speaker 3: love the acquisition.
[2:24] Speaker 4: Is this a guy still very much in his prime?
[2:27] Speaker 4: And what I mean by that is for the rest
[2:29] Speaker 4: of this season and also potentially the next three seasons.
[2:32] Speaker 4: I mean, how long can this guy's prime last at
[2:35] Speaker 4: that position as durable as he has been, as you mentioned?
[2:37] Speaker 3: Yeah. Well, Hutchinson was first team all pro at age
[2:41] Speaker 3: 31 and 32. Uh, he was traded, you know, you know,
[2:45] Speaker 3: at 29. Um, he, um, You've got Marshall Londa. Remember
[2:48] Speaker 3: him from the Ravens? Was a Pro Bowl at 35, 34,
[2:50] Speaker 3: and 32. Richie Incognito at 34 and 33. Zach Martin
[2:53] Speaker 3: at 33 and 32. Joe Tooney at 32. So there's
[2:55] Speaker 3: a lot of guards. that have played at an elite
[3:05] Speaker 3: level well into their early 30s. And again, Nelson, 30 years,
[3:11] Speaker 3: seven months. I don't think that it's unreasonable to think
[3:17] Speaker 3: that not just this year, but next year and the
[3:19] Speaker 3: following year, you could get outstanding guard play. Beyond that,
[3:24] Speaker 3: maybe it starts to slip up. Maybe it doesn't. You know,
[3:27] Speaker 3: if he plays, you know, I just mentioned Yonda at 35.
[3:30] Speaker 3: So so he just seems to be, you know, he
[3:33] Speaker 3: was a sixth overall pick in the draft.
[3:34] Speaker 1: Right.
[3:34] Speaker 3: How good of you must you have been as an
[3:37] Speaker 3: All-American at Notre Dame to be the sixth pick as
[3:40] Speaker 3: a guard? I didn't look up how frequent that is,
[3:42] Speaker 3: but we know that's very infrequent.
[3:45] Speaker 2: Well, there's no question about that. I mean, I start
[3:47] Speaker 2: thinking about the intangibles, man. What does it mean for
[3:51] Speaker 2: the rest of the team? How much does this motivate
[3:53] Speaker 2: everybody else that they went out and spent the draft
[3:56] Speaker 2: capital to get this guy? What does it mean for
[3:58] Speaker 2: the run game? What does it mean for Jalen Sundale
[4:00] Speaker 2: and Charles Cross when he comes back? I know we're
[4:02] Speaker 2: kind of weaving two questions into one, but where he plays, obviously,
[4:06] Speaker 2: does he impact Abe Lucas? Does he impact Charles Cross?
[4:09] Speaker 2: But what about the intangibles of a deal like this?
[4:11] Speaker 3: Yeah, the intangibles, I think, are extremely significant because of
[4:16] Speaker 3: his accomplishments. When he walks in that door, think of
[4:19] Speaker 3: all those guys with the Super Bowl hardware. When he
[4:22] Speaker 3: walks in that door, based on who he is, he's
[4:25] Speaker 3: an instant alpha. That is my opinion. I've seen it.
[4:28] Speaker 3: I've been on a Super Bowl team, and within two weeks...
[4:33] Speaker 3: He will be a leader on that team. He's an
[4:37] Speaker 3: elected captain. Look, I did a lot of creeping for
[4:39] Speaker 3: the last several hours on Quentin Nelson. I wish I
[4:42] Speaker 3: could read all this stuff, but just real quick, Braden Smith,
[4:47] Speaker 3: the Colts' right tackle, says that Nelson was a culture
[4:50] Speaker 3: setter since day one, truly loves every guy in the room.
[4:53] Speaker 3: Bernard Ryman, the left tackle, says... He gets mad over
[4:57] Speaker 3: a bad practice rep as a bad game rep. He
[5:01] Speaker 3: says you can earn his respect or lose his respect really,
[5:03] Speaker 3: really fast. Mo Alleycox, the tight end. When Q talks,
[5:07] Speaker 3: everyone locks in because you hear the emotion. He strains
[5:10] Speaker 3: every play and then is the first to sprint downfield
[5:13] Speaker 3: to celebrate. Others now copy that. The cornerback, Kenny Moore.
