Ethan Pocic, not B.J. Finney, getting Seahawks’ first-team snaps at center in training camp

Remember Ethan Pocic? He was the Seattle Seahawks’ second-round pick back in 2017 and had the versatility to play either guard or (his preferred position of) center. Unfortunately, he’s never worked his way into the starting lineup without someone else getting injured, he’s played more guard than center, and then he was shelved for much of 2019 with his own injury woes.

With Justin Britt and Joey Hunt gone, B.J. Finney figured to be the presumptive favorite to replace him as the starting center in 2020, leaving Pocic either on the fringe of being cut or in the familiar role of reserve guard/center. One of the surprise developments in this year’s Seahawks training camp is the fact that Pocic, not Finney, has been anchoring the first-team offensive snaps thus far.

Recent team-mandated rules limit our ability to view training camps even through the live streams, so these tweets from media who were there will have to suffice.

Now we’re only a week into training camp and padded practices have only lasted for a couple of days. Tomorrow we have the first of two “Mock Games” at CenturyLink Field and we may get a better indicator of what’s to come through those scrimmages.

At present, you can interpret Pocic’s early first-team work as having more familiarity with Russell Wilson than the newcomer Finney. Pocic has seldom gotten the chance to prove himself at center and in the final year of his rookie deal, he just may breakthrough as a legitimate starting offensive lineman.

Alternatively, Finney is not cutting the mustard as first-team center and Pocic has usurped Finney as the favorite. In which case, the Seahawks might have just paid Finney at least $4.5 million guaranteed money to be a reserve. I don’t think that’s the case, but it’s one of the more interesting developments of training camp.

Always Compete, etc.