Position battle at center reignited as Ethan Pocic returns from injury

After a dreadful performance from Kyle Fuller on Monday night, Seahawks fans may see a (slightly?) more comforting player starting at center against the Jaguars.

At his press conference Wednesday, Pete Carroll said that Ethan Pocic will be competing for the starting job this week, reigniting a competition which flamed out at training camp due to Pocic’s injury.

Pocic appeared for 14 snaps against the Colts in Week 1 and hasn’t appeared since. The Seahawks signed the 2017 draft pick to a one-year, $3 million deal this summer, opting not to pursue a more experienced or more talented center, a move which many fans believed would turn out poorly. So far, they have been right.

While Kyle Fuller hasn’t been as dreadful as he was against the Saints Monday night, he has consistently been the weak link along the offensive line throughout the season, at a position which Carroll said Wednesday is crucial in Shane Waldron’s offense. This is what I say to that:

Although signing a big-name center wasn’t necessarily feasible, I wouldn’t have been mad giving up the third-rounder that Arizona sent to Las Vegas for Rodney Hudson, who was the number one ranked center in the NFL by PFF coming in to this season. We could have even picked up Creed Humphrey in the draft, but instead we’ve opted for a mid-season position battle between two backup-quality players.