Previewing Protection: Cam Jurgens or Jalen Hurts?

It's not who when it comes to protection in the NFL, it's everyone being on the same page.

Oct 1, 2023; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Eagles center Cam Jurgens (51) blocks against the Washington Commanders at Lincoln Financial Field. / Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports

PHILADELPHIA - The Eagles will surely miss many things about Jason Kelce now that the future Hall of Fame center is settling into retirement.

Kelce is perhaps best known for his athleticism on the field and his leadership off of it but when it comes to the Philadelphia offense, perhaps Kelce’s greatest attribute was his ability to identify and handle protection schemes on the fly like few others.

Moving forward, that will likely be the job of Kelce’s heir, third-year player Cam Jurgens, an emerging offensive lineman who the Eagles feel has a very high football IQ and is capable of handling the job.

New offensive coordinator Kellen Moore, however, never got the opportunity to work with Kelce and in most other cities the quarterback is in charge of handling protections.

Moore left it open-ended, perhaps wanting to see how much autonomy Jalen Hurts wants and/or needs, but hinted toward Jurgens taking over.

“I think it's a similar process as far as Cam. Obviously, you're continuing to evolve that system,” Moore said. “It will take the whole off-season and even through the season continuing to utilize -- the offensive line has a great perspective. The quarterback has a great perspective. 

“Ultimately those guys have to be aligned and on the same page.”

A former NFL personnel exec had a similar take when asked if having the center take the lead over the QB with protection is problematic.

“[The center taking the lead] used to be more rare. Now it’s fairly common,” the exec said. “It’s still a job that needs everyone to communicate. …The center is just the one who has to marry the communication of two sides together.”

It might be flipped a little more in the modern game but the end game remains the same.

“The adjustments are based on clearly defined rules that everyone is attentive to pre-snap,” the personnel man said. “It’d be rare for the QB not to know what the center will adjust to since they’re looking at the same thing.”

And success with it can come in different forms, from the obvious maestros of Tom Brady or Peyton Manning at the line of scrimmage to the understated style of Nick Foles in the run to a Super Bowl LII championship.

“Look at Nick Foles during the SB run. He looked like Brady without ever making a Mike [linebacker] point or pushing the slide anywhere,” the exec said. “He just knew the system extremely well.”

The goal is for everyone on the same page regardless of where it starts.

“As long as the system is good enough and everyone is on the same page with communication, getting out of unfavorable plays and into ideal ones shouldn’t be an issue,”  said the executive.

Clearly that wasn’t the case with Kelce down the stretch last season so it’s easier said that done but the Eagles believe Jurgens is ready to do his part.

“Cam Jurgens was brought here two years ago for the reason of when Kelce does retire, that we have a guy who we really identified as being a top-level center, in our opinion,” offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland said. “... Cam just so happened to check a lot of the boxes of foot and body quickness, he’s powerful, he has great core strength, he has the ability to communicate.”

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