[5:17] Speaker 3: When he tore his Achilles, talked about how Nelson was
[5:21] Speaker 3: the guy of anybody on the team that was checking
[5:24] Speaker 3: in on him repeatedly. Shane Steichen, the head coach, said
[5:27] Speaker 3: leadership is in Nelson's DNA. He holds everyone to a
[5:31] Speaker 3: high standard. Two more, Jacoby Brissett. He says that Nelson
[5:35] Speaker 3: is the first to help a teammate up, even from
[5:38] Speaker 3: 20 yards away. He sprints, and he says, quote, it's insane. Finally,
[5:42] Speaker 3: Jack Doyle, the tight end, says he holds everybody in
[5:45] Speaker 3: the locker room accountable. You don't want to let Q down.
[5:49] Speaker 3: And there's a lot more quotes about this guy. So
[5:52] Speaker 3: I think that you get a gold medal culture guy
[5:57] Speaker 3: coming in who has the respect of the team, even
[6:00] Speaker 3: though they won the Super Bowl, Nelson hasn't. A guy
[6:03] Speaker 3: with those type of pins on his lapel is just
[6:10] Speaker 3: going to have that respect. So I think that he
[6:12] Speaker 3: will be the Alfie in that offensive line room within
[6:16] Speaker 3: two weeks. There will be a learning component. Just as
[6:20] Speaker 3: JSN's acceleration was brought about by the acquisition of Cooper Cup,
[6:26] Speaker 3: you watch Gray Zabel. I'm just predicting it right now.
[6:29] Speaker 3: You watch all those guys. They are going to be
[6:31] Speaker 3: a better unit. They're going to have a better understanding
[6:33] Speaker 3: with this guy's competitors and leadership. So this is a
[6:37] Speaker 3: big hole for the Colts. But obviously, if all signs
[6:42] Speaker 3: are pointing, this is going to be not just a
[6:44] Speaker 3: great player, but a great leader, the CRCS acquired.
[6:47] Speaker 4: Well, Hugh, I use the term player. It cured the
[6:50] Speaker 4: illness versus treating the symptom last segment. I thought maybe
[6:53] Speaker 4: getting a running back here might treat the symptom of
[6:56] Speaker 4: a poor running game, whereas this may cure the illness
[6:59] Speaker 4: of the whole offense, running game and passing game. That
[7:02] Speaker 4: being said, how much does this fix the run game,
[7:05] Speaker 4: or do you think they still need to add a
[7:07] Speaker 4: running back to Quentin Nelson?
[7:08] Speaker 3: Well, you know, the Colts haven't, you know, a left
[7:12] Speaker 3: guard can only do so much in the absence of
[7:15] Speaker 3: other pieces. Look at the Colts, right? But I think
[7:22] Speaker 3: that you're just going to get a better blocker on
[7:26] Speaker 3: the run blocks. You're going to get better, presumably better communication.
[7:31] Speaker 3: The pass blocking, it's all going to be there. Dave,
[7:33] Speaker 3: you had asked the question about where he fits. Look,
[7:38] Speaker 3: I watched a bunch of tape the last several hours.
[7:40] Speaker 3: The guy plays with his left foot back and his
[7:43] Speaker 3: left hand on the ground. just like a left guard would,
[7:47] Speaker 3: and he's been doing that forever. You have to go
[7:49] Speaker 3: back to 2020 where he had eight snaps at left tackle.
[7:54] Speaker 3: I heard chatter earlier about moving him out to left tackle,
[7:57] Speaker 3: and I'm like, are you nuts? That reminds me of
[8:01] Speaker 3: when the Chiefs took Joe Tooney, who had made the
[8:04] Speaker 3: Pro Bowl in 2024, a left guard, one of the
[8:07] Speaker 3: best left guards in all of football, not named Quentin Nelson.
[8:11] Speaker 3: And in the Super Bowl against Josh Sweat, he got
[8:14] Speaker 3: his ass handed to him because he just wasn't long enough.
[8:17] Speaker 3: So to me, if I'm making this decision, Marshall Yonda
[8:22] Speaker 3: is the left guard. And then you take Gray Zabel. Now,
[8:25] Speaker 3: in Gray Zabel's college career, he's only played left guard
[8:29] Speaker 3: in the pros we know.
