Seahawks 90-Man Roster Primer: Pier-Olivier Lestage
With the calendar flipping to June and offseason programs in full swing across the country, NFL training camps will begin around the league in less than two months. To celebrate the new incoming season, we will be breaking down the Seahawks' 90-man roster over the next several weeks, exploring best and worst case scenarios and what to expect from each player entering the 2021 campaign.
Pier-Olivier Lestage, Guard/Center
Height/Weight: 6-foot-3, 312 pounds
2020 Stats: N/A
Hailing from north of the border, Lestage is one of the more interesting undrafted free agents on the Seahawks' 2021 roster. A stud interior offensive lineman at the University of Montréal for three years, his collegiate career was ultimately cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic. Unable to host scouts for a pro day due to the Canadian-enforced border closure, Lestage did everything he could to boost his draft stock. Making his way to the United States for his first live action since 2019, he participated in the College Gridiron Showcase and Tropical Bowl, and virtually attended the East-West Shrine Bowl panel. While it wasn't enough to get him drafted, seven teams showed serious interest as soon as the draft came to an end, with Seattle ultimately becoming his choice. Despite being selected in the second round of the 2021 CFL Draft by the Montréal Alouettes, the St-Eustache, Québec native will first try his hand at the sport's highest level in the Pacific Northwest and believes he has what it takes to stick.
Best Case Scenario: Barring injury to Phil Haynes and/or Jordan Simmons, Lestage's best shot to crack the Seahawks' 53-man roster appears to be as a center. If Kyle Fuller struggles, and Lestage plays well at both guard and center in the preseason, the job could be the French-Canadian's for the taking.
Worst Case Scenario: The NFL proves to be too daunting of a jump in competition for Lestage, forcing him back to Canada and into the CFL.
What to Expect in 2021: For outsiders, it's hard to gauge expectations for Lestage heading into 2021. His tape is hard to come by and there's the obvious demerit of him facing a lower quality of opponent in the Canadian college football circuit. How his skill set translates to the game's biggest stage is very much a mystery. That said, he has size, strength, and a whole lot of confidence and the Seahawks have shaky interior depth at best. If he proves to be up to the challenge, he could make things interesting at backup center, though coach Pete Carroll told reporters in May that the team will try out Lestage at guard first. The most likely scenario here? The lack of game action over the past year catches up to him, but he makes solid progress in camp to earn practice squad consideration after final roster cuts are made.
Previous Seahawks 90-Man Roster Primers
Alex McGough | Darvin Kidsy | Greg Eiland | LaDarius Wiley | Joshua Moon | Cam Sutton | Walter Palmore | Jared Hocker | Brad Lundblade | Aashari Crosswell | Myles Adams | B.J. Emmons | Jon Rhattigan | Aaron Fuller | Bryan Mills I Jake Curhan | Jarrod Hewitt | Connor Wedington | Nate Evans | Danny Etling | John Ursua
