Eagles Camp Preview: How Many Options at Right Guard?
PHILADELPHIA - The Philadelphia Eagles are stocked well with two potential Pro Bowl players on the interior of the offensive line.
Most NFL teams would be more than happy with that and call it a day but not necessarily the Eagles. That’s because It used to be three-for-three before Isaac Seumalo crossed the state for big money in free agency with Pittsburgh.
The presence of five-time All-Pro center Jason Kelce, who is back for a 13th NFL season after eschewing retirement yet again, and emerging third-year Pro Bowl selection Landon Dickerson at left guard ensures that the Eagles will again have one of the best interiors in the sport, however.
More so, the organization has multiple options on the table to replace Seumalo and one of the best offensive line coaches in the sport, Jeff Stoutland, ready to prepare Cam Jurgens, Tyler Steen, or the ripcord, Jack Driscoll.
The odds-on favorite to earn the job is Jurgens, 23, who was the No. 51 overall pick in 2022 and earmarked to eventually replace Kelce at center. From there it’s 2023 third-round pick Steen, 22, and Driscoll, 26, who has already played the position in the past at a competent level.
The conventional wisdom is that the Eagles don’t want to redshirt a premium pick like Jurgens for two full seasons but Stoutland doesn’t care about things like that. The Nebraska product is the leader in the clubhouse because Steen is trying to learn a new position after spending his college days at Vanderbilt and Alabama exclusively at either right tackle or left tackle, and Driscoll is set to be the swing tackle on game days, an important role magnified by the fact that Stoutland likes to avoid multiple moving parts at all costs if he can.
In other words, if you start Driscoll at RG with the plan he’ll slide outside if either of the tackles is banged up you would be affecting two positions instead of one.
What is clear, though, is the Eagles aren’t handing Jurgens the job and his must-earn while also continuing his cross-training at center on Kelce maintenance days.
“We have a lot of confidence in Cam,” head coach Sirianni said earlier in the offseason. “We’re excited that he can play multiple positions. To say ‘leader in the clubhouse’ at this particular time, we still have a lot of things to go through before we have to make any decisions in that matter.
"We’ll see where we go with him.”
During the two spring OTA practices open to reporters Jurgens was first up at RG and then back at center during a Kelce maintenance day when Steen took the first-team reps in individual work (The Eagles work 7-on-7s during OTAs and no full team drills).
From a practical standpoint, as good as Kelce is, the veteran is also undersized and the Eagles have tried to protect him with bigger bodies like Brandon Brooks, Dickerson, and Seumalo in recent years.
If you start Jurgens at RG it’s undersized next to undersized with Kelce. Listed at 6-foot-6 and 321 pounds with room to get bigger, Steen is the ultimate goal at the position but the start-up costs can be steep for a rookie.
“Cam is really, really talented,” Kelce said. “Extremely physically gifted, hard-working. The strength-to-weight ratio that he has is phenomenal. Very, very strong for his size. Extremely explosive, smart, blue-collar, lunch-pail-type kid.”
The good news is Kelce, 35, has defied his age and seems to get better and better. An ironman, Kelce has also started 139 consecutive games and was graded by Pro Football Focus as the No. 3 OC in the NFL and the No. 2 run-blocking center behind only Kansas City All-Pro Creed Humphrey.
Kelce also led all NFL centers with an 0.2 percent knockdown percentage, allowing just one sack in 557 pass-blocking opportunities.
The massive and powerful Dickerson, who is 332 pounds, settled in as a dominating force in between Kelce and 380-pound left tackle Jordan Mailata and earned his first Pro Bowl berth. The Eagles’ left side as a whole could be the spokespeople for IHOP because it’s going to lead the NFL in pancake blocks.
The depth isn’t quite as impressive as it once was with Sua Opeta, and the versatile Brett Toth, having a leg up on Cameron Tom, Tyrese Robinson, and Julian Good-Jones.
It should also be noted that Josh Sills was on his way to being an option as a backup guard/tackle before he was placed on the Commissioner’s Exempt List late last season after he was indicted on serious sexual assault allegations stemming from his time in college.
Depth Chart:
OC - Jason Kelce; Cam Jurgens, Brett Toth; Cameron Tom
LG - Landon Dickerson; Sua Opeta; Julian Good-Jones
RG - Cam Jurgens; Tyler Steen; Jack Driscoll; Tyrese Robinson
WHAT’S CHANGED: Seumalo was a Pro Bowl alternate last season and arguably was better than Dickerson so that’s no run-of-the-mill player that needs to be replaced. The Eagles have enough options to basically guarantee at least competency, especially with Stoutland tutoring them. The newcomers are Steen, a solid prospect, and Good-Jones, who was with Philadelphia before as an undrafted free agent out of Iowa State in 2020 before starting 22 games for the CFL’s Calgary Stampeders over the past two seasons.
COACHING: Stoutland is the longest-tenured Eagles coach having arrived with Chip Kelly in 2013 and working through the Kelly and Doug Pederson eras. He was on the verge of returning to Nick Saban and Alabama in 2020 before Jeffrey Lurie and his wife Allison made sure Philadelphia stayed his home.
One of the best position coaches in the entire NFL, Stoutland is also one of the highest-paid. He has earned tremendous autonomy over his line and is also the run game coordinator, drawing up some of the most effective and innovative run schemes in the league.
Stoutland has led six players to 20 Pro Bowls (Kelce, Dickerson, Lane Johnson, Brandon Brooks, Jason Peters, and Evan Mathis) with the Eagles and four players to 11 All-Pro berths (Kelce, Johnson, Brooks, and Peters).
Stoutland’s lieutenant is Roy Istvan. The relationship dates back to the early 1980s and Southern Connecticut State where Istvan was a player and then graduate assistant when Stoutland was the offensive coordinator there. Stoutland brought Istvan to Philly back in 2019 after the latter spent a year as the assistant head coach, offensive coordinator, and offensive line coach at Keiser University during the program’s inaugural season in 2018.
THE CEILING: A different group but one every put as good with Jurgens taking the baton and using it in a different fashion to excel.
“I think I can still go in and still be an athlete at right guard as I can at center,” Jurgens said.
As far as the reserves the hope is that Opeta can show a little more consistency in Year 4 but there are fail-safes built in that Jurgens is the backup center and Driscoll has already proven he can handle work inside if need be.
THE LONGSHOT: Good-Jones, 26, is interesting because Stoutland saw something in him coming out of college, and while not ready at the time, going the CFL route and getting extensive playing time could pay dividends.
-WHO STAYS/GOES: Kelce, Dickerson, Jurgens, and Steen are locks inside and Driscoll is earmarked as the swing tackle. That could leave one spot open with Opeta trying to hold off the field with the versatile Toth being the most likely to make a run.
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-John McMullen contributes Eagles coverage for SI.com's Eagles Today and is the NFL Insider for JAKIB Media. You can listen to John, alongside legendary sports-talk host Jody McDonald every morning from 8-10 on ‘Birds 365,” streaming live on YouTube. John is also the host of his own show "Football 24/7 and a daily contributor to ESPN South Jersey. You can reach him at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen
