Field Gulls
There is no shortage of questions and debate among fans regarding how the competition at center and right guard will shake out for the 2025 Seahawks. Could the key be in watching the wrists?
Training camp is underway for the Seattle Seahawks, meaning the football-like substance known as the preseason is just around the corner. It’s time for fans to get excited about their favorite players, hopeful for the upcoming season and begin to dream of hoisting a Lombardi in February.
However, there’s a lot of football to be played between now and the Super Bowl, including the first day of training camp for the Seahawks Wednesday, which means it’s camp reporting season and getting excited and worked up over the smallest of details. Such as wrist protectors.
In that picture, offensive lineman Jalen Sundell is seen wearing velcro strap wrist protectors in lieu of the traditional wrist taping like first round pick Grey Zabel standing next to him. This is far from an earth shattering development, but it brings the conversation around to something that may be worth watching during training camp, which is which offensive linemen opt for the velcro wrist protectors rather than traditional tape.
To help explain the relevance, here is a picture of Olu Oluwatimi from late in the 2024 season.
And here he is during the 2023 season.
Digging back to the Senior Bowl in early 2023, Oluwatimi is once again sporting the velcro protector on his snapping hand side.
Just like he did at Michigan in 2022.
And as a member of the Virginia Cavaliers during the 2021 season.
However, Oluwatimi did not wear one in 2020.
Nor did he wear one during the 2019 season.
So, Oluwatimi, who took over as the starting center for Virginia in 2019 and has been at the position for the Cavs, Wolverines and Seahawks in the years since, has worn a velcro wrist protector at least as far back as his redshirt sophomore season in 2021. That, in and of itself, is not remarkable.
Where it becomes noteworthy, though, is watching which other members of the Seattle offensive line have begun wearing the wrist protector as opposed to simply taping their wrist. Specifically, bringing the discussion back to the center position and the picture of Sundell and Zabel from above, here is Sundell in college with both wrists taped.
In contrast, here is Sundell during the 2024 preseason for the Seahawks.
And on the field during his lone start as a rookie during the regular season.
Now, a player wearing protective wrist straps during the 2024 season and then wearing them during training camp in 2025 is certainly not groundbreaking. It’s worth taking note of, given the arrival of a new coaching staff for the position group, but it’s not anything to get overly worked up about.
However, it does raise an interesting question: If both of the top two centers on the roster are wearing the same style, or at least similar, wrist protectors, then...
