Position Battle: Center

Written by Chris Sullivan | 28 July 2009

The Seahawks have three centers on the squad (at least, three who matter): Chris Spencer, Max Unger and Steve Vallos. All three of these guys can play guard as well, which should help keep them on the team, but the question remains: who is going to play center in 2009? Click "read more" to find out!

I think we can agree that, barring injuries, it won't be Steve Vallos. Vallos was a solid backup last year, stepping in and playing as well as could be expected, maybe a little better. Still, don't expect to see him starting anytime soon in this league. He doesn't quite have the physical tools needed, and, though a hard worker, Vallos was too boom or bust last year. We all like him, and most of us last year did not like Spencer (which bolstered our like-itude of Vallos), but for the sake of  this article, lets assume he's not a viable option to start at Center. Because he's not.

So the real question is this: Will Max Unger beat out Chris Spencer for the starting center position?

The starting job is Chris Spencer's to lose. That's been made quite clear. Spencer had a fairly decent year in 2008, despite most people hating on him big time. He made some mistakes, yes, but was still probably in the better half of centers in the league. Part of Spencer's problem has been reading defenses and making adjustment calls at the line. That will be an even bigger responsibility in the ZBS and this has to be a concern for the Seahawks. Spencer is not a "dumb guy," but he's also not going to take home top prize on NFL Jeopardy. At times he guesses and often appears to guess wrong. As the Seahawks move to a majority-ZBS system, Spencer's role as the starter is very much in danger. It's not every day that a rookie has more experience in a role than the four-year veteran, but that's exactly the case this year.

Unger is a pure, zone-blocking center who understands the game very well, and can comprehend what the role of the center is in the ZBS and an offense as a whole. He's not the strongest guy on the line, but neither does he need to be. It will be up to Unger to prove in the preseason that he can make those linecalls and he can be the leader of the offensive line in the same way that Robbie Tobeck was for the 2005 Seahawks. Since losing Tobeck to retirement, the Seahawks line has not been the same. Blame it on Hutch if you will, but Tobeck's role should not be ignored either. It seems likely that Unger can physically and mentally match the play of Chris Spencer, the question is can he exceed the leadership?

We'll have to see how things go in the preseason, obviously, but I would not be surprised to see Unger start one or two of the preseason games at center. I would be very surprised if Unger was named the starting center heading into the season, but would be equally surprised if he was not starting there by Week 10 or so. This is Chris Spencer's contract year, he has every incentive to absolutely dominate in his role in Seattle. Can he do it?

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