NFL analyst says Seahawks offensive line has one glaring weakness

The Seattle Seahawks offensive line might have been addressed in April with the signing of Laken Tomlinson and Seattle taking Sataoa Laumea and Christian Haynes in the draft, but sites such as Pro Football Network still don't think much about what Seattle has in comparison to the rest of the league. PFN ranks Seattle's line 26th-best (or seventh-worst) in the NFL.

Seattle has good offensive weapons at the skill spots but if the O-line is not good then the rest of the talent will suffer, of course. How will quarterback Geno Smith stay upright enough to complete passes to DK Metcalf, Tyler Lockett, and Jaxon Smith-Njigba? How can Kenneth Walker III and Zach Charbonnet chew up yards running the ball if there are no holes to run through?

Seattle should be set at both tackle spots. Left tackle Charles Cross should be the starter for the Seahawks for the next seven years at least. Right tackle Abe Lucas could be the same, though he is much more of a question mark due to his chronic knee injury. He had surgery this offseason (his second surgery since college on the knee) and there is certainly no guarantee as to his long-term health.

ESPN sees Olu Oluwatimi as a roster hole for the Seattle Seahawks

While Tomlinson should be good enough to stick at left guard for one season and possibly Haynes is a great fit at right guard, ESPN's Aaron Schatz is not sold on 2023 NFL draft pick Olu Oluwatimi at center. To be fair, Oluwatimi did not get a ton of reps in 2023 because Seattle started Evan Brown at his spot. Brown got worse as the season grew old, but still, Oluwatimi mostly sat and watched.

Schatz wrote in an article discussing each NFL team's biggest remaining roster hole, "At center, it's going to be up to 2023 fifth-round pick Olu Oluwatimi to be ready to be an NFL starter in his second season. Oluwatimi won the Rimington Trophy and the Outland Trophy for Michigan in 2022 but fell to the fifth round because of limited lateral range and worries about a Michigan scheme designed to help him succeed."

Schatz might not have done his homework fully, though. Oluwatimi was a well-respected center at Virginia before transferring to Michigan. He did so not to get better but to play a higher level in the Big Ten than the ACC. Plus, what system is designed to help the center to succeed? It's designed to help the entire offense succeed so that was a weird thing to write by Schatz.

Oluwatimi graded well in minimum snaps in terms of pass blocking, according to Pro Football Focus (subscription required). With a year of acclimating to the NFL and a proven record of picking up schemes quickly, Oluwatimi might be a surprise star on the offensive line in 2024. If that turns out to be true and Haynes is good from the start, the Seahawks could have a top-15 offensive line.

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