Return of Isaac Seumalo welcome development for otherwise-young Steelers O-line

It was only two years ago that Isaac Seumalo was surrounded by some of the NFL’s most experienced and decorated offensive linemen.

Flanking Seumalo in the starting lineup for the 2022 NFC champion Philadelphia Eagles were 12- and 10-year veterans. A couple years before that, Seumalo could defer not only to those players — Jason Kelce and Lane Johnson — but also a player then in his 17th year in Jason Peters.

Contrast that to who Seumalo will be lining up alongside Sunday. When he makes his season debut for the Pittsburgh Steelers, Seumalo will be joined by two rookies and another player who has less than a full year’s worth of starting experience the NFL.

No wonder the Steelers are so eager to get Seumalo back into the lineup.

A pectoral injury suffered 10 days before the regular season began finally healed, Seumalo made it through a full week of practice unscathed and is on track to be at left guard when the Steelers face the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday night.

“It’s a big boost,” said rookie Mason McCormick, who started in Seumalo’s place last week but will fill in for injured veteran right guard James Daniels henceforth.

“Losing James isn’t great. We feel for him, but getting Isaac back definitely helps. Having him as a leader in our room will be good.”

Now 30 years old and in his ninth NFL season, Seumalo recognizes he no longer can fade into the background in a position room with the likes of Kelce or Peters or Johnson. Particularly with Daniels now out for the season and in light of the offseason releases of Mason Cole and Chuks Okorafor, Seumalo is by far the most experienced and accomplished member of the Steelers’ O-line left standing.

“I’ve definitely seen probably a lot,” Seumalo acknowledged about his career, “and kind of seen the same trends from teams over the years. I really try to — even when I was young — just help my teammates as much as I can while never being an overbearing presence.”

The second-most experienced Steelers starting offensive lineman is to Seumalo’s left: fourth-year left tackle Dan Moore Jr. The Steelers might need to lean on the combined 130 career starts (53 from Moore, 77 from Seumalo) to help shepherd a starting offensive line that otherwise combines for all of 19 career starts: rookie center Zach Frazier (four), McCormick (one) and second-year right tackle Broderick Jones (14).

“Isaac is awesome,” McCormick said. “Super knowledgeable, he works extremely hard and I think his intentionality within practice is something that us younger guys can really look at and take something out of his game. He does a terrific job, and it’s awesome to have.”

Seumalo has twice played in a Super Bowl, and the Steelers generally regard him as their best offensive lineman. Though injuries were a common theme of his seven seasons with the Eagles, Seumalo started all 18 games (including playoffs) in his first season with the Steelers in 2023. He missed only 3% of the Steelers’ offensive snaps despite a shoulder injury that greatly limited his practice time in the latter stages of the regular season.

His wealth of experience — both in the pro game overall, and in coming back from injury — helps Seumalo in his return to action after missing more than a month of practice.

“If you asked me four or five years ago, maybe (it would have been more difficult to avoid rust),” Seumalo said. “But I feel pretty good. I’ve got a lot of experience under my belt. So even last year when I had the shoulder deal, I was barely practicing, so I’ve always been pretty good about mentally staying in it and physically staying on top of staying in shape and all that good stuff.”

Between Aug. 14 and this past Sunday, the Steelers lost players who were running the first-team offense at center (Nate Herbig), right tackle (Troy Fautanu), right guard (Daniels) and left guard (Seumalo).

Seumalo is the first to return — and he might well be the only one to return during this regular season. Under those circumstances, his reliable presence is even more comforting.

“He’s a great player,” running back Najee Harris said. “We all know what he’s capable of.

“He has that leadership mentality, that veteran mentality, he’s played a lot of ball, been to a Super Bowl, too. He knows a lot of football. He knows about schemes, he’s seen defenses and fronts and he knows how to react to that, how to make calls. He’s just a leader, for sure.”