The Seattle Seahawks have made a bit of a surprising roster move. On Friday, head coach Mike Macdonald announced the team was going to have fourth round rookie Sataoa Laumea start at right guard in place of the injured Anthony Bradford.
Bradford was placed on injured reserve after exiting Seattle’s Week 12 game against the Arizona Cardinals with an ankle injury. This of course left an opening for a battle between the pair of rookies, Christian Haynes and Sataoa Laumea. A competition was held between the two and clearly Laumea had won.
Mike Macdonald said Sataoa Laumea will start at RG vs. the Jets, having beat out fellow rookie Christian Haynes in their competition this week. Macdonald wouldn’t divulge whether they’ll rotate the two, saying they have a plan and that they’ll see how the game plays out.
— Brady Henderson (@BradyHenderson) November 29, 2024
Selected in the sixth round of the 2024 NFL draft, Laumea was a four-year starter for the Utah Utes, and comes from a large family of 10 children.
Laumea’s victory in the starting guard competition comes as a bit of an upset. Christian Haynes had been the primary backup behind Bradford, even rotating at times during games. As for Laumea, not only will this be the first start of his career, it will literally be the first time he takes the field in a regular season NFL game. For every week this year, Laumea had been made inactive. Now, he starts.
While this is a good sign that the Seahawks possibly found a steal in the later rounds, it does bring up some concern about Haynes, who was arguably the top guard prospect in the draft. Haynes could not beat out Bradford for a starting role (who has been mostly awful this year) and now he can’t beat out his fellow rookie? Haynes’ development will surely be something to keep an eye on moving forward.
