Jun 5, 2023 - Sports

Hawks' 5th-round pick Olu Oluwatimi "biggest steal" of the draft

Christine Clarridge

Football player running drills. — Olu Oluwatimi participates in a drill during the NFL Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium in March. Photo: by Stacy Revere/Getty Images

Turns out that winning the Rimington Award may be a better indicator of future football success than the more celebrated Heisman Trophy and that's good news for the Seattle Seahawks.

Driving the news: The Hawks' fifth-round pick, Olu Oluwatimi, named "the biggest steal of the draft" by ESPN college football reporter Chris Low, was the 2022 recipient of the Rimington Award while with the University of Michigan Wolverines.

Historically, winning the Heisman Trophy does not always translate into dominance on the professional football field, according to FanNation.
But the Rimington Award, given to the nation's best college center each year, has generally been a strong precursor to "flourishing early in the NFL."

While the consensus All-American isn't guaranteed a starting position with the Hawks, USA Today analyst Tom Weaver predicted Oluwatimi may be in a position to wrangle the job from center Evan Brown, Heavy.com reported.

That decision won't be made until later in the season, but we'll be watching what happens.

What they're saying: Former Hawks' scout Jim Nagy said on Twitter, "Whatever grade you have on @UMichFootball OC Olu Oluwatimi it’s probably too low."

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Hawks' 5th-round pick Olu Oluwatimi "biggest steal" of the draft

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