Seahawks Leaning Towards Experienced Option at Center?

RENTON, Wash. - In the quest to replace Austin Blythe, who retired in March, the Seattle Seahawks have yet to name a starting center and may not do so for several weeks with the regular season still a month away.

However, as the Seahawks gear up for their first preseason game against the Vikings on Thursday night at Lumen Field, combing through words from coach Pete Carroll following Sunday's practice, a front-runner may be starting to come to light.

Speaking moments after the conclusion of Seattle's latest training camp practice, Carroll stated that the competition between veteran Evan Brown and fifth-round pick Olu Oluwatimi remains ongoing. But for the first time since camp opened nearly two weeks ago, he indicated one player has the early edge.

“We continue to see it going in a competitive sense, Evan is ahead. He's ahead because of his experience," Carroll said. "If we were playing today, he would go first. Olu is doing a great job, hasn’t had anything negative about him besides his wrist being sore for a couple of days that held him back. Other than that, he is right in there as the competition continues.” 

In the grand scheme of things, Carroll didn't offer many specifics and his statement far from declared Brown as the winner of the competition. But at the same time, after alternating the two players with the first-team offense every other practice to this point, his commentary suggests the veteran has a leg up on Oluwatimi through the first nine practices heading towards Thursday's exhibition opener.

Compared to previous seasons when Seattle had offensive line battles taking place in camp, it was a bit of a departure for Carroll, who usually stays coy about who has the advantage until naming a starter. Only two years ago, Ethan Pocic and Kyle Fuller competed for the same center spot and he didn't even provide a bread crumb trail hinting who may win the job until declaring Fuller the Week 1 starter in late August.

With all things considered, it shouldn't be a surprise Brown has an early lead in the latest battle royale at the pivot position. As Carroll pointed out, he obviously has more NFL experience than an incoming rookie with 24 starts in the previous two seasons with the Lions, including 13 of those starts at center replacing injured starter Frank Ragnow.

In those contests, Brown has performed at a high level, particularly protecting Detroit quarterback Jared Goff. According to Pro Football Focus, in his 13 starts at center, he has allowed only eight pressures and a single sack on nearly 500 pass blocking snaps for a superb 98.3 pass block efficiency rating.

When Brown slid over to right guard last season, he wasn't near as efficient protecting the quarterback, allowing 22 pressures and a pair of sacks. But he did make marked improvements as a run blocker, using his physicality and strength at the point of attack to create running lanes for Jamaal Williams and D'Andre Swift out of the backfield and helping the team finish third in the NFL in rushing touchdowns.

With it only being August 7, it's still far too early to etch Brown's name in as a starter in pen, especially with all three preseason games yet to play. If there's a rookie who could quickly close the gap and make it tough for Carroll and the Seahawks coaching staff not to install him as a day one starter, it's Oluwatimi, who came into the league with a highly decorated resume and over 3,500 snaps at center in college.

After starting three seasons at Virginia, Oluwatimi transferred to Michigan prior to the 2022 season and anchored the nation's best offensive line, which helped the team rush for almost 240 yards per game and score 40.4 points per game. Yielding no sacks and just nine pressures while thriving in the run game, he captured the Rimington Award as the nation's top center as well as the Outland Award as the nation's top interior offensive lineman.

Assuming his sore wrist isn't an issue moving forward, Oluwatimi should continue to get opportunities to snap to Geno Smith and work with the first-team, keeping the competition open. Enough time remains between now and September 10 that he can still catch up and make the decision far more difficult for Carroll and line coach Andy Dickerson.

But in the present, already with the built-in advantage of having more than 20 NFL starts under his belt, Brown appears to have created a bit of separation in the race to replace Blythe. After working with the first-team in Friday's mock scrimmage, how much he plays in the Seahawks' preseason opener could be revealing about where the competition truly stands with four weeks until the regular season kicks off against the Rams.