Eagles Outlook: Diving into the potential replacements for RG Isaac Seumalo
While the Philadelphia Eagles still have arguably the best offensive line in football without guard Isaac Seumalo in the fold, his value to the unit shouldn’t be overlooked.
Seumalo was quietly one of the best guards in the NFL last season. He finished the year recording a Pro Football Focus grade of 72.7, which ranked 10th out of 77 qualifying offensive guards. His 78.2 pass blocking grade also ranked 10th at the position, while his 67.8 run blocking grade came in at 17th.
It’s easy to overlook Seumalo with all the star power populating Jeff Stoutland’s offensive line, but he was still the best guard on the team last season and best believe Howie Roseman is going to address the vacancy one way or another.
There are a few routes the Eagles can take in replacing Seumalo.
- Sign a veteran free agent
- Draft a starter in on the first or second-round of the upcoming NFL Draft
- Utilize one of the in-house replacements
>> Read More: 2023 Eagles Free Agency Tracker: Fan favorite Chauncey Gardner-Johnson heads to Detroit
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Veteran free agent options
- Dalton Risner (2022 team: Denver Broncos)
- David Edwards (Los Angeles Rams)
- Justin Pugh (Arizona Cardinals)
Seumalo was, by far, the best guard hitting the open market this offseason. If the Eagles are looking for a true replacement for him, the remaining guards in free agency leave a lot to be desired.
Of the three listed above, Dalton Risner probably makes the most sense as a plug-and-play veteran. He’s only 27 years old and was one of the only consistent lineman for the Broncos last season. He recorded a solid 72.6 pass blocking grade in 2022, allowing just three sacks on 598 pass blocking reps.
At the very least, bringing Risner in would provide a little more stability to the position. Howie loves his offensive line depth. Having a vet like Risner come in and compete for the job fits the Eagles team building philosophy.
As for David Edwards and Justin Pugh, both are fresh off injury plagued seasons and can probably be signed for relatively cheap. But if the Eagles are just looking for cheap depth pieces, a late-round draft pick would work just fine.
Risner is the only one that would make sense here. I don’t envision Howie wasting his precious cap space on depth when he can have a guard on a rookie deal in the same role.
NFL Draft options
- O’Cyrus Torrence (Florida)
- Steve Avila (TCU)
- Cody Mauch (North Dakota State)
- Peter Skoronski (Northwestern)
- Andrew Vorhees (USC)
After losing Seumalo, I’m starting to fall in love with the idea of drafting a guard in the first-round. And you and I both know Howie is probably head over heels with that idea, too.
At tenth overall, the Eagles will likely have their pick of the litter with guard prospects. The two names that everyone should have on their minds entering draft night are Florida’s O’Cyrus Torrence and Northwestern’s Peter Skoronski.
Torrence is the consensus top guard prospect entering this year’s draft. PFF, The Draft Network, and Drafttek all have the Florida behemoth atop their guard rankings. As for Skoronski, he’s a bit of a wildcard. He played tackle during his collegiate career and is generally considered one of the best lineman prospects in this entire draft. The one concern scouts have with the Northwestern product is his arm length. His 32 1/4 inch arms are well below the standard for NFL tackles, leading some to believe he’s more of an ideal fit along the interior of the offensive line at the next level.
Nevertheless, Skoronski may already be off the board by the time the Eagles are on the clock. He has the highest floor of any offensive lineman prospect in this year’s class and there are plenty of teams ahead of Philly who could desperately use some stability on their line.
Torrence, on the other hand, should be there for the taking at tenth, given the fact that’s a guard-only and doesn’t bring as much versatility as Skoronski. Standing at 6-foot-5, 347 pounds with ridiculously massive hands (11 1/4 inches), Torrence is a mauler through and through.
His 89.9 PFF run blocking grade in 2022 placed in the 99th percentile among collegiate guards, along with his 90.2 zone blocking grade. Torrence is a stone wall in pass protection as well, surrendering zero sacks and just one QB hit in his four seasons at the collegiate level.
Is 10th overall a little high to take a guard? For any other team not named the Eagles, yes.
In Philly, the priority is and always will be the trenches. Both Torrence and Skoronski are NFL ready and would day one starters for the Eagles. Couple their potential with the tutelage of Stoutland and both of these guys will be making Pro Bowls in no time if they come the Philadelphia.
In-house options
- Cam Jurgens
- Jack Driscoll
- Sua Opeta
While I don’t hate the idea of moving last year’s second-round pick Cam Jurgens to guard for a year, drafting someone to replace Seumalo is a bit more appealing. Jurgens is the obvious choice if the Eagles go with the in-house route. But even though he’s entering his second year in the league, this wouldn’t be a long-term solution.
Jurgens was drafted to eventually replace Jason Kelce at center. With Kelce announcing his return for a 13th season last week, it would make sense to get Jurgens some starting experience along the line before taking over for Kelce in 2024.
If Jurgens does move to guard for the 2023 season, will the team then move him back to center after Kelce leaves? That would probably be the plan, but then Howie will be right back at it next offseason looking for a starting guard.
There are two sides to this argument and it’s hard to disagree either way. Giving Jurgens real playing time would be ideal, but so would finding a long-term replacement at guard through the draft.
If moving Jurgens to guard is what the Eagles end up doing, the front office will still draft at least one or two lineman. They’re going to need depth either way, especially if Jurgens is a full-time starter next year. Not to mention the loss of Andre Dillard in free agency.
Regardless of what the Eagles decide to do, we should all feel a sigh of relief knowing Jeff Stoutland will the coach leading the charge. Whatever the team gives him to work with, he’ll make the most out of it.
Mandatory Credit: Florida Gators