[8:29] Speaker 2: Nelson's the left guard. You mentioned Yonda playing left guard.
[8:32] Speaker 3: What did I say?
[8:33] Speaker 1: I'm sorry.
[8:34] Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah. We can get him. Your take's all confused.
[8:37] Speaker 2: You're making too many great takes, man.
[8:39] Speaker 3: They're melding together. Listen, Nelson is a left guard. Right.
[8:44] Speaker 3: All right, so let's talk about Zabel in college. He
[8:48] Speaker 3: had 453 snaps at left guard. He had 223 snaps
[8:50] Speaker 3: at right guard. He had 1,064 snaps at right tackle.
[8:59] Speaker 3: So he's playing, you know, I'm not going to do
[9:02] Speaker 3: radio math, but, you know, that's 1,287 snaps on the
[9:04] Speaker 3: right side. And, you know, so you're... being at right
[9:15] Speaker 3: tackle is relevant to being at right guard in terms
[9:17] Speaker 3: of where your punch is what your post step is
[9:20] Speaker 3: on on your pass blocking what uh your post foot
[9:22] Speaker 3: on the pass blocking so so to me what is
[9:25] Speaker 3: logical is zabel goes to right guard you don't mess
[9:29] Speaker 3: around with yonda and by the way let me just
[9:32] Speaker 3: say this um you know how i was barking about
[9:35] Speaker 3: josh jones in the summer of 2025 right josh jones
[9:37] Speaker 3: is started in week 16 17 and 18 last year
[9:43] Speaker 3: now if your head is in the game you know
[9:46] Speaker 3: week 16 was against the rams the thursday night game
[9:48] Speaker 3: then 17 was at carolina and then week 18 was
[9:51] Speaker 3: the the pivotal game of san francisco he played this
[9:54] Speaker 3: is josh owns now 68 snaps 66 and 68 snaps
[9:56] Speaker 3: and in that he didn't give up a sack against
[10:02] Speaker 3: the Rams. He gave up one against Carolina, one against
[10:04] Speaker 3: San Francisco, and then a couple of hurries in each
[10:06] Speaker 3: of those games. But his pass-blocking grade was 34th out
[10:12] Speaker 3: of 95 qualifying tackles. So 34th basically puts you right
[10:18] Speaker 3: at about a starter level. And so to me, it's
[10:22] Speaker 3: very clear if Charles Cross can't play, Josh Jones is
[10:26] Speaker 3: the left tackle. And let's not talk about moving any
[10:31] Speaker 3: of these interior guys out to tackle. Maybe it'll happen
[10:35] Speaker 3: and I'll fall off of my stool. But to me,
[10:39] Speaker 3: tackles tackle and interior is interior. Could I see possibly
[10:43] Speaker 3: Zabel going to center?
[10:44] Speaker 4: No.
[10:45] Speaker 3: It would very much surprise me, but that would make
[10:48] Speaker 3: more sense. You got three positions, and you got four
[10:52] Speaker 3: interior guys. You got Nelson Sundell, and you got Bradford,
[10:57] Speaker 3: and you got.
[10:59] Speaker 1: Zabel.
[10:59] Speaker 3: And Among those four guys are going to man those
[11:03] Speaker 3: three inside positions. That's the way I would forecast.
[11:05] Speaker 2: Yeah, Christian Haynes got waived today, and maybe he comes
[11:08] Speaker 2: back at some point, practice squad guy, whatever, but he's
[11:10] Speaker 2: gone for now. But, Hugh, before you go, the Quentin
[11:12] Speaker 2: Nelson deal is obviously gigantic. The Niners. by getting Buckner
[11:17] Speaker 2: from the Colts to bring him back, obviously, to San Francisco. And,
[11:21] Speaker 2: you know, Dick asked you about going out and getting
[11:23] Speaker 2: a running back. You know, there's still a couple weeks
[11:25] Speaker 2: left between now and the deadline, so plenty of time
[11:27] Speaker 2: to see what these guys are all about and, you know,
[11:29] Speaker 2: get Charbonnet and Price back out there. But Emmanuel Wilson, man,
[11:33] Speaker 2: I mean, I I mean, my take is simple. I
[11:36] Speaker 2: expected zilch from the guy, and he's at least given
[11:39] Speaker 2: us a couple of games of, you know, some competent
[11:41] Speaker 2: running back play, which given my standards for him was
[11:44] Speaker 2: way more than I was expecting out of him. How
[11:46] Speaker 2: about you?
