It might not be as good as the combination of Ramon Foster and David DeCastro once was, but the duo of left guard Isaac Seumalo and right guard James Daniels is a rather solid one for the Pittsburgh Steelers on the interior of the offensive line.
Pro Football Focus seems to agree, ranking the Steelers guards inside the top 20 at the position Wednesday morning, marking just the third duo to be ranked inside the top 20 behind only the Dallas Cowboys’ Zach Martin and Tyler Smith, and the Kansas City Chiefs’ duo of Joe Thuney and Trey Smith.
Seumalo, entering his second season with the Steelers after signing as a free agent ahead of the 2023 season, landed at No. 14 in the guard rankings from PFF.
“Seumalo has spent much of his NFL career banged up, playing more than 1,000 snaps in a full season only three times in eight years, with two of those seasons coming in 2022 and 2023. He parlayed his excellent 2022 campaign with the Eagles into a three-year contract with the Pittsburgh Steelers,” PFF’s Thomas Valentine writes. “The result was a 71.9 PFF overall grade, the 14th best among guards, and a season without allowing a single sack.
“He also allowed just 26 pressures in 2023, translating into a 4.8% pressure rate allowed.”
After coming over from the Eagles in free agency, Seumalo was the steady presence and veteran leader that the offensive line needed in Pittsburgh, one who has been there and done that at the highest level in the league.
The veteran guard was a rock for the Steelers’ offensive line, playing 1,040 snaps in 2023, missing just 31 total snaps on the season, all of which came in the Week 13 loss to the Arizona Cardinals at home when he left the game early with a shoulder injury.
On the season, Seumalo graded out at a 71.9 overall from Pro Football Focus, including a 71.0 as a run blocker and a 65.5 as a pass blocker.
The pass-blocking number might not be all that impressive compared to other guards in the league, but Seumalo did not allow a single sack in 17 games. In fact, Seumalo allowed just 26 pressures on the season and was called for just one penalty. He was as steady as they come for the Steelers.
Entering Year 2 in Pittsburgh, things are really looking up for Seumalo, especially in new offensive coordinator Arthur Smith’s scheme.
On the right side of the Steelers’ offensive line, Daniels came in at No. 20 overall from PFF.
“Daniels has been an underrated guard throughout his six NFL seasons and might be considered underrated again,” Valentine writes. “The former Bear earned the lowest grade of his career in 2023 but has allowed only one sack in two years with the Steelers. He recorded the 20th-lowest pressure rate allowed among all guards in the NFL and let up 24 pressures in 2023.”
Daniels has been quite underrated throughout his career, and even flew under the radar a bit even after signing with the Steelers ahead of the 2022 season, leaving the Chicago Bears in free agency. Despite that general belief that he’s underrated overall, he is properly rated at No. 20 at the position coming off the 2023 season.
It was an up and down year for Daniels, who was steady in his own right, but had to try and make up for some issues at right tackle next to him from Chukwuma Okorafor and then trying to help bring along rookie Broderick Jones in the second half of the season.
Daniels’ grade from PFF was the lowest of his career, as Valentine pointed out, coming in at just a 62.0 overall. That PFF grade includes a 59.9 in pass protection and a 60.4 as a run blocker. Though the grades look poor overall, especially the pass protection one, Daniels allowed 22 pressures and one sack last season and was called for just three penalties.
With upgrades around them on the offensive line this offseason, as well as Smith coming in with a scheme that fits what the Steelers want to do and helping scheme up success unlike what the two guards played in last season, things look quite good at the position for the Steelers with Seumalo and Daniels in the starting lineup.
