Pittsburgh Steelers guard Isaac Seumalo is known as a man of few words who flies under the radar.
Pro Football Focus believes he should receive more recognition for his contributions to the team.
In a May 13 article, analyst Zoltán Buday named Seumalo the Steelers’ most underrated player.
“Seumalo was part of arguably the NFL’s best offensive line while in Philadelphia, and although he did not get off to a good start in Pittsburgh, he soon proved why the Steelers signed him as a free agent in 2023,” Buday wrote. “Excluding the first two weeks, he earned a 78.3 PFF overall grade, which ranked sixth among guards during that span.”
Experienced Seumalo Enters 2nd Season in Pittsburgh
The Steelers signed Seumalo to a 3-year contract in the 2023 offseason.
Before he came to Pittsburgh, Seumalo played 7 seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles where he played as both a left and right guard. In Philadelphia, he started 60 regular season games and appeared in 9 post-season games, including Super Bowl LII and Super Bowl LVII.
Seumalo was a consistent presence on the offensive line for the Steelers during the 2023 season. He started all 17 regular season games, plus the team’s playoff game against the Buffalo Bills.
According to PFF, Seumalo didn’t allow a single sack for the Steelers in 586 pass block snaps.
In a January 9 press conference, Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin called Seumalo’s mentality a “no non-sense, blue-collar approach.”
“When you’re in my position, you value guys like that,” Tomlin said, via the team’s YouTube channel. “You know you can count on them, and he’s definitively been that.”
Steelers First-Round Pick Looking to Seumalo for Mentorship
Seumalo enters his 9th season in the NFL as the most experienced starter on the Steelers offensive line.
The unit got younger during the 2024 draft with first-round pick offensive tackle Troy Fautanu, second-round pick center Zach Frazier and fourth-round pick guard Mason McCormick.
During Steelers rookie mini-camp on May 10, Fautanu said he has already had conversations with the team’s veteran offensive linemen. He added his locker is right next to Seumalo, and he plans to look to the veteran guard for advice as he navigates his first season in the NFL.
“I apologized to him because I’m going to be bothering him a whole bunch,” Fautanu said, via the team’s YouTube page. “When you’ve got a guy like that, nine year vet that’s been around the league for so long, you want to pick his brain. He’s got a lot coming. I’m going to be bothering him a whole bunch.”
Fautanu also said he quickly got a glimpse of Seumalo’s quiet demeanor.
“To be honest, he’s a man of few words. I learned that very quickly, so I didn’t want to bother him too much on my first day. I didn’t want to have a bad first impression.”
According to TribLive, Fautanu and Seumalo also share Polynesian heritage, which Fautanu believes could be beneficial in their relationship.
“Maybe that’s why they put me next to him in the locker room, but man, just knowing that he was brought up on kind of the same morals and values that I was makes it a little bit easier to kind of talk to him.”
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PFF Names Isaac Seumalo Steelers’ Most Underrated Player