[11:47] Speaker 1: Yeah, I agree.
[11:48] Speaker 3: Let me just real quick, though, regarding the compensation, guys.
[11:52] Speaker 1: Yeah.
[11:53] Speaker 3: Third rounders in the Schneider era, they've had 15 third rounders.
[11:59] Speaker 3: of which they'd have to make 13 decisions because Jalen
[12:02] Speaker 3: Milrow and Julian Neal are too young to have to
[12:04] Speaker 3: make a decision. But of the 15 third-rounders, only three
[12:08] Speaker 3: got second contracts with the Seahawks, Russell Wilson, Tyler Lockett,
[12:11] Speaker 3: Abe Lucas. Of the fifth-rounders... They've had 26 in the
[12:16] Speaker 3: Schneider era. 18 have had to make a decision. Only
[12:20] Speaker 3: four came back to get their second– Cam Chancellor Richard Sherman,
[12:24] Speaker 3: Luke Wilson, Michael Dixon. So that's the compensation you gave up. Quickly,
[12:30] Speaker 3: I think the number one need– I think you need
[12:33] Speaker 3: an edge rusher, maybe a young edge rusher. And then
[12:36] Speaker 3: the other part is this entire team, the whole scaffolding,
[12:40] Speaker 3: comes down with an injury to JSN. There's nobody– in
[12:43] Speaker 3: a position to step up. So to me, I still
[12:46] Speaker 3: think they need a number two, uh, as for Emmanuel Wilson, look,
[12:50] Speaker 3: if you are, if, if, if any team ever says,
[12:53] Speaker 3: we're going to put you on the active roster and
[12:56] Speaker 3: we're going to hand you the football, you are already
[12:58] Speaker 3: at a certain level of running back on this planet.
[13:01] Speaker 1: Okay.
[13:02] Speaker 3: But, uh, that's not the standard we, we, we have. And,
[13:07] Speaker 3: and in Wilson, I would say, uh, we, he had
[13:10] Speaker 3: 11 carries that were three, exactly three yards. That was
[13:13] Speaker 3: the most, the next most was five carries at four yards.
[13:17] Speaker 3: So to my eye, I still say he is a
[13:20] Speaker 3: fringe NFL running back, but the best thing I could say,
[13:24] Speaker 3: and I don't mean fringe starter. I mean, fringe NFL player.
[13:27] Speaker 3: I mean, I mean, he, his contract is exactly number
[13:30] Speaker 3: 50 in, in, uh, of all halfbacks, uh, at, at
[13:35] Speaker 3: 1.6 million. But, um, But the one thing I'll say
[13:40] Speaker 3: for him is he fell forward. If you watch that tape,
[13:43] Speaker 3: he was the last three feet, last four or five feet,
[13:47] Speaker 3: he was always going forward because of his strength. Now,
[13:50] Speaker 3: maybe whatever feet and yards prior to the last three
[13:54] Speaker 3: or four weren't exceptional and there wasn't a lot of juice,
[13:58] Speaker 3: but he fell forward, and that's the best thing I
[14:00] Speaker 3: could say for him the other night. But you get
[14:02] Speaker 3: Quentin Nelson in here. You get the running backs back.
[14:05] Speaker 3: You get that culture. This is a boost. I don't
[14:09] Speaker 3: know how a Seahawks fan can't be delighted with what
[14:11] Speaker 3: you saw. You know, when you're in a Super Bowl
[14:13] Speaker 3: window and that defense, it's just like talking about the
[14:16] Speaker 3: mayor's staff. You're in a Super Bowl window. To be
[14:20] Speaker 3: able to go out and make a decision for the
[14:22] Speaker 3: now like this on a guy who's 30 years old, man,
[14:26] Speaker 3: hammer down.
[14:26] Speaker 1: Do it.
[14:27] Speaker 2: I love it.
[14:27] Speaker 1: All right, you're the best.
[14:28] Speaker 3: Great stuff, man. We'll talk later in the week, all right?
[14:30] Speaker 1: All right, boys.
[14:30] Speaker 2: All right.

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