Seahawks Exhibit Faith in Ethan Pocic With Draft Strategy

Seattle easily could have selected a center in the second round. But after coach Pete Carroll heaped praise on Pocic two days earlier, the team opted to go a different direction, showing the organization remains confident in the former second round pick.

When the Seahawks officially went on the clock with the 56th overall selection in the second round on Friday night, the vast majority of draft experts and fans expected general manager John Schneider to trade down.

After all, Seattle entered the weekend with just three picks, easily the lowest total among all 32 NFL teams. Schneider has earned his reputation for being a shrewd draft board manipulator, as he made a whopping seven draft weekend trades during the 2019 NFL Draft to turn five picks into 11 new players. While he wasn't expected to be able to accomplish that feat again, it seemed likely he would find a way to at least double his selections.

But on a weekend where Schneider and the franchise broke several past tendencies, the team stood pat after initial attempts to trade down fell through. With centers Creed Humphrey and Quinn Meinerz still available, speculation ran rampant on social media that the team would draft one of them as a long-term successor to current starter Ethan Pocic.

However, as he has done many times in the past, Schneider decided to go in the opposite direction of conventional draft wisdom. Rather than bolster the offensive line with one of the top remaining center prospects, he snagged another weapon for quarterback Russell Wilson, selecting speedy Western Michigan receiver and return specialist D'Wayne Eskridge instead.

Though the move made sense given Seattle's lack of depth behind Pro Bowlers DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett, many draft pundits were caught flat-footed by the move, especially after Wilson's public comments calling for improved pass protection. Humphrey and Meinerz were viewed as two of the better players remaining available and the latter would have offered the ability to play guard as well.

But deciphering coach Pete Carroll and Schneider's comments in regard to Pocic from last Wednesday afternoon one day before the start of the draft, maybe Seattle's decision to bypass the center position altogether shouldn't be much of a surprise.

"We're going to get Ethan to come back to center, where he gets his second year to come back and compete to be the No. 1 center," Carroll said unprompted while listing off several of the moves Seattle made to retain players. "And he'll be battling with Kyle [Fuller] as well. We're thrilled about that."

Moments later, Schneider echoed such sentiments, saying, "[Re-signing] Ethan was a huge get."

While Pocic was far from dominant in his first season as a starter at the pivot position, the former second-round pick out of LSU was certainly serviceable in 15 starts. Logging 932 offensive snaps, per Pro Football Focus, he allowed just two sacks and a trio of quarterback hits on 607 pass plays. He also was penalized just three times total.

To put those numbers in perspective, First-Team All-Pro Corey Linsley allowed one sack and two quarterback hits on over 150 less pass blocking reps, with the big difference between the two being the discrepancy in pressures. Pocic was charged with 18, while Linsley allowed just four all season. Nonetheless, Pocic stacked up well in all three categories against most of his peers despite receiving only the 19th-best pass blocking grade amongst 30 qualified centers.

Taking a deeper dive, when excluding plays with less than four rushers, screens, play action plays, and throws made in under two seconds, Pocic ranked 13th out of 30 centers with a 97.8 "True Pass Set" efficiency rate. He allowed nine pressures on 230 such plays, tied as the seventh-lowest total. Those are quality numbers from an extensive sample size.

Where Pocic had his greatest struggles was in the run blocking department. Despite adding muscle to his frame in his four years in the league and bulking up to 320 pounds, he still has difficulty creating any push at the line of scrimmage and can be bullied by stronger defenders. Sports Info Solutions charged him with eight blown blocks and Pro Football Focus ranked him 23rd out of 30 qualified centers with a 61.9 run blocking grade.

In the past, Pocic's flaws as a run blocker would have made it difficult for Seattle to justify keeping him in the lineup. But with a new offensive coordinator in Shane Waldron set to incorporate more wide zone concepts in the run game and a quick strike passing game, his deficiencies shouldn't be as big of a problem. Scheming should help mask some of those issues and play better to his strengths.

Set to turn 26 years old in August, Pocic remains a young player who has just 30 career regular season starts under his belt. Only 14 of those came at his natural position, indicating he has plenty of room to develop as he gains experience. This may be the biggest reason why Carroll and Schneider still have high expectations for him and believe he will much improved in 2021.

It's also worth noting that Carroll name-dropped Kyle Fuller, who signed an exclusive rights tender last month, on several occasions during their press conference. He hopes the return of a more traditional offseason and training camp will provide more legitimate opportunities for everyone on the roster to battle for playing time. When it comes to his "always compete" philosophy, the center position is certainly not exempt.

"You're going to see Ethan Pocic battling with Kyle [Fuller], and you're going to see really great battles waged, which I think is just going to make us better," Carroll remarked. "I'm excited committing that to our players, and that's why I don't mind saying that out loud. It's kind of the theme this time around. It's a little different than last year. This year is different again, but we're going to have preseason games, and we'll have a better opportunity to give people a chance."

A year or two from now, Carroll and Schneider may rue the day they chose not to pick Humphrey or Meinerz, who wound up with the Chiefs and Broncos respectively. If Pocic struggles mightily next season, the decision to move forward without a clear upgrade will be heavily panned by critics.

But at the end of the day, the decision to not use one of their three draft picks on a center presents a strong vote of confidence from the Seahawks' brain trust in Pocic. While Fuller and even undrafted rookie Pier-Olivier Lestage will have a chance to compete, it's his job to lose and he will have another shot to prove himself as a long-term answer at the position.