The Seattle Seahawks were without starting right guard D.J. Fluker against a formidable Los Angeles Rams front line Sunday. However, that didn’t deter them from pounding the ball on the ground to the tune of a season-high 273 rushing yards.

Replacing Fluker, who is one of Seattle’s most powerful run-blockers, is no easy task. While many expected the job to go to Ethan Pocic, who started 11 games at guard last season, the team decided to go a different route and start undrafted rookie Jordan Simmons — who made his NFL debut.

“Unbelievable job by Jordan Simmons today,” coach Pete Carroll commented after the game. “He played the whole game, he’s never even played before. Stepping up and doing that was fantastic.”

Simmons missed an entire season at USC after tearing his ACL, but the Raiders took a chance on him after seeing his work at USC’s Pro Day. He was waived by Oakland when rosters were trimmed in September, and Seattle quickly picked him up.

“When John (GM John Schneider) and the scouts figured it out that we could get him we saw a really balanced body, a really big kid,” Carroll stated. “He’s 338 pounds, he’s really strong and athletic, he has all of the right stuff to be a good player. He just hasn’t had the consistency in his background to show it. But we could see enough to give him an opportunity. And everything he’s done he’s done really well. He hasn’t had much work with us either.

“Mike (Solari) has a great feel for him and we gave him a shot and he came through today.”

Coach Carroll wouldn’t commit to Simmons being the primary backup to Fluker going forward, saying starting him Sunday was a matchup decision, based on the size Los Angeles had on their defensive front.

Still, Simmons will no doubt be in the mix along with Pocic and Joey Hunt whenever Seattle needs offensive line help. The fact he was able to hold his own against the Rams’ defensive line in his NFL debut is a great sign for the rookie’s future.