3 things to watch for as Seahawks mandatory minicamp starts
By Lee Vowell
The Seattle Seahawks will hold a three-day mandatory minicamp beginning Tuesday. This means a few things, such as we are getting closer to the start of the regular season. Week 1 is just a bit over three months away, but training camp is less than two months away. So...we...are...almost...home, 12s.
This also means no drama for Seattle. There will be no players holding out in contract disputes in 2023. Seattle has been pretty lucky with players not holding out over the years, but Kam Chancellor did to start the 2015 season and that hurt the team early in the season.
Mandatory minicamp also means that 12s will get to see all the players on the field as all players are required to be in attendance. The same rules for all organized team activities apply when it comes to hitting and tackling, though. Basically, you won’t see any. But here are a few things worth looking forward to over the next three days.
Seahawks minicamp must-watch No. 1: Who gets reps at center?
Seattle signed Evan Brown this offseason and Brown was very good at center for the Detroit Lions in 2021. He was moved to guard in 2022 as the Lions lost a very good guard to injury before the season. Brown was actually OK at guard as well, but the Seahawks signed him to play center. But will Brown actually even make the team at this point?
And that’s meant as no offense to Brown. If he started, he would probably be OK. But Seattle drafted Olu Oluwatimi in the fifth round of the 2023 NFL draft and Oluwatimi might be one of the steals of the draft. He was an awarded, experienced center in college and is super smart. There is no reason to think he doesn’t make a push to start in Week 1.
It could also be that Oluwatimi performs so well in mandatory minicamp and then in July’s training camp that he bushes Brown to being a backup. And if Brown becomes a backup it could be that the Seahawks simply make him a roster cut before the season begins. That would actually save Seattle $1.25 million. We might get a glimpse of what Pete Carroll and staff are thinking about the center position for 2023 over the next three days.