Seattle Seahawks: Early Predictions on 2023 Key Position Battles
Too-early predictions on who comes out of the competitive fire at training camp at the VMAC in late July-August
Center: Evan Brown v. Olusegun Oluwatimi (5th-round rookie)
The Seattle Seahawks have had a problem at center for a while. Some will deride the front office for trading away Max Unger for Jimmy Graham, or for picking Dee Eskridge over Creed Humphrey… those feelings are fair. The truth is, this regime doesn’t seem to have prioritized that position as highly as others. Evan Brown is a free-agent signing from Detroit, where he capably filled in for Frank Ragnow at Center, as well as playing some offensive guard. Cutting to the chase, I believe he’ll be given the first crack at the starting job because Pete values experience and communication skills at the pivot.
There’s also the added motivation to keep the job until he plays his old team (The much-hyped Detroit Lions) in week 2! Dan Campbell and squad let him go even with a Center who is still recovering from injury! Evan will get a real challenge from 5th-round, award-winning (Rimington Trophy for the best Center and Outland Trophy for the best Interior OL) All-American Center, Olu Oluwatimi. This one may be the fiercest competition (and the one I am least confident in), but I’m giving it to the 26 y/o Free Agent signing. That may hold for the first 1-2 games at least, even if Olu should be seen as our Center of the future.
Predicted Winner: Brown
Outside Linebacker: Darrell Taylor v. Boye Mafe v. Derrick Hall (2nd-round rookie)
Battle royale! Who will start across from the disruptor known as Uchenna Nwosu? Darrell Taylor came on strong at the end of the season and tied for the team lead with 9.5 sacks. Boye Mafe had great run support and a solid 65.8 grade from PFF. Let’s not forget that Mafe was taken one pick before Walker last year in the 2nd round. Derrick Hall is the newcomer, and word is he had a 1st-round grade from the Seattle Seahawks brain trust.
The question is, can DT improve his run fits to go along with that bendy (but inconsistent) speed rush that he owns? This may be Taylor’s last chance to prove he’s not a one-trick pony as a pass-rush specialist before Mafe (especially) and Hall overtake his snaps. This one is shaky, as I could ultimately see him and Mafe splitting snaps pretty evenly to start the season. The exciting thing is that we will most likely see all of these guys play since Pete wants to see the pass rush fresh and hungry on every down.
Predicted Winner: Taylor
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