Seahawks Draft Potential Starting Center in Experienced Olu Oluwatimi
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After bypassing on earlier opportunities to draft competition for veteran Evan Brown, the Seattle Seahawks pulled the trigger on Michigan center Olu Oluwatimi with the 154th pick in the 2023 NFL Draft.
Hearing his name called mere moments after Wolverines teammate Mike Morris was selected by the Seahawks at pick No. 151, Oluwatimi brings more than 3,000 snaps at the pivot position with him to the Pacific Northwestern. After originally starting his college career at Air Force, he served as a three-year starter at the position for Virginia before taking his talents to Ann Arbor as a grad transfer in 2022.
A highly-decorated talent, Oluwatimi capped off his college career in style, winning the Rimington Award as the nation's top center and Outland Trophy as the best interior offensive lineman. Having played in multiple systems, he's a savvy communicator who handled all of Michigan's line calls in the run and pass game last season in a pro-style system, which should set him up to be ready to play right away.
Key to Michigan's dominance running the football last season, Oluwatimi earned Pro Football Focus' seventh-best run blocking grade among qualified centers. Though he isn't necessarily an imposing downhill blocker, he has enough pop behind his pads to create some movement off the line of scrimmage and has adequate lateral quickness and mobility to execute reach blocks at a high level on zone blocking concepts.
Thanks to his stellar communication skills and experience playing against all types of defensive fronts, Oluwatimi is astute at calling out blitzes and setting calls up for his teammates with the presence of a seasoned veteran. His hands and feet work well in sync with one another to keep defenders in front of him and he made marked improvements in pass protection allowing no sacks for the Wolverines last season.
Looking at his prospects as a pro, Oluwatimi's small 8 5/8-inch hands and lack of length stand out as potential issues blocking against NFL defensive tackles. Though he's a decent athlete for the position, he had problems at times throughout his college career mirroring more athletic defenders and he can be exposed when he has to block in space outside of the confines of the phone booth in the middle.
But even with those deficiencies potentially limiting his ceiling and leading to his fall to the fifth round, Oluwatimi's ample experience in multiple schemes, physicality and toughness in the run game, and leadership presence will give him an opportunity to step right in and compete with Brown for a starting spot on day one.
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