The Seahawks placed center Jalen Sundell on the injured reserve list, and signed Christian Haynes to the 53-man roster. Sundell suffered a knee injury in the second quarter of last weeks win over the Arizona Cardinals. Olu Oluwatimi replaced Sundell and finished the game at center with 33 snaps, which amounted to 53 % of the offensive snaps.
“Really excited for Olu (Oluwatimi), talking about staying ready, and then when this opportunity presented itself, he played some really good football for us, and he was really a catalyst behind a lot of those runs,” said Mike Macdonald when asked to assess Oluwatimi’s performance.
Oluwatimi and Sundell were competing neck and neck for the starting center position during training. A knee injury slowed Oluwatimi’s progress which allaowed Sundell surge ahead and win the starting center battle. With Sundell starting at center the first nine games of the season, the Seahawks’ offensive line was among the best in pass blocking . The Seahawks’ pass offense is ranked 6th overall, averaging 246.1 yards per game. The run game is mid-level, averaging 114 rush yards per game and ranked 17th. Overall, the Seahawks’ offense is ranked 9th.
CAN OLUWATIMI CARRY THE LOAD?
The Seahawks’ next man mentality has worked on defense. Ty Okada has stepped in for Julian Love, Nick Emmanori, Drake Thomas, Nehemiah Pritchett,and Tyrice Knight have all risen to the occasion when called on when injuries sidelined Ernest Jones, Devon Witherspoon, Josh Jobe. Can Oluwatimi continue the trend?
“Olu had a really good training camp. Olu is a really good player, and we’re really glad to have him come in and be our center. We need all the reps that we can get right now with him just to get back up to speed,” said offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak. ” I liked the way he came in the game. We did put the ball on the ground, which is unacceptable, and that’s quarterbacks and centers, so we’ve got to be better there.”
Oluwatimi and the rest of the Seahawks offense will need to be at it’s best against the Rams on Sunday . The Rams’ defense is ranked 11th overal and is second in points allowed at 17 pts per game.
” They do a lot of great things. The front’s playing really well. I think the best thing I can say is they’re playing complementary defense; they’re attacking the football. When it’s pass time and it’s conversion down time and in the red zone, they’re executing at a high level, they work together., ” said Macdonald when asked about the Rams defense. ” A lot of those principles we’re chasing as well on defense, you see some of the philosophical similarities as well, but they execute and play hard. Their front rushes well together and they have a really good blitz package.”
The sigining of Haynes to the 53 man roster will provide some offensive line depth. Now that he is on IR, Sundell will have to miss at least four games before he can be considered to return to the 53-man roster.
Defensive reinforcements
Sunday’s game will see the return of middle linebacker Ernest Jones IV and cornerback Josh Jobe. Both players missed the Cardinals game; Jones had a knee issue, and Jobe was on concussion protocol. While the team was able to win without the duo, they will both be needed against a Rams offense that is led by Matthew Stafford.
The Rams offense is ranked fifth overall, one spot behind the Seahawks, the Rams’ pass game is ranked second overall, averaging 259 yards per game. With Jones in the lineup, the Macdonald can dial up multiple defensive looks that include blitzes. For Jones, Sunday’s game is a big game because it is the next game on the schedule.
” Yeah, what I mean, I think I grew up wanting to be part of a game like this you know, be a part where you could take control of a lot of things. The season’s not over, but it gives you, you know, great help at the end. So I think these games are important, but we’ve just got to go out there and treat it as a normal, “said Jones,
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