Eagles' RG Competition Isn't As Wide Open As Expected

PHILADELPHIA – There aren’t many questions about the Eagles’ offense after a spring in which you can pencil in 10 of the 11 starters with little pushback.

The lone competition is expected to be at right guard after the loss of Mekhi Becton to the Los Angeles Chargers in free agency.

In many ways, the late June picture mirrors what went on 12 months ago when the initial thought was that then-sophomore Tyler Steen would take the step forward and fill in the final piece on the NFL’s best offensive line.

Steen, the 65th overall pick out of Alabama in 2023, entered training camp as the player to beat, and Becton did exactly that with the help of a Steen ankle injury that cost the default setting about 10 days during the summer.

In that short timeframe, the 6-foot-7, 365-pound Becton, a natural tackle selected No. 11 overall by the New York Jets in the 2020 draft, who was brought to Philadelphia to serve as the game-day swing tackle, convinced Jeff Stoutland that he could handle being moved inside, and the rest is history.

Becton was among the league leaders in pancake blocks during a historic rushing season by Saquon Barkley. Meanwhile, the Philadelphia offense as a whole put together the sixth-best rushing season in NFL history en route to a Super Bowl LIX championship.

Because of that, many have compared the arrival of Kenyon Green, the No. 15 overall pick in the 2022 draft by Houston acquired in the trade of C.J. Gardner-Johnson, into this year’s Stoutland reclamation project.

At 6-4 and 325 pounds, physically, Green is a better fit inside than Becton. However, the early returns don’t have the same feel as when Becton arrived as a late free-agent signing last year.

Although few were connecting Becton to RG during the summer break, the word was out that the Eagles were impressed with the big man.

The early plan this time is Steen with veteran Matt Pryor as the insurance policy, with the spring ending with those two handling the first- and second-team reps at RG.

Green was behind Pro Bowl LG Landon Dickerson and splitting reps with second-year player Trevor Keegan.

Much can change when training camp begins, but Pryor, a 2017 sixth-round pick of the Eagles, who returned this offseason after a solid season playing guard in Chicago, is the biggest obstacle between Steen and the finish line.

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