HEADLINES

Mason McCormick

Steelers G Isaac Seumalo Not Ready To Return

September 28th, 2024 at 3:31pm CST by Ely Allen

The Steelers are off to a hot, 3-0 start this year, but that hasn’t come without its speedbumps. The team has missed the play of guard Isaac Seumalo as he works his way back from an August pectoral injury. Unfortunately, they’ll have to wait at least another week to see him back on the field as the Steelers announced today that Seamalo has officially been designated as out for the team’s trip to Indianapolis.

In his first year with the Steelers last season, Seumalo graded out as the team’s top offensive lineman, per Pro Football Focus (subscription required), shifting back to left guard after a year in Philadelphia at right guard. Seumalo may have been facing a position change upon his second year with the team, but as their best returning lineman, his absence was going to be crucial, regardless.

The other returning guard on the line this year was James Daniels, who started all but two games in his second year with the team last year. While Daniels was a consistent starter, he did little to impress in 2023. This thought, and an early offseason depth chart, led to speculation that South Dakota State fourth-round rookie Mason McCormick may be pushing for a starting job, assuming Seumalo was back. With McCormick only playing left guard in college, there was speculation that Seumalo could swing back over to right guard and push Daniels to the bench.

With Seumalo absent through Pittsburgh’s first three contests, though, Daniels has remained a starter and has, so far, thrived. Daniels is not only the team’s top offensive lineman through three weeks, according to PFF, he’s the team’s top-graded offensive player, period. In fact, he grades out as the top guard in the NFL and the second-best offensive lineman in the league.

McCormick, on the other hand, has not secured the starting position it was predicted he would. Instead, Spencer Anderson has been starting across from Daniels at left guard. Unfortunately, Anderson hasn’t seen the same success as Daniels, ranking as the second-worst offensive player on the team and the 61st-ranked guard in the NFL. It seems that Seumalo will retake his starting gig whenever he can return, but if he’s out for much longer, it might be worth it to take a look at the rookie, McCormick, in a starting role.

Steelers LG Isaac Seumalo To Miss Time

September 3rd, 2024 at 11:43am CST by Rory Parks

SEPTEMBER 3: When speaking to the media on Tuesday, head coach Mike Tomlin confirmed (via ESPN’s Brooke Pryor) Seumalo will miss the team’s season opener. He is week-to-week beyond that, however, so a return to the lineup could take place sooner than his initial timeline suggested.

SEPTEMBER 1: The Steelers will be without their top-rated offensive lineman from 2023 for a time. Starting left guard Isaac Seumalo sustained a pectoral injury in practice late last month, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

Schefter subsequently noted that the injury was not a season-ender – torn pecs often are, though Pittsburgh star edge rusher T.J. Watt was a notable exception to that rule in 2022 – but it was not immediately apparent how much time Seumalo would miss. Mike Garafolo of the NFL Network later reported that the 30-year-old blocker would be sidelined for four weeks.

Assuming that four-week timeline holds true, Seumalo would be forced to sit out the first three games of the season and would be ready to return for the Steelers’ Week 4 contest against the Colts. That explains why the team has not put him on injured reserve, which requires that a player miss at least four games.

In Seumalo’s absence, 2023 seventh-rounder Spencer Anderson and fourth-round rookie Mason McCormick will vie for the left guard gig, as Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette noted. Anderson, who appeared in just two offensive snaps in his rookie season, will get the first look, with McCormick hoping to overtake him on the depth chart. If McCormick should impress, it is at least within the realm of possibility that he will remain at LG when Seumalo returns, with Seumalo kicking over to RG (left guard is the only position McCormick played in college, while Seumalo has pro experience at right guard).

Seumalo, a third-round pick of the Eagles in 2016, signed a three-year, $24MM deal with the Steelers last March. The Oregon State product performed well in his first year in Pittsburgh, grading out as Pro Football Focus’ 12th-best guard out of 79 qualified players. He was charged with just one penalty in a full 17-game slate, and PFF’s evaluation showed that he yielded zero sacks (though he did give up 26 total pressures).

