Article

90 In 30: Steelers 2024 Training Camp Preview Series — Isaac Seumalo, Aaron Shampklin, Jacob Slade

By Dave Bryan

Posted on July 14, 2024 at 7:15 am

The Pittsburgh Steelers’ 2024 offseason practices concluded in the middle of June. Next up is the team’s annual training camp, which gets underway in the latter part of July at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe. Ahead of Steelers training camp, we will preview the team’s offseason roster three players at a time as part of a multi-post series. This Steelers roster preview, which includes outlooks for every player, will be done alphabetically by last name to make it easy to follow. This series figures to exceed 90 players this year as the team can carry 91 players in total during the offseason due to the allowance of one international player designation.

The next set of players we will preview ahead of the Steelers’ 2024 training camp are Isaac Seumalo, Aaron Shampklin, and Jacob Slade.

OG Isaac Seumalo: After playing his first seven NFL seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles, the Steelers signed Seumalo to a three-year, $24 million contract last year during the early stages of 2023 free agency. He went on to start every game for the team at left guard on his way to registering 1,104 offensive snaps.

Pro Football Focus graded Seumalo out at 73.9 for the 2023 season and did not charge him for allowing any sacks. In total, Seumalo was flagged just twice in 2023, once for a false start and once for offensive offsides. That offsides penalty, a very questionable one, came during a field goal try.

All said, Seumalo was probably the Steelers’ most consistent and best offensive lineman in 2023. Seumalo also seemingly established himself as the leader of the offensive line room in Pittsburgh in just his first season with the team.

Outlook: Looking ahead to 2024, Seumalo is once again expected to be the Steelers’ starting left guard.

The Steelers are expected to have a new center in 2024 with that player likely to be rookie Zach Frazier, the team’s second-round selection in the 2024 NFL Draft. That means Seumalo should have a new counterpart to his right, and possibly a new one to his left as well, depending on which tackle winds up grabbing that spot.

The Steelers appear set to lean heavily on their running game in 2024 and that should suit Seumalo’s game just fine. An established NFL veteran at this point in his career, Seumalo will likely be the unquestioned leader of the Steelers’ offensive line room once again in 2024.

While Seumalo will turn 31 years old in October, there’s a decent chance that the 2024 season could wind up being his best one to date, especially if the Steelers’ first- and second-year players on the offensive line can jell with the veterans quickly.

RB Aaron Shampklin: Originally signed by the Dallas Cowboys in 2022 as an undrafted free agent out of Harvard, Shampklin bounced around to a few NFL teams before signing a Reserve/Future contract with the Steelers in January. After being waived by the Cowboys with an injury settlement in September 2022, Shampklin ultimately landed on the practice squad of the Indianapolis Colts late during his rookie season. He was most recently with the Los Angeles Chargers for a few weeks last summer.

Shampklin has seen some limited NFL preseason action since signing as an undrafted free agent. He has 31 preseason carries for 116 yards and one reception for no gain. In May 2023, Shampklin signed with the Houston Gamblers of the USFL and in three games he rushed for 52 yards on 12 attempts. At Harvard, Shampklin rushed for 2,251 yards and 23 touchdowns on 402 total attempts. He also registered 29 receptions for 296 yards and three touchdowns.

At his 2022 pro day, Shampklin measured in at 5093, 194 pounds, and he reportedly ran his 40-yard-dash in 4.48-seconds.

Outlook: If Shampklin can last on the Steelers’ offseason roster throughout training camp and the preseason that would be a huge accomplishment on his part.

The Steelers have quite a stacked running back room entering training camp and that list includes a few bottom-of-the-depth-chart players in the semi-experienced La’Mical Perine and Jonathan Ward. The Steelers also signed Daijun Edwards as an undrafted free agent this offseason.

Shampklin’s chances of making the 53-man roster this summer are virtually non-existent. In reality, he will be attempting to secure a practice squad these next several weeks. Even that looks like a very daunting task as we sit here in the middle of July.

DL Jacob Slade: A Michigan State product, Slade was originally signed in 2023 by the Arizona Cardinals as an undrafted free agent. He played 28 defensive snaps for the Cardinals last year during the preseason and was ultimately waived by them as part of their final roster cuts. Slade did manage to bounce on and off the Cardinals’ practice squad in 2023 as part of four different stays on that unit.

At his 2023 pro day, Slade measured in at 6031, 285-pounds with 32 3/8-inch arms and 9 1/2-inch hands. He scored an 8.74 RAS out of a possible 10.00 with his pro day performance. At Michigan State, Slade registered 88 total tackles, 11.5 for loss, four sacks, four passes defensed and a fumble recovery.

The Steelers signed Slade to a Reserve/Future contract in January and he has been on the offseason roster ever since then.

Outlook: Slade will enter training camp as a member of a Steelers defensive line room that is very full of players with NFL experience. Merely sticking on the offseason roster throughout training camp and the preseason would be a huge accomplishment for Slade, who is likely to be at the end of the line in practices when it comes to potential reps.

Slade is a bit undersized when it comes to what the Steelers usually look for in measurables for their defensive linemen. He does, however. have a nice athletic profile as evidenced by his pro day RAS score. When it comes right down to it, even securing a spot on the practice squad to start the 2024 regular season seems like a daunting task for Slade. If he does play any during the preseason, his snaps are likely to come extremely late in those contests.

Previous Posts In This Series:

Related Items:2024 Training Camp, Aaron Shampklin, Isaac Seumalo, Jacob Slade

Steelers Depot

Recommended for you