What Brock saw from Seahawks’ new-look O-line

Nov 18, 2024, 10:15 AM

Geno Smith celebrates with Seattle Seahawks teammates after scoring a TD against the 49ers. (Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images)

(Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images)

BY CAMERON VAN TIL

Seattle Sports

The Seattle Seahawks’ much-maligned offensive line had a considerably different look in Sunday afternoon’s win over the San Francisco 49ers.

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At right tackle, Abraham Lucas made his long-awaited season debut in his return from offseason knee surgery. And at center, second-year pro Olu Oluwatimi made his first start of the season after Connor Williams’ stunning retirement this past week.

Both had strong showings. Oluwatimi received a Pro Football Focus grade of 80.8 and Lucas earned a grade of 76.8, which were two of the three highest grades on Seattle’s offense.

With new starters at two of the five O-line spots, the Seahawks appeared to have a relatively steady performance up front. Seattle gave up four sacks and the rushing attack was still spotty, but Geno Smith generally seemed to have more time to operate and the offense as a whole ran smoother than in recent weeks. The Seahawks scored 20 points on their eight drives for an average of 2.5 points per possession, which marked a considerable uptick from their 1.9-points-per-possession average entering the game.

During Monday’s edition of Blue 88 on Seattle Sports’ Brock and Salk, former NFL quarterback Brock Huard was asked if he thought the Seahawks’ new-look offensive line played significantly better on Sunday.

“Yeah, 100 percent,” Huard said.

Lucas, a 2022 third-round draft pick out of Washington State, was making his first start since Week 17 of last season. The Everett native had an impressive rookie campaign in 2022, but was limited to just six games in 2023 due to lingering knee issues that ultimately led to surgery in January.

The 6-foot-6, 322-pound Lucas played six of Seattle’s eight offensive series on Sunday. He provided a major boost at right tackle, where injuries had forced Seattle to play nearly the entire season with third-stringer Stone Forsythe and fourth-string rookie Michael Jerrell at that spot. Both struggled mightily, with Forsythe ranking 74th out of 76 tackles in PFF grading and Jerrell ranking 75th out of 76.

“When (Abe) was in, man, he was just a steadying force,” Huard said. “I went back and watched and (was like), ‘Look at him move people. Look at him stand his ground.’ Poor Stone Forsythe just blown backward consistently. Jerrell beaten consistently. Abe Lucas was not.”

Oluwatimi, meanwhile, was making his second career start and his first since Week 6 of last season. The 2023 fifth-round pick had played just four offensive snaps this season, all as an extra offensive lineman in specialty packages. Williams had played every snap at center before his sudden retirement.

Oluwatimi had a bad snap in the second quarter that resulted in a 17-yard loss, but otherwise appeared to hold up pretty well against the 49ers’ defensive front.

“I thought he played super solid, just like he did in his start last year,” Huard said. “You didn’t see him getting overwhelmed and blown up. … Olu is sturdy. He’s not the most dynamic guy, but he’s sturdy, he’s steady. It sure seems like he calmed things and facilitated from the center spot.”

After all of the offensive line’s struggles this season, Sunday’s improved play left Huard excited about the group’s potential going forward.

“When that thing settles down in front of Geno, look out, man,” Huard said. “There’s gonna be more and more and more opportunity and some of the efficiency that we saw (on Sunday), certainly in the second half.”