There was a lot going on with the Pittsburgh Steelers last week. After their final preseason game on Saturday, the team had practices on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday in the midst of cutting down their roster to 53 players and then working on signing their 2024 practice squad. But as the Steelers had their final practice before a four-day hiatus ahead of preparing for Week 1 of the regular season, a significant injury occurred to guard Isaac Seumalo.

Hearing the news that it was a pectoral injury, the fear was Seumalo would be lost for the season. Instead, it was not long until reports were the injury was not as bad as what was initially feared and a time frame of four to eight weeks is what is expected. Keep in mind, all of these numbers are from reports as the Steelers have not addressed the issue directly, mainly because head coach Mike Tomlin has not spoken to the media since the report of injury emerged.

Although Seumalo is not the longest tenured Steeler on the offensive line, he is the oldest and most experienced. Entering his ninth NFL season, but only his second year in Pittsburgh, Seumalo will turn 31 next month. While some might argue over who is the Steelers best offensive lineman from last year simply because there are no precise stats to back it up, most believe it was Seumalo. When it comes to leadership of the unit, there is little debate that Seumalo is the leader of the position group. So when such a player goes down, it is a significant loss.

At this time, how many games Seumalo will miss is up in the air. He has not been placed on the Reserve/Injured List (IR) yet, so there is no rule governing when he can return. If he is placed on IR, which is certainly still on the table, Seumalo would miss a minimum of four games. Since the Steelers do not play a game until almost 2 weeks since the injury occurred, perhaps they will not place Seumalo on IR. Regardless, it would be a shocking turn of events if Isaac Seumalo did not miss multiple starts to begin the season.

So where do the Steelers go from here?

While there are plenty of Steelers fans who see a key injury and are ready to write off the season, there are also those who look for optimism in the situation. When Ben Rothlisberger was lost for the season in 2019, many fans wrote off the season while others looked to see how Mason Rudolph would step up in the situation to assess his abilities. When T.J. Watt was lost for the first half of 2022, many fans believed the sky was falling, and there was plenty of reason to do so, while others looked for the Steelers defense to grow stronger in Watt’s absence to only make them better when he returned.

For those in the first group of fans, when it comes to Seumalo I don’t really have anything to say because you have made your decision. But for those in the second group looking for optimism, there are some things that can come about which could make the Steelers offensive line a stronger unit as the season rolls on.

First of all, even though he will still be with the team on the sidelines, there will be a leadership void on the offensive line. With so many young players as the Steelers have addressed the position group multiple times over the last two drafts, is there a young player who will step up in this absence? Although we may not see it as fans, the Steelers will be able to do so and it could be valuable information moving forward beyond 2024.

The biggest thing to look for during Seumalo‘s absence is which of the Steelers young players is going to step up and grab the starting job. The belief is it will come down to second-year player Spencer Anderson and rookie Mason McCormick. Since it will likely be a competition with very limited time to determine a winner, both of these young players will be given a shot that was not expected. Being “young and hungry” and attempting to get on the field while also having another player ready to do the same, it could bring out the best in the Steelers young players. This is their shot, and hopefully someone seizes the opportunity to make the most of it.

For the Steelers fan that struggles to find positives in certain situations, this is going to be tough to swallow. Just because players have the opportunity to step up and put their play on tape in-stadium during the regular season does not mean it will go well. Not only will the Steelers be starting a rookie in Zach Frazier at center, there will be another inexperienced player starting next to him. But the Steelers have more than one player to fall back on for the time being, and Seumalo‘s injury is not expected to end his season.

While some might consider it to be overly optimistic, perhaps the Steelers have a player that steps in and plays so well that it’s difficult for Seumalo to get back on the field once he returns. Maybe there will be no need for him to rush back. Even tough this is a best case scenario, it’s still possible. But on the flip-side, it could go the other direction with the Steelers counting down the games until there leader of the offensive line returns.

If you’re looking for that silver lining in this situation, the Steelers should be able to get more of an assessment of Spencer Anderson and/or Mason McCormick moving forward. More information is typically not a bad thing. Exactly how this assessment ends up based on their play is what we will all be watching.