Eagles Intent on Having Cam Jurgens at RG - But is There Another Option?

A veteran of 62 career starts who is just 27, Dalton Risner is still available and would be a good insurance policy if the undersized Philadelphia Eagles right guard Cam Jurgens can't hold up at a new position for him.

The transition from college center at the University of Alabama to left guard for the Philadelphia Eagles was easy for Landon Dickerson. It helped that he’s 6-6, 325 pounds and got to play beside another brute, 6-8, 380-pound left tackle Jordan Mailata.

The Eagles have a history of playing big guards, from Brandon Brooks (6-5, 335) to Isaac Seumalo (6-4, 305) and all the way back to Evan Mathis (6-5, 305), Todd Herremans (6-6, 325) and Shawn Andrews (6-6, 335).

There's even Nick Cole, a starter at right guard on the 11-win 2009 team weighed 335 pounds, though he stood just 6-feet tall. Max Jean-Gilles, a starter on the 2009 team that went to the NFC Championship Game before losing to the Arizona Cardinals, was 6-3, 325.

That brings us to Cam Jurgens. He is scheduled to play right guard, a new position for him, and he is on the small side at 6-3 and a shade above 300 pounds.

It just doesn’t seem conceivable that the Eagles would turn the job over to a rookie in Tyler Steen. Not on a team that has Super Bowl hopes.

On June 1, Jurgens said he was around 305 pounds. He’s hoping to return for training camp at the end of July in the neighborhood of 310, 315.

“We’ll see how it goes,” he said. “I feel like I did a pretty good job of holding weight last season. So, I feel like I don’t need to get super-high and expect the weight to come off during the season. I want to stay at least at 310 when the season starts.”

The Eagles have rallied around Jurgens, saying he will be just fine.

“He’s so damn strong,” said right tackle Lane Johnson. “I think he was front-squatting close to 550 the other day. The thing about him being 6-3, I feel like he has natural leverage with some of the defenders. 

"He’s a low center of gravity so he’s able to get under guys. He obviously has that power. So, the more reps he gets, the better he’s going to be. As far as explosion and athletic traits, he’s unbelievable.”

It feels a bit like the Quez Watkins prop-up job head coach Nick Sirianni is doing for the receiver, but the Eagles must be satisfied because there is a guard still available on the free-agent market that makes sense for them.

That would be Dalton Risner.

It’s never a good sign that someone like Risner hasn’t found a home midway through June, so maybe there is an unknown reason for it, but he certainly fits what the Eagles like at the position, and the way they handed out one-year deals this offseason, Risner, 27, certainly fits that description, too.

A former second-round pick out of Kansas State in 2019 by the Denver Broncos, Risner is 6-5, 315 and has made 62 career starts. Most have been at left guard, and maybe that’s why the Eagles are hesitant to bring him in.

General manager Howie Roseman didn’t bring in safety Jaquiski Tartt until June 17 last year. It didn’t work out for Tartt, who was cut after last summer’s training camp, but that doesn’t mean Risner wouldn’t at least be worth a flier.

It’s understandable that the Eagles want to try to get some return out of Jurgens, who they drafted in the second round last year to eventually be Jason Kelce’s replacement at center. Kelce, however, continues to play at a high level, so sitting Jurgens down for another redshirt type of season isn’t ideal.

Again, though, this is a team that wants to get back to the Super Bowl, and this time win it.

Can Jurgens hold up?

Having Risner as an insurance policy in case he doesn’t wouldn’t be the worst thing.

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Ed Kracz covers the Philadelphia Eagles for SI's EaglesToday.

Please follow him and our Eagles coverage on Twitter at @kracze.

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