The Seattle Seahawks rookie is starting and making his NFL debut

After placing right guard Anthony Bradford on injured reserve earlier this week, the Seattle Seahawks will field their 10th offensive lineman of the season on Sunday.

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What’s somewhat surprising is that that starter won’t be rookie third-round draft pick Christian Haynes.

Instead, the job goes to another rookie: sixth-round pick Sataoa Laumea.

Laumea stood up to Haynes in practice this week and will make his NFL debut in Sunday’s Week 13 road game against the New York Jets, Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald told reporters Friday.

“Both of those guys deserve a lot of credit,” Macdonald said. “They’ve been practicing how to pull the tail off this week. The plan is for us to use Satoa as a guard. He just did a great job. These guys have been competing the entire time. … So we’re excited about these guys and have all the confidence in the world in them, but Toa will start the game from the beginning.”

Laumea, a three-time All-Pac-12 selection at Utah, was inactive for Seattle’s first 11 games while sitting behind Bradford and Haynes on the depth chart.

Bradford and Haynes battled for the starting right guard spot throughout training camp and preseason — and well into the regular season. Bradford started all 11 games, but his inconsistent play left the door open for Haynes, who occasionally came on for series in the first eight weeks.

The rotation ended in Week 9, when Bradford played every snap at right guard for two straight games before getting injured on the opening series of the Seahawks’ win over the Arizona Cardinals last Sunday. After Bradford left the game, Haynes stepped in and played the rest of the game.

But now Laumea has passed Haynes on the depth chart.

“He deserves it, just play in, play out and move on,” Macdonald said. “This is something we have confidence in. And of course we want continuity in our offense, but that’s not the end and Christian has done a great job too.

“I just want to make it very clear that Christian hasn’t lost this or anything like that. “Toa has earned this opportunity.”

Since Bradford is on IR, he will miss at least four games. That means the earliest he could return is Week 17, when the Seahawks face the Chicago Bears in prime time on Dec. 26.

Macdonald did not say whether Seattle will substitute Haynes at right back on Sunday.

“We’ll watch the game and kind of leave it at that – see how the game turns out,” Macdonald said. “We have a plan, but we let it play out the way we want to execute it.”

The 6-foot-1, 300-pound Laumea started 44 consecutive games at Utah, alternating time between right guard and right tackle. He played primarily as a right-back in the first two seasons before switching to predominantly right-wing in 2022 and 2023.

Haynes started 49 games at right guard for UConn, where he was an Associated Press third-team All-American each of the last two seasons. He posted a Pro Football Focus grade of 50.4 across 164 snaps with Seattle this season.

Bradford, a fourth-round pick out of LSU in 2023, has 21 career starts in his two NFL seasons. His PFF grade of 50.1 ranks him 73rd out of 76 qualified guards this year.

Macdonald said Laumea continued to improve as the season progressed.

“He just keeps coming,” Macdonald said. “… To his credit, he continues to improve and he deserves the opportunity.”

Seattle’s offensive line has struggled in pass defense and run blocking this season amid an ever-changing roster of injuries and varying starting lineups.

Due to injuries, the Seahawks had four different starters at right tackle: Abraham Lucas (two games), George Fant (two games), Stone Forsythe (five games) and rookie sixth-round pick Michael Jerrell (two games). Lucas, the team’s top right tackle, has started the last two games after making his long-awaited return from offseason knee surgery.

Laumea will be Seattle’s third starting right guard. And at the center of it all was Connor Williams, who started the first nine games before suddenly retiring. Second-year pro Olu Oluwatimi has now taken over and has been the focal point in the last two games.

More coverage of the Seattle Seahawks

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• Stacy Rost’s 3 keys for the Seattle Seahawks on the road against the Jets
• Evaluating the Seahawks’ best and worst picks from five recent drafts
• Seattle Seahawks move: Starting from OL to IR; Added DB from Chargers
• Rust: Three thoughts as the Seattle Seahawks find themselves back atop the NFC West

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