Steelers have the top guard in the AFC North according to PFF

As the 2025 NFL offseason progresses into the summer months, there will constantly be a barrage of lists and rankings from various outlets. While some fans will have preferred places where they look for particular rankings, others will just avoid the information altogether.

Over the next two weeks, I will be reporting on the members of the Pittsburgh Steelers who landed in the top 32 players at various positions according to Pro Football Focus (PFF). I know there are many who like to criticize PFF rankings, with me being one of them, it doesn’t mean that their information is always incorrect. While they used rankings for some of their reasoning in placing the players on these list, it was not their ultimate deciding factor and instead was the opinion of the various authors depending on which position group was being covered.

Whenever I cover various things from PFF, I often give the disclaimer reminding people that their grades are merely an opinion. One thing PFF should be commended on is that they collect an immense amount of data, particularly looking at each player on every snap, in order to form their opinion. But more data doesn’t automatically deliver a correct opinion. Regardless, it is still a great point of discussion to see where the Pittsburgh Steelers rank and the various positional groups.

Next up, let’s look at PFF’s rankings at the guard and tackle positions where the Steelers only have one player in the top 32 between the two groups.

12. Isaac Seumalo, Pittsburgh Steelers

Missing four games to begin 2024 hampered Seumalo’s grades a bit, but the veteran still managed to post a solid 66.3 PFF overall grade. The projection into 2025 stems more from his excellent showing over the past three seasons, during which he boasts a 75.7 PFF overall grade and ranks eighth among guards in PFF WAR (0.92).

I find it interesting that PFF likely has a better feeling about a Steelers player than what the fan base does. Isaac Seumalo seemed to not be the same player in 2024 despite earning his first Pro Bowl. But as was said in the evaluation, this is based off of averages over the last three seasons as to why Seumalo projects to do so well if healthy. Remember, he missed the first four games of 2024 and likely was not 100% at any point during the season.

By coming in 12th, this is the highest ranking of any guard from the AFC North. Only two other guards made the list, both for the Cleveland Browns. Joel Bitonio landed in the 14th spot while Wyatt Teller was 18th. No players from the Ravens or Bengals made the list, but former Steelers guard James Daniels, who signed with the Miami Dolphins this past offseason, came in at 24th.

Speaking of a list that didn’t have many players from the AFC North, there will not be a separate article here at SCN on offensive tackles because there were not any in the top 32 from the Pittsburgh Steelers. In fact, there was only one offensive tackle from the AFC North on the entire list of 32 players. While teams like the Philadelphia Eagles had two tackles in the top five in Jordan Mailata (1st) and Lane Johnson (5th), the only representative from the AFC North was Ronnie Staley of the Baltimore Ravens who came in 23rd. And just to be thorough, former Steelers tackle Dan Moore Jr. did not make the list either despite being the 8th highest paid tackle (based on average salary per year of the life of the contract) in 2025.

After looking at centers last week with the Ravens and Steelers coming in second and third respectively, it appears that the offensive line as a whole is a bit of a weak spot across the AFC North when compared to the rest of the NFL. Just remember, these are projections from PFF and it will be very interesting to see how the actual play on the field as to who is successful in 2025.

Other position groups covered:

Center
Edge Rusher
Tight End
Interior Defensive Line
Wide Receiver
Linebacker