4 Seahawks that are playing for their next contract in Week 18

Seahawks center Austin Blythe

Do you want to read something that hurts? Ethan Pocic, who basically washed out with the Seahawks, is actually the third highest-graded center in the NFL for the season, per PFF. Would Seattle have been better keeping Pocic after the team let him leave after last year? There was no reason to think that as Pocic had never played as well as he supposedly has in 2022.

But Blythe is the 38th highest-graded center this year, per PFF. This means Blythe theoretically is not only the worst center in the league but he is worse than five teams’ expected backups at the beginning of the season. Blythe hasn’t been consistently good all year. He’s been good in a couple of games here and there and then bad in most other games.

Blythe, I assume, was brought in to help communicate the line calls for the offense as he knew offensive coordinator Shane Waldron’s system from when Blythe and Waldron were with the Rams. Blythe might know the system – heck, he might be a great coach one day – but that doesn’t mean Blythe is physically gifted enough to block in the system. Seattle needs to find his replacement.

In fact, one of the biggest misses the Seahawks have had in recent drafts is when they passed over Creed Humphrey. Humphrey is currently the center for the Kansas City Chiefs and was highly regarded before the 2021 draft when the Chiefs took him at number 63 in the second round. Instead, the Seahawks chose receiver Dee Eskridge at number 56. Eskridge has been a bust so far. Humphrey is the best player at his position. Seattle needs to draft a center that can be like Humphrey in the 2023 draft.