One of the Seattle Seahawks’ three sixth-round picks in the 2024 draft, offensive lineman Sataoa Laumea, managed to be the starter for part of the season. Given his status and a seemingly uninspiring training camp, getting the starting job was surprising.

Sataoa Laumea’s 2024

Maybe when Laumea took over as the starter due to Anthony Bradford’s injury, the most uninformed fans might not have known who he was. That’s only natural since Laumea was on the third and fourth teams during training camp. There was more chance of him being cut before the regular season than of him getting a snap in his first year.

Laumea was inactive until Week 13 (Bradford’s injury). I can’t understand how someone who didn’t train well enough to be active in games could be better than Christian Haynes in practice. If that were true, why wasn’t Haynes inactive?

Anyway…

The former Utah player took over as a starter and was responsible for Seattle’s best moments in the running game in this final stretch (Weeks 13-17). In fact, former offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb could have explored the runs to the right side of the OL much more.

However, Laumea had a lot of problems in pass protection. He had the worst grade among the rookies: 17.8, the second worst was 41.9, just for comparison. He conceded 23 pressures, of which 17 happened in just two games, against the Packers (10) and Vikings (7). He conceded 2 against the Jets, 1 against the Cardinals, 0 against the Bears and 3 against the Rams.

Sataoa Laumea in the running game

This is a problem that happens in the pass pro and in the running game as well. He needs to use his leverage better to sustain the blocks for longer.

Excellent double-team execution and goes up to the second level to make a key block for the RB.

Good mobility to execute the long trap.

I believe that one of the main reasons Seattle’s running game was so poor was the lack of physicality from the OL and Laumea brought that element to the games he started.

In addition to his physicality, he can do a good job in open space.

Good athletic ability.

Another good double-team execution, creates the gap for Kenny McIntosh’s run.

A creative call from Ryan Grubb. Two RBs and a running threat from Ken Walker, but the one who advances is Zach Charbonnet. Laumea creates the gap for the run that allows the TD in a crucial moment of that game against the Jets that was full of twists and turns.

Sataoa Laumea in pass pro

He takes a while to identify the stunt, focusing only on the crasher and allowing the looper to infiltrate this stunt.

Even though he is the “alert” for the center, he comes out late from the snap and cannot stay in front of the defender.

He sweats the “two-hand strike” for the contact. With the defender’s spin, he cannot recover.

After giving in to pressure on the previous play, he commits the holding by again making a technical error in the positioning of his hands.

Third snap in which he makes the same mistake. This needs to be a priority for his second year.

If he can make a minimally decent contact, he has the mobility to mirror and recover later.

Final Thoughts

So far, the RG position is open. Bradford and Haynes alternated in OTAs and minicamp and Laumea was the backup LG, but the team will likely consider him given his work in the final stretch of last season.

With the changes in the offensive coaching staff, the team should run the ball more and that could be an important factor, considering he performed better in the run game than in pass protection. His biggest mistakes were in the technical department and working with an experienced OL coach like John Benton could help a lot.