Olu Oluwatimi has had a slightly odd career with the Seattle Seahawks. He's been with the team for three years, has been solid when tasked with starting real games, but has never been good enough to be seen as the long-term starter. He might need to go to another team for that.
The Los Angeles Chargers, for instance, lost veteran Tyler Biadasz to an ACL injury recently, and he won't play this season. In his place, LA will go with a rookie, but that might not be the best answer for a team with playoff aspirations. Someone like Oluwatimi could be a good fit via a trade.
Oluwatimi isn't overly powerful, but he does have solid athleticism, and he is extremely intelligent. He could learn the Chargers' offense quickly and be an upgrade over rookie Jake Slaughter right away.
Seattle Seahawks' Olu Oluwatimi couldn't ask for a better possible audition
In the preseason so far, Seattle has sat starter Jalen Sundell, and Oluwatimi has gotten the starts. In preseason Week 2, Oluwatimi was exceedingly effective, especially on a 69-yard touchdown run by running back Jacardia Wright. The center pulled right, and that opened a huge hole in the Tennessee Titans defense. It was a brilliant play by Oluwatimi.
The center also gave up no pressures in 17 reps against the Titans' first-team defense, further proving that if he were to be pressed into duty, Oluwatimi would be a solid performer for the Seahawks.
In three years, he has played on 486 pass-block snaps, and he has yet to allow a sack. He has only allowed three quarterback hits. Plus, as he showed against the Titans, Oluwatimi is a better run-blocker. He simply doesn't fit the Seattle offensive line scheme as well as the even more athletic Sundell.
Sundell is also helped by having played next to left guard Grey Zabel at North Dakota State. Cohesion matters along an offensive line, and the Seattle Seahawks already had the built-in connection between Sundell and Zabel when the former was chosen in the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft.
Should the team trade Olu Oluwatimi to the Chargers or any other team, Sundell's immediate backup could be Federico Maranges, who has also had a solid preseason. Maranges hasn't yet played a down in the regular season, but he's been good enough in two preseasons to imply he would be fine if he were forced into action.
Oluwatimi would then finally have his chance to succeed as a starter, and he would probably be quite good. As a backup center, Seattle wouldn't get much draft value in return, but even if some team offers the Seahawks a sixth-round choice, that should be good enough to give up Oluwatimi.
