Eagles C Jason Kelce Eventually Needs a Backup; Who's in The Running?
The competition to be the right guard on the Philadelphia Eagles offensive line is one storyline to keep an eye on once the players and coaches return from their summer vacation on July 25.
Cam Jurgens probably has the leg up over rookie third-round draft pick Tyler Steen.
It was Jurgens, the second-year, second-round draft pick from 2022, who got the first-team reps at that spot in the short viewing periods reporters had during the two OTAs they were permitted to attend this spring.
That doesn’t mean Steen won’t make a strong push for the job.
The bigger question - and one that was posed to our own Ed Kracz on the JAKIB Sports program, Birds365, on Tuesday morning with Jody McDonald and John McMullen - is who is Philly center Jason Kelce’s backup going to be?
It was a question that was more directed at who fills in for Kelce when the veteran center takes his one-day off from practice each week in training camp than it was once the season begins.
If Jurgens is at right guard, would the Eagles move him to center and insert Steen at right guard?
It would seem to make sense until you realize that there are only a handful of days to prepare for an opponent in between games. So, would the Eagles risk tinkering with the game plan by making such a switch?
Offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland is on record as saying he would rather impact one position rather than two when making changes along the line.
In other words, by filling in for Kelce, Stoutland would have to make two changes, with Jurgens moving to center and Steen playing right guard.
Remember, too, that Jurgens is new to playing guard. Moving him to center once a week to fill in for Kelce could hamper his development and/or comfortability at being used only at one position.
Steen has some comfort at guard, having played there at Vanderbilt, before transferring to Alabama and becoming a tackle.
Either way, it’s not an easy transition to make.
Just ask Landon Dickerson, who was a center but moved to guard here he has settled in as one of the top left guards in the NFL.
“Obviously, it can be difficult to make a position switch, regardless if you’ve played it in the past or not,” Dickerson said. “You know what Cam’s doing, what Tyler’s doing, they’re getting put at an unfamiliar spot. Cam’s coming in, and it’s something tough, you gotta make adjustments.
“And right now, is the opportune time to figure out how to change how I’m stepping, where I’m aiming, where I’m looking, because those five positions are different. They’re looking at different things.
“For Cam and Tyler, they’re doing a phenomenal job right now. It’s difficult. Me and a lot of the older guys try to help out as much as we can. We see something that we can fix or change to help them, that’s what it’s about.”
Perhaps the Eagles keep Cameron Tom on the 53-man roster and use him as a center or even Julian Good-Jones, who seems like, at this point, is more ticketed for the practice squad.
Certainly, a practice squad player can take first-team reps on Kelce’s inevitable off days.
In the grand scheme of things, figuring out who fills in for Kelce during his one day of rest each week isn’t a big deal, and Kelce has shown the grit to play through pain often enough that he hasn’t missed a start since early in the 2014 season.
Still, it is something to watch.
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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