Sataoa Laumea might unfortunately be proving Seahawks' John Schneider right

Seattle Seahawks right guard Sataoa Laumea shouldn't have been expected to be good in his first game in the NFL. After an injury to starter Anthony Bradford in Week 12, Laumea, who had yet to play a down in the league, was surprisingly named the starter in Week 13. Against a good New York Jets defensive front, Laumea was no better than simply OK and had two penalties (one was accepted) and allowed two quarterback pressures.

He did enough for Seattle to give him another chance to start in Week 14, though, and Laumea was much better. He allowed a quarterback pressure, but he also proved to be a far better run-blocker than Bradford was. When Bradford does return, Laumea should still start.

The problem is that Laumea might actually turn out to be quite good. Why is that an issue? Because it only re-enforces general manager John Schneider's belief that guards are overdrafted and overpaid. He said as much on Seattle Sports 710 AM this past offseason. Still, every year 12s watch as the offensive line underperforms.

Sataoa Laumea might be proving Seattle Seahawks general manager John Schneider's point

The hope is that Laumea is good and can hold down the right guard spot for years, but what about left guard? The Utah product might be an outlierand Schneider was accidentally correct in taking him in the sixth round of the 2024 NFL draft. But the Seahawks will probably have to find a replacement for left guard Laken Tomlinson in the next offseason.

Counting on Schneider to be correct again in the later rounds of the 2025 NFL draft seems foolish. In other words, the same issue Seattle had at right guard for most of this season could happen at left guard next year.

The Seahawks' projected offensive line next year could be left tackle Charles Cross, left guard unknown, center (maybe) Olu Oluwatimi, right guard (maybe) Laumea, and right tackle Abraham Lucas. Seattle could bring back Tomlinson on another one-year deal next season, but they still need to find a long-term answer at the position. At right tackle, the team has to hope Lucas can be healthy for a full year.

The wise move would be for Seattle to take a left guard in the first or second round in 2025. Under Schneider, there is little chance the Seahawks choose an interior offensive lineman in the first round. Maybe the GM will shock 12s and take on in the second round, but that also seems unlikely.

The hopes are several. One is that Oluwatimi will nail down the center position for a long time to come, even though the team did not give him much of a chance to start at the beginning of this season. Another is that Laumea can continue to impress and improve. The last is that Seattle re-signs Tomlinson at left guard. Schneider hitting on another interior offensive lineman next year is not a safe bet.

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