Following Justin Britt's Footsteps, Ethan Pocic Ready to Shine at Center for Seahawks

Two injury-marred seasons led to many writing off Pocic heading into the final year of his rookie deal with the Seahawks. After finally finding his way back to his best position, the former second-round pick has redeemed himself thus far and hopes to bring stability to a revamped offensive line.

Battling a variety of injuries and losing a pair of starting roles in the process, the past two seasons have been an elongated struggle featuring far more lows than highs for Seahawks offensive lineman Ethan Pocic.

Coming off a promising first season in Seattle in which he started 11 games at guard and made the Pro Football Writers Association's All-Rookie team, Pocic's problems began in Week 2 of the 2018 season. Suffering a sprained ankle in a Monday night loss to Chicago, he missed several games, allowing veteran J.R. Sweezy to take over at left guard and never relinquish the starting job.

While Pocic earned a spot start in relief of D.J. Fluker later in the season, he wrapped up a disappointing sophomore campaign with four starts and played only 296 offensive snaps. Entering his third season, he once again started at left guard in Seattle's season opener, only to be supplanted by Mike Iupati the next week.

One month later, Pocic landed on injured reserve with a back injury. After losing starting center Justin Britt to a torn ACL, he eventually was activated by the Seahawks in November, but his return was a brief one as a lingering sports hernia injury ended his season weeks later.

"It's one of those things that can be misdiagnosed," Pocic said of his sports hernia injury that required surgery. "I had it for a while, it was kinda misdiagnosed and didn't realize I had it until it got real bad. But I'm feeling better, so now it's just moving forward."

Given his struggles staying healthy and inconsistent play on the field, few expected Pocic to replace Britt following his release in late April. Instead, newcomer B.J. Finney, who signed a two-year deal with the Seahawks in free agency, entered training camp last month as the perceived favorite to win the job.

But from the outset, back at his natural position where he started most of his games while at LSU, Pocic quickly separated himself from Finney and Kyle Fuller in a competition that never felt close. As camp progressed, he continued to take the majority of first-team reps and tightened his grip on the starting role, making it an easy call for coach Pete Carroll and his staff.

"All I can tell you is he did a great job in camp and looked terrific, was our most experienced guy with handling the whole system and all and it showed," Carroll said when naming Pocic the starting center on Monday. "So we're fired up to see him go."

In many ways, Pocic's ascendance to the starting center role mirrored Britt's path from five years ago. Both players started their careers playing different positions, with Britt starting all 16 games at right tackle as a rookie and Pocic opening his career at guard.

While Pocic hadn't really considered their parallel journeys prior to speaking with reporters on Wednesday, he sees plenty of similarities, including having very similar physical specs. Pocic stands 6-foot-6 and weighs 320 pounds, while Britt also stands 6-foot-6 at 315 pounds.

"Me and Justin are good friends and I learned a lot from him. He's a great player," Pocic smiled. "I didn't think about it like that, but the path is kinda similar. He is a guy who can play multiple positions, similar body type too... Just looking forward to getting out there Sunday."

When asked if he knew he would be playing center this season, Pocic indicated he went into Seattle's virtual offseason program ready to do whatever the team needed him to do. But with Finney trying to grasp a new system, it became apparent quickly he was going to be in the thick of the competition to replace Britt.

As a three-year starter at LSU, Pocic logged 37 starts in his college career, with 27 of those coming at center. This prior experience made it an easy transition for him, though he admitted he's still mastering line calls now that he's exclusively at center and isn't taking reps at guard anymore.

"Having the background I have playing multiple positions, you kinda know to just be ready for whatever," Pocic commented. "This OTAs, it was primarily center, which helped me out a lot trying to work on the calls and really just focusing in."

The healthiest he has been since his rookie season, Pocic has gotten off to a fast start entering the final year of his rookie contract. He will now be tasked with translating his strong play at camp into regular season action, starting with a challenging opening test awaiting on Sunday against Pro Bowl defensive tackle Grady Jarrett and the Falcons.

While blocking Jarrett won't be easy, after being sidelined for most of last season, Pocic is simply grateful to be back on the field and he's eager to reward the Seahawks for their faith in him with this latest opportunity.

"It's always a blessing to be able to play in the NFL. I don't ever take it for granted. Last year was kind of up and down, I had the neck thing and then the sports hernia thing got worse, so I'm happy to be healthy."