The Seattle Seahawks need to hope that either Jalen Sundell or Olu Oluwatimi can take long-term control of the team's center spot beginning next season. While Seattle has needs at all spots along its offensive line's interior, the chances of the team choosing a center in the 2025 NFL draft appear slim.
That is at least based on a report from ESPN's Brady Henderson. Henderson says in an article about questions for all 32 teams, "The Seahawks need to find at least one difference-maker for the interior of their offensive line. General manager John Schneider has said it'll be hard to upgrade at center in this year's draft."
Maybe Seattle not taking a center is not such a bad thing. Perhaps that is the one position along the O-line that does not need help. Oluwatimi is entering his third season, and he has never had a real opportunity to prove he should be a starter. Before last season, Seattle signed veteran Connor Williams in free agency, and he retired midway through the year.
Seahawks appear ready to not take a center in the 2025 NFL draft
This is not to say that Oluwatimi will suddenly turn into a Pro Bowler, but, according to Pro Football Focus (subscription required), he graded as the 19th-best center in the league. He was a better run-blocker than pass-protector, but he has the skill set to be a good fit in new offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak's scheme.
Sundell will enter his second season and received far fewer reps in 2024 than Oluwatimi did. Still, when pressed into action in Week 15 against the Green Bay Packers when Oluwatimi was injured, Sundell did not allow a single pressure on 37 pass-block snaps.
The Seahawks' offensive line is clearly not good as it is currently structured. Left tackle Charles Cross is good, but the rest of the spots are, at best, iffy. The guard positions have to be addressed in the draft unless the team is willing to take a risk on Christian Haynes. He was a third-round choice in 2024 but hardly got a chance to play last year.
Still, there is certainly no guarantee Haynes will be better. Plus, left guard is wide open. Veteran Laken Tomlinson started there last year and was not atrocious. However, he left in free agency, and the team has not done anything to replace him. Ahead of the draft, the Seahawks' O-line is even worse than last year. Seattle needs wins in the draft to fix that.
There is also a chance that Schneider could choose a player such as Gray Zabel relatively early in the draft and move him to center, but he would probably be more valuable as a guard. In other words, 12s should expect Oluwatimi or Sundell to be the starting center in 2025.
