For the Seattle Seahawks to reach the postseason in 2025, the offense is going to have to help the defense efficiently. General manager John Schneider has constructed the roster in such a way that if the team is going to win 10 games or more, it's because the defense is elite. The offense just needs to not turn the ball over and eat clock.
The only way for that to happen, though, is for Seattle's offensive line to be much improved compared to the last decade. Left tackle Charles Cross is good, left guard should be upgraded by first-round pick Grey Zabel, and as long as Abraham Lucas stays healthy, right tackle should be fine. But center and right guard are still question marks.
The problem is that those two positions are on the interior of the line, and new starting quarterback Sam Darnold has greatly struggled with pressure coming up the middle. All quarterbacks do, of course, but Darnold's struggles are worse than most.
Seattle Seahawks' biggest roster bust might be center Olu Oluwatimi
What would help Darnold and the rest of the offense is if Olu Oluwatimi can finally show he deserves to start at center. Entering his third season, he hasn't yet done that. Expecting much in his rookie year was likely too big of an ask, but before last season, Seattle signed veteran Connor Williams.
The Williams signing flopped. He wasn't good midway through the season, and then, surprisingly, retired.
The Seahawks had no other real option except to insert Oluwatimi as the starter at center in the second half of the season, and he wasn't terrible. He didn't allow a sack, was decent in run-blocking, but still allowed too many quarterback pressures.
However well or poorly Oluwatimi played, clearly the Seahawks were not immensely impressed. While Seattle didn't choose a center in the 2025 NFL draft, 2024 undrafted free agent Jalen Sundell has been rotating with Oluwatimi in practices, and center will be one of the position battles to watch in training camp.
Oluwatimi was a fifth-round draft pick in 2023, but as teams only take one center (at most) in any given draft, the player has to hit. If the player fails, that could affect the team for years, just as taking a punter or kicker might, too. Oluwatimi was chosen because of his intelligence and success in college.
He is still a smart person and player, but he might not have the strength and quickness the Seahawks need at the center position. Sundell might also have another reason for being named the Seahawks' starting center. He played at North Dakota State, and he was teammates with Grey Zabel.
Seattle might like the experience of Sundell and Zabel previously working together, especially as they would be side by side on the interior of the Seahawks' offensive line. Sundell also got 48 snaps against the Green Bay Packers in Week 15 last year and did not allow a quarterback pressure. He might simply be better than Olu Oluwatimi.