Eagles Mekhi Becton Settling In at Guard: "He's Excelling At The Position"

The offensive lineman appears to have won the battle to be the starting right guard after starting his pro career as an offensive tackle.

Mekhi Becton (No. 77) gets some technique tips from line coach Jeff Stoutland as Becton transitions to from tackle to guard. / By Ed Kracz

PHILADELPHIA – Whenever the topic of Mekhi Becton is brought up to his teammates, they all say the same thing – long arms. It’s looking more and more like the tackle-turned guard will be the right guard when the season begins, keeping Tyler Steen and a distance with those long arms in the competition for the job.

It probably wasn’t a good sign when left guard Landon Dickerson was asked about Steen after Day 11 of training camp on Sunday.

His response: “Tyler who?”

Informed it was Steen, Dickerson said: “Steen’s doing good. Sorry, couldn’t hear you. Steen’s doing well, coming off the (ankle) injury, obviously. It’s kind of tough happening early in camp."

Becton has been getting first-team reps for a while now. He did Sunday and he did in the preseason opener against the Baltimore Ravens on Friday night.

You can see the improvement in Becton’s transition to a new position in his battles against defensive tackles Jalen Carter and Milton Williams.

Early in the first set of team drills on Sunday, Becton threw Carter aside when Carter tried to split between Becton and center Cam Jurgens. Carter got some revenge later when his lightning-quick first step was too quick for Becton, and he made a stop on a running play that would’ve been a tackle for loss.

“We had a little back and forth (Sunday),” said Becton. “We went against each other, and you know I'm starting to catch up to him. I'm starting to get his number. We're starting to get each other’s numbers. We’re working. Iron sharpens iron.”

Same with Williams, who has had some good reps against Becton and some not so good.

“That’s a big guy,” said Williams. “He has long arms, so you know, (on) one step you have to have your move up or he’s going to hit you in the face, and you have to be ready to recover, but if you catch him, it’s over.”

Eagles OL Mekhi Becton / John McMullen/Eagles on SI

Leverage can be an issue with someone as tall as Becton, and he is working on that daily, getting a bend and saying low.

“It’s a little bit of an adjustment for him, but the way he’s built, the way he can move with his long arms, his reach, his lateral quickness, I think right now he’s really excelling at that position," said Dickerson. "f you stand up, and you’re playing a shorter noseguard, it’s hard because they got leverage.

"But that’s why we don’t play football standing straight up. We bend down. There’s a lot of pros – longer arms, longer reach can help guys a lot.”

Becton began spring has a swing tackle behind Lane Johnson and Jordan Mailata before the transition to guard began.

At 6-8, 365 pounds, he will be the biggest guard in the league, adding to what is already a mammoth offensive line with the 6-8, 380-pound Mailata, 6-6, 325-pound Johnson, and 6-6, 330-pound Dickerson. Jurgens is 6-3, 303 but he looks downright little between Becton and Dickerson.

“We need to figure out is that the heaviest O-line in the league,” said Jurgens. “There’s a lot of weight on y right and my left and outside that. It’s nice. It’s great. Those guys are huge. Mekhi’s got long arms, insanely long arms and he’s able to use them really well.

"It’s super helpful, especially when you’re going into the run game and he’s able to put those long arms on people and keep people at a distance.”

With the Eagles seemingly settled on Becton over Steen, the line is getting more cohesive and communicating better than earlier in camp. There are still too many pre-snap penalties, but they seem to come with motion, a part of Kellen Moore’s offense that they are still adjusting to.

“It’s getting better,” said Jurgens, of the communication “It’s definitely gotten better since the first we started. It’s just that constant communication of being out there, the five guys, and being able to talk the lingo, and being on the same page. It’s getting better every day.”

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