Will Seattle Bolster The Interior Offensive Line?

Overview: Bringing in free agent Evan Brown and re-signing Phil Haynes gives Seattle potential starters at center and right guard, but with both inking just one-year deals and left guard Damien Lewis’ rookie contract also good through just next season, the Seahawks could make the interior of the offensive line as much as a priority in this draft as tackle was a year ago – when the club invested the No. 9 and No. 72 overall picks in Charles Cross and Abe Lucas. Fortunately, this is a solid class for interior offensive linemen with a handful of legitimate plug-and-play candidates at both center and guard and a few versatile enough to play either role. While I believe it is quite possible – perhaps even probable – that Seattle selects one of the five players listed below, there are several worthy Day Two and early Day Three candidates that also make sense including North Dakota State’s Cody Mauch, Arkansas’ Ricky Stromberg, Alabama’s Emil Ekiyor, Jr. (all projecting best at guard), as well as Ohio State and Michigan’s rival centers, Luke Wypler and Olusegun Oluwatimi.

1. Pete Skoronski, Northwestern, 6-4, 313, First Round

Skoronski is the most polished blocker in this class, but he is a college left tackle whose short arms (32 ¼”) will almost surely push him inside to left guard. He’s more quick and smart than a mauler, projecting nicely to Andy Dickerson’s scheme, should Seattle choose to make such a big investment.

2. John Michael Schmitz, Minnesota, 6-4, 301, First-Second Round

At Minnesota, head coach PJ Fleck has popularized the expression “row the boat” to describe the camaraderie and commitment necessary to build a true team. Schmitz, 24, was very udder of that boat, demonstrating the quickness, strength, toughness and smarts to project as a plug and play and long-time starting center.

3. Joe Tippman, Wisconsin, 6-6, 313, First-Second Round

While the aforementioned Schmitz may be the “safest” of this year’s center class, his Big Ten rival, Tippman, arguably offers the most upside, blending rare size for the position with terrific initial quickness and agility to block on the move. Though he has “just” two years of starting experience, Tippman practiced head up against one of the better defensive tackles (Keeanu Benton) in this class every day, theoretically easing his transition to the NFL.

4. Steve Avila, TCU, 6-4, 332, Second Round

As the only player on this list with high-caliber starts at both guard and…