Field Gulls
The undrafted free agent is competing with Olu Oluwatimi for the role of starting center. Can he win it?
UDFAs always make for good stories. There are some who “come out of nowhere” and get a spot among the 53, even beating out other more “renowned” players. A few years ago, Jake Curhan was earning his spot during training and confirmed it during the preseason games.
Last year we had a similar story with Jalen Sundell. He arrived later, he wasn’t one of the UDFAs who signed right after the Draft, he first spent some time with the Browns. The team had Nick Harris and Olu Oluwatimi as centers and then traded Harris and added Connor Williams. Even though he was the team’s third center, he got a spot in the 53.
Could Grey Zabel’s former college teammate take Olu Oluwatimi’s spot?
Sundell was active in many games, mainly due to his versatility. In theory, he could line up in all positions on the offensive line. However, he had basically nine snaps as an additional blocker, either as a sixth OL or FB.
Everything changed in Week 15 when Oluwatimi had to leave injured and Sundell took over as the starter. He played 48 snaps and since the Seahawks allowed a lead on the scoreboard to the Packers, most of his snaps were for passing. In these 37 passing snaps, he did not give up any pressure and received a PFF Pass Block Grade of 74.5.
As mentioned above, Sundell had to enter the field in an emergency. Nervousness is normal and here it ends up showing. He collides with another OL because he clearly did not make the right move.
If the previous play was a bad snap as a center and rookie, here he recovers. The center needs to be the leader and brain of the OL. Sundell makes adjustments before the play and he and the rest of the OL are prepared for the blitz. He gives up some ground to the blitzer, but is able to recover and show good anchoring in the pass pro.
This is the kind of play that could make Sundell a consideration over Olu. Good mobility, athleticism and good play processing, identifying and adjusting on the run to execute the correct block.
Once again he is put in motion. This time he takes it to the next level and creates space with a key block for Zach Charbonnet’s TD.
Of the Seahawks’ biggest failures in the running game, almost all of them were due to the OL’s inability to impose themselves physically and create space. Here, Sundell dominates the snap with leverage and opens the gap for the run.
The Seahawks, perhaps contrary to the fans’ wishes, did not bring in anyone to play center through free agency or the NFL Draft. That left Olu Oluwatimi, who ended up as the starter in the role, and Sundell competing for the spot. During OTAs,...
