Jason Kelce lavishes high praise on unheralded Isaac Seumalo

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If you don’t think Isaac Seumalo is one of the best guards in the NFL, you’re just not paying attention.

That’s the message from Jason Kelce, who has a better view than anybody.

Kelce, the three-time all-pro center, raved about Seumalo Thursday during a Zoom chat with Eagles writers. 

Isaac’s a phenomenal player,” Kelce said. “He’s been definitely way better than people have any clue.

Seumalo lost his starting left guard job to Chance Warmack and eventually Stefen Wisniewski during the Super Bowl season and finally won it back for good a month into 2018. He was a full-time starter last year for the first time in his four-year career.

Kelce said he thinks a couple isolated disappointing performances — at Kansas City in Week 2 of 2017 and at Atlanta in Week 2 last year — unfairly hurt Seumalo’s reputation.

Maybe Seumalo should just take off Week 2?

He’s had a couple games that have been unfortunate," Kelce said. "One game when we played Kansas City his second year in the NFL when he was first starting. He was playing a guy that nobody knew at the time (Chris Jones), but the d-tackle ended up being second in the NFL in sacks (in 2018), so it wasn’t like he was playing against a scrub. And then last year he had one game (vs. the Falcons) that kind of gave him some fits. But outside of that he was as solid as any guard in the NFL. So I’ve been really happy to watch him go out and prove to all of you guys and everybody else who doesn’t get the opportunity to see how good he is on a daily basis that he’s one of the premier guards in this league.

The Eagles gave Seumalo a three-year, $15.9 million contract before last season began, and he responded with a consistently solid season. 

In fact, he and Kelce were among only six Eagles who started and finished all 17 games without getting hurt. The others were Fletcher Cox, Brandon Graham, Malcolm Jenkins and Rodney McLeod.

Kelce has always been a fan of Seumalo, a 3rd-round pick out of Oregon State in 2016. He predicted back in 2016 training camp that once he retired Seumalo would move to center and become a Pro Bowler.

Seumalo was the only non-Pro Bowler on the Eagles’ O-line last year. In fact he was the Eagles’ only starting lineman in 2019 who hasn’t been to at least three Pro Bowls. 

Maybe because he plays alongside all these superstars people sell him short. But Kelce said that’s a huge mistake.

He’s smart, he’s athletic, he’s strong,” Kelce said. “The only question with him has ever been staying healthy and he’s done that the last couple years. So I’m really happy with where Isaac’s at. Physically, he’s been a great asset for us. Not only are we not worried about him, we’re going to be leaning on him to be the unbelievable player that he is. I think a heck of a lot of Isaac Seumalo. I think he’s one of the least-respected guys on the line and in the media. But I’ll tell you what: Everybody in our room knows how good he is.

Seumalo might have been the only non-Pro Bowler on the Eagles' line, but he's already a Pro Bowler in Kelce's eyes.

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