Offensive guard Isaac Seumalo spent the first seven seasons of his NFL career with the Philadelphia Eagles. That time was spent learning from veterans like center Jason Kelce and tackle Lane Johnson. When he signed a three-year deal with the Steelers, Seumalo had the script flipped a bit on him. Rather than learning from vets, Seumalo is now the elder statesman among the Steelers’ offensive linemen.
On Thursday, Seumalo addressed the media after the third day of OTAs and was asked about his transition to the Steelers.
“The biggest difference for me is coming from a team where I wasn’t necessarily the oldest guy,” Seumalo said via Steelers.com. “Now I’m like one of the oldest, if not the oldest guy on offense. [It] has definitely been a cool deal for me… The o-line, I think there’s a bunch of good players, and not only that, we’ve got a lot of depth.”
He is, in fact, not the most experienced member of the offense as wide receiver Allen Robinson II has two more years of experience. Also, offensive tackle Le’Raven Clark entered the league the same season as Seumalo. However, the point still stands. Seumalo enters the offensive meeting room, and especially the offensive line group, with more experience than just about anyone he’s going to spend time on the field with. He’s played in 81 games, starting 60 of them, since entering the league in 2016, which is more than Clark’s 64 appearances and 18 starts. Seumalo also played in the Super Bowl this past season, so he brings playoff and championship experience to a room that is lacking in it.
The best part for the Steelers? Even though Seumalo is one of the oldest members of the offense, he won’t turn 30 until the end of October. He brings badly needed experience without carrying the concerns an offensive lineman in his mid-30s might have. While teams might hesitate to give a player of that age a three-year deal, Seumalo is in the right age range where he can be the veteran while still contributing beyond the upcoming season.
The Steelers expect to be contenders year in and year out. However, the offense has lacked a bit in the experience department. After spending the first seven years of his NFL career learning from some great offensive linemen, Seumalo has the opportunity to provide that level of veteran leadership to this offense and the offensive line in particular.