2023 marked the second straight year in which Seumalo enjoyed perfect attendance, which was a welcome change of pace after he played in just 12 total games across the 2020-21 seasons. While he will not play a full season in 2024, a healthy and productive return to the field would obviously bolster his chances of finishing out his Steelers contract and earning his $6.88MM salary and $1MM roster bonus in 2025 (no guaranteed money remains on his deal).

Latest On Steelers’ Offensive Line

May 25th, 2024 at 2:44pm CST by Ely Allen

The Steelers offensive line in 2023 was pretty decent, allowing the ninth-least sacks in the NFL and ranking as the 13th-best rushing offense. Still, Pittsburgh opted to make a number of moves towards an upgrade on their offensive front for the 2024 season. In fact, the Steelers utilized their first two draft picks (and three of seven) this year on linemen, and all three could be in line to start as rookies.

The only position that lost a starter on the line this year was center. The team watched their starter of the last two seasons, Mason Cole, depart in free agency. Cole graded out as the league’s 29th-best center out of 36 graded players at the position last season, according to Pro Football Focus (subscription required). They have a couple options to replace Cole, including veteran Nate Herbig. Herbig hasn’t played center much at the college or NFL level, but he has versatile experience all over the line and could be utilized there in a pinch. The favorite to start, though, is the second-round rookie out of West Virginia, Zach Frazier.

At guard things are a bit more interesting. Like Frazier, fourth-round rookie guard out of South Dakota State Mason McCormick is currently slotted to start on the depth chart of the team’s website. McCormick is listed as the starting left guard, presumably because that’s the only position he played in college. The team’s returning left guard, Isaac Seumalo, graded out as the team’s best offensive lineman in 2023, though, per PFF. So, unless the team benches their top returning lineman, Seumalo or McCormick will need to move over to the right side to compete with James Daniels. Seumalo has experience starting at right guard in the past, so it makes the most sense to move him over.

At tackle, the Steelers utilized their first-round pick to bring in Washington lineman Troy Fautanu. Many projected Fautanu’s skillset to fit best at guard or center at the NFL-level, though he spent most of his time at tackle during college in Seattle. Pittsburgh believes that he has the ability to stay at tackle and start in the NFL. Pundits predict that last year’s rookie first-round pick Broderick Jones will remain at right tackle, where he played in 2023, putting Fautanu at left tackle to replace Dan Moore Jr. as the starter. According to Mark Kaboly of The Athletic, though, Fautanu has spent the first three days of organized team activities at right tackle behind Jones.

Kaboly doesn’t think Fautanu will stay as the backup at right tackle, though. More likely, with OTAs serving as the ideal time to mold and learn. This experience is the perfect opportunity for Fautanu to learn both positions in the event that he may have to move over to the right side and fill in for an injured Jones. It’s not uncommon for offensive lineman to need time to develop, but the Steelers likely didn’t use their first two draft picks on players they didn’t intend to start.

Things are still extremely early. The rookies are still finding their footing, and a number of camp battles are sure to ensue. The team even has plenty of time to sign a veteran free agent if they deem it necessary. Still, Pittsburgh has the potential to serve as a rare occasion in which we see three rookies starting across the offensive line.

We last saw that in 2020 when the Dolphins started Austin Jackson, Robert Hunt, and Solomon Kindley (their first-, second-, and fourth-round picks, respectively) as rookies. That Miami team improved their record from 5-11 the previous year to 10-6 despite the youth across the line. The Steelers may be hoping for a similar level of improvement.

NFL Draft Pick Signings: 5/10/24

May 10th, 2024 at 9:13pm CST by Ely Allen

Yesterday’s rush of rookie signings continued today. Here are Friday’s draft pick signings:

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

Cincinnati Bengals

Cleveland Browns

Detroit Lions

Las Vegas Raiders

Los Angeles Chargers

Minnesota Vikings

  • K Will Reichard (sixth round, Alabama)
  • C Michael Jurgens (seventh round, Wake Forest)
  • DT Levi Drake Rodriguez (seventh round, Texas A&M-Commerce)

New England Patriots

Pittsburgh Steelers

  • G Mason McCormick (fourth round, South Dakota State)
  • DT Logan Lee (sixth round, Iowa)

San Francisco 49ers

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Washington Commanders