Seahawks Hint at Major Offensive Line Shakeup After Run Game Surge

Seattle Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald stopped short of guaranteeing that injured lineman Jalen Sundell will reclaim the starting center job once he’s healthy. Instead, Macdonald used his latest press conference to rave about Olu Oluwatimi as a “driving force” behind the team’s recent run-game surge and said the staff still has to “work through what the lineup will look like” when Sundell comes back. That combination of praise and hedging leaves Seattle’s center depth chart suddenly wide open.

Seahawks Praise Olu Oluwatimi While Dodging Jalen Sundell Question

Asked how much Oluwatimi has factored into the Seahawks’ improved ground attack over the last four weeks, Macdonald didn’t mince words. He said Oluwatimi has “definitely been an asset,” praised him for playing “physical” and “decisive,” and credited him with “getting us to the right targets” in the run game. Macdonald added that while it’s a “cohesive effort” up front, it “starts with him,” calling Oluwatimi a “driving force” behind how the Seahawks are running the ball right now.

Later, when the topic shifted to Sundell, Macdonald confirmed the injured starter is “doing well” but still a little ways away. The key moment came when he was asked point blank what happens to the lineup when Sundell is back. Instead of locking him in as the automatic starting center, Macdonald said the Seahawks still have to “work through what the lineup will look like when he comes back.”

That’s a very different tone than the typical “when he’s healthy, he’s our guy” answer coaches often give about entrenched starters.

Sundell originally went down with a knee injury during Seattle’s blowout win over the Arizona Cardinals and was later placed on injured reserve, with the expectation he would miss multiple weeks but return this season. Oluwatimi stepped in as the next man up at center and helped power a season-high rushing performance in that game as the Seahawks closed it out on the ground.

What It Means for the Seahawks’ Offensive Line

Before the injury, Sundell had beaten out Oluwatimi for the starting center job after an offseason battle, solidifying his spot in the middle of an offensive line that had been one of the NFL’s better pass-protecting units. Oluwatimi, a 2023 fifth-round pick, had started games in 2024 but opened 2025 as a backup after losing that competition.

Since Sundell went down, though, Oluwatimi has taken over and the identity of the offense has started to shift. Macdonald pointed to the run game’s progress over the last month and repeatedly tied it back to how Oluwatimi is handling the position — from physicality to mental command to getting the Seahawks “to the right targets” in their blocking schemes.

Macdonald also offered a little window into why the center spot is so critical in this system. He explained that Seattle’s pass protection rules are built so the offense can “go play fast” rather than trying to pick up “absolutely everything” a defense can throw at them. Sometimes, he admitted, that means getting the ball out before a rusher arrives and living with the trade-off. In that structure, the center making the right call at the line is the starting point for the whole play.

On the run side, the numbers help tell the story. With Sundell in the lineup early in the season, Seattle was near the bottom of the league in yards per carry, even while keeping quarterback Sam Darnold among the least-sacked passers in the NFL. In the Cardinals game where Oluwatimi took over, the Seahawks rushed for close to 200 yards, including well over 100 in the second half as they leaned on the ground game to close things out.

Macdonald’s refusal to promise Sundell his old job back, combined with his detailed praise of Oluwatimi’s work, sets up several possibilities once Sundell is ready to return: Oluwatimi could keep the starting center job, Sundell could be shifted into a guard competition, or Seattle could stage a true open battle for the spot down the stretch.

Macdonald’s ‘Best Path to Win’ Philosophy Points to a Performance-Based Call

Macdonald’s comments about the center position fit neatly with how he described his overall offensive philosophy. He repeated that the Seahawks are “playing to go win the game,” not simply to protect the ball, and stressed the need for the offense to be decisive and explosive rather than living on “three yards and a cloud of dust.” He noted that Seattle still wants more explosive runs — the 40-yard types they haven’t quite popped yet — but believes those plays are coming.

At the same time, Macdonald talked about taking ownership when he puts players in “disadvantage[d] situations” with a “bad play” call and emphasized that he and the staff are constantly adjusting to help their guys as much as possible. That mindset meshes with keeping an open mind at center instead of defaulting to the pre-injury depth chart.

For now, Oluwatimi is the one getting the public praise and the live reps, while Sundell rehabs and waits for his shot to get back on the field. If Oluwatimi keeps driving the run game and running the protections the way Macdonald describes, the Seahawks’ head coach has left himself plenty of room to stick with the hot hand — and make Sundell win the starting center job back, rather than simply handing it to him when he returns.

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