Newly-signed Pittsburgh Steelers offensive lineman Isaac Seumalo was a guest on SiriusXM NFL Radio’s Late Hits with Alex Marvez and Charles Davis Thursday night, and the former Philadelphia Eagle had a lot of praise for ex-teammate Nate Herbig, who also signed with Pittsburgh this offseason.
“Nate’s one of those dudes that’s solid all the way around. Super smart, works his tail off, is a great teammate. I can’t say enough good things about Nate,” Seumalo said. “He’s young, and not only has he gotten so much better with the Jets, he’s just gonna continue to improve and get better each year.
When Herbig was signed, he was expected to compete with Kevin Dotson for the starting left guard job, but the addition of Seumalo makes his role murkier. While Herbig is reportedly viewed as a starter by assistant general manager Andy Weidl, the addition of Seumalo means the Steelers are likely to start Seumalo and James Daniels at the two guard spots. Regardless of the role Herbig plays, it seems like the Steelers are getting a player on the rise. Herbig is just 24 years old, and in addition to his attitude, Seumalo also praised Herbig for his “nastiness” and mean streak. That’s certainly what you want out of an NFL guard.
The past two seasons Pittsburgh has made a clear focus to attack the trenches in free agency. Adding Herbig and Seumalo this offseason is a huge boost and adds guys who provide positional flexibility across the guard and center spots, while last year the team added similarly versatile players in Mason Cole and James Daniels, who both started for Pittsburgh in 2022. Seumalo also talked a little about his own positional versatility and how having a lot of guys who can move around the line could work in Pittsburgh.
“All I know is they told me to come in, be myself, play at the ability that I know I can play, if not better and then go from there. At the end of the day, the coaches want the best five out there in whatever position that may be,” Seumalo said.
Last year, the Steelers had the same five offensive line starters for all 17 games. They can’t expect to maintain that level of health in 2023, and adding good, solid offensive linemen who can start and play well and who can also move around the line is huge for making sure the Steelers get better line play in 2023. While we don’t quite know how the offensive line is going to shake out yet, it’s clear that the Steelers are in a better spot right now at the position than they were when the 2022 season.
