Understanding the Quiet Dominance Of Issac Seumalo
Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports
Amidst a loud NFL offseason that featured an all-consuming Aaron Rodgers drama, the Pittsburgh Steelers made a free-agency splash requisite of a sumo wrestler’s cannonball. But for some reason, to this point, the ever-important move, much like the underrated player himself, has barely made a ripple nationally.
On March 19 the Black and Gold signed former Philadelphia Eagles guard Isaac Seumalo to a three-year, $24 million deal. Seumalo, dubbed by future Hall of Famer Jason Kelce as the best guard in football, has entered the Steel City to very little fanfare.
Perhaps the transitioning nature of the team and the growth of its youngest offensive superstars, Kenny Pickett and George Pickens, have drawn so much attention that there is little energy left to dissecting a left guard’s game tape. Maybe Patrick Peterson’s Hall of Fame-level stardom caused such a stir that it just overshadowed what seemed like a far less sexy acquisition. Maybe Seumalo’s injury-riddled 2020 and 2021, followed by a positional switch to right guard in 2022, has left people a bit fuzzy on the dominance he provides when healthy and in his natural position.
Regardless of the reason, make no mistake about it, Seumalo is potentially the NFL’s best offseason acquisition. If Pittsburgh’s offense elevates a significant amount from last season, Isaac Seumalo will be at the core of that improvement.
The former Beaver spent the last seven seasons with Philadelphia after they drafted him in out of Oregon State in the third round of the 2016 NFL Draft. He’s started 60 games in his career and in 2022 he helped lead a unit that ranked fifth in rushing in the NFL. The Eagles’ offense scored a franchise-record 57 touchdowns from scrimmage including 32 rushing touchdowns, third-most in NFL history. They also set team records for third-down conversion rate (45.9%) and red-zone touchdown efficiency (67.85).
The modern NFL is a flashy product. Scores are going up and running back value is going down. High-powered offenses and their skilled QBs and receivers are demanding most fanbases’ attention. But on the field, football games are still won in the trenches. The offensive and defensive lines dictate the line of scrimmage and therefore often the outcome. Making a significant improvement in your trenches can lead to seismic changes in your team’s path.
The Brett Favre-led Minnesota Vikings are a perfect case study.
From the outside, everybody thought that the team looked to be just a quarterback away. The late 2000 Vikings had a really good defense, good young wide receivers, and an All-World running back in Adrian Peterson. When the team moved on from Tavaris Jackson in favor of Favre, they raced all the way to the NFC Championship. Lost in the buzz of Favre’s MVP candidate-level season was the move that, years previous, had set the table for that moment.
In 2006, three offseasons before Favre arrived, the Vikings went out and utilized the now-infamous poison pill strategy to sign future Hall Of Fame left guard Steve Hutchinson away from the Seattle Seahawks. Hutchinson’s athleticism and IQ provided an instant uptick not just to his position but for the line as a whole. Players who had struggled over the past two years suddenly played significantly better. Having Hutchinson on the field and in the position room completely changed the complexity of the offense. It was that move that essentially put them a quarterback away. By the time Favre arrived, the O-line was a stout run-blocking, pass-protection force.
Seumalo might not be a no-brainer Hall of Famer at this point like Hutchinson, but he is, according to anyone in the know, exceptional at his job. The improvement he represents over Kevin Dotson, who was traded to the Los Angeles Rams, is almost indescribable. There’s absolute reason to believe Seumalo returning to his natural position could provide the sort of cohesive line improvement that Hutchinson brought to the Vikings.
Kelce knows it’s possible. “We’re not going to replace Isaac,” he told the media after Seumalo signed with Pittsburgh. “Me personally, I think he’s probably the smartest player I’ve ever been around. Really, really gifted physically, mentally, across the board. So I think the Steelers are getting a steal.”
“He’s a guy who can play any position up front,” Kelce said in a different press conference. “That one year (Seumalo’s rookie season of 2016) he played tight end, tackle, guard, and center…I think sometimes he’s so smart that he doesn’t get credit for the physical capabilities that he has which is tremendous.”
It might just be that Seumalo’s own extremely reserved nature has led to the lack of acclaim requisite of his abilities.
“Seumalo eschews the spotlight,” according to Dave Zangaro of NBC Sports Philadelphia.
The former Eagle would often turn down interview requests back in Philadelphia, and he’s yet to make more than a peep here in Pittsburgh. But try as he may to hide from the attention, if Isaac Seumalo comes in to Pittsburgh and does what he’s capable of, things are about to get a whole lot louder around the Honolulu native. And rightfully so.
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