Eagles Draft Picks: Isaac Seumalo's versatility is very valuable

The Philadelphia Eagles drafted Oregon State offensive lineman Isaac Seumalo with their third round selection (No. 79 overall) in the 2016 NFL Draft. Bleeding Green Nation's Ben Natan profiled Seumalo recently, but I thought it would also be useful to acquire an insider's insight. In order to learn more about the Eagles' new blocker, I reached out to Oregon State SB Nation blog Building The Dam. Andy was kind enough to answer my questions.

1) What are his strengths?

"His versatility and high football IQ. He can not only be the lineman that calls out the blocking assignments, because he's both physically and mentally capable of playing all the positions, and understands them, he can play effectively alongside a variety of types of linemen and make them effective as well."

2) What are his weaknesses?

"At only 6'5" and 320, he is a little small by today's standards for the optimal tackle, and extreme length in an opponent could be a challenge. Also, he's relatively inexperienced at trap blocking, and some pulling assignments, because Oregon State didn't run much of that."

3) There’s been a lot of talk about how Seumalo is really versatile. Which offensive line position do you think he plays best at?

"He is probably best at center, because he can handle long snapping and blocking, as well as calling out the blocking assignments, but in the NFL, he will probably be best used as a guard, because his versatility makes him well suited for facing both 4 man and 3 man fronts, and wide and narrow splits."

4) Seumalo missed the entire 2014 season due to a serious foot injury. Were there any noticeable lingering effects from that injury in 2015? Do you see it as a concern moving forward?

"There were no lingering effects once enough time was taken for the injury to heal. The reason an entire season was lost was the injury initially didn't heal properly, possibly because Isaac got back to work to much too soon. The only concern might be pushing too hard too fast in the event of another injury, but hopefully that experience was a learning experience to be patient."

5) How do you see his NFL career playing out?

"I could see him playing for quite a few years, because his versatility effectively gives a team an extra roster spot, and that's valuable. Unless a team has a real need for a center, I expect he will play at guard, and prove to be a long term player, but also one who plays at multiple positions over time as a team puts their best 5 linemen on the field, and which position Seumalo plays varies with who else in in that mix."

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Thanks again to Andy. Make sure to check out Building The Dam.