The Philadelphia Eagles have had some very good right guards over recent seasons, most notably three-time Pro Bowl selection Brandon Brooks, and most recently Pro Bowl alternate Isaac Seumalo.
Injuries derailed Brooks and free agency after a career year priced the Eagles out on Seumalo, leaving the position for promising second-year player Cam Jurgens.
A natural center Jurgens, 23, was drafted at No. 51 overall in 2022 to be the potential heir apparent to Jason Kelce, who has turned into the Energizer Bunny at 35. Kelce just keeps going and going and going at an All-Pro level.
If Jurgens is frustrated about having to move to get on the field, he’s not showing it.
“I just reached out and said, congrats, you had a hell of a year,” Jurgens said when asked what he thought when Kelce decided to run it back in 2023. “I’m so pumped you’re coming back. I can’t wait to play with you again whether I’m learning behind you or playing next to you.
“Jason is such a great guy. He’s like ‘Yeah, I’m sorry I’m coming back for another year.’ You owe me nothing, you know? He’s done so much for me already and I’m pumped he’s back. You can’t have a better locker room guy and team leader than him.”
Eagles coach Nick Sirianni is known to value competition so the head coach has been very cognizant to not just hand the right guard job to Jurgens, intimating that third-round rookie Tyler Steen and presumed sixth man Jack Driscoll could get into the mix with strong summers.
Plan A, though is clearly Jurgens and the concern is that the 6-foot-3, 305-pounder is a little undersized for what the Eagles have typically valued at that position under Jeff Stoutland.
“I’m not quite the 350-pound Landon [Dickerson],” Jurgens smiled, “so I handle things differently.”
Ultimately Jurgens wants to gain about five to 10 pounds and play in the 310-315 range but he’s planning to bring a different style to the line, one that highlights the athleticism that the Eagles fell in love with during the 2022 pre-draft process.
“Just trying to go to my strengths,” he said. “I want to be an athlete in any spot I am. I don’t want to fit a pizza-cutter mold of whatever a right guard is supposed to be. I just want to be out there and be a good o-lineman.”
There's also the thought that Steen is the long-term plan at right guard with Jurgens ultimately replacing Kelce so why play musical chairs to reach that end game? Especially if Steen, who is making his own move from college left tackle to right guard, takes to things quickly.
"He’s smart, he’s coachable, he learns well and I think he does a lot of things really well," Jurgens said when discussing Steen. "So I’m super excited about what he’s going to bring to this team."
Whoever seizes the position will enter a situation where they are playing next to Kelce and in between the star center and All-Pro right tackle Lane Johnson, quite the luxury for a player trying to gain his sea legs.
Jurgens took reps at right guard and center at Thursday's open OTA practice and noted what it means to be getting combo-block reps with Kelce, who certainly doesn't need the spring work.
“When we’re doing combo blocks, [Kelce] knows what it’s supposed to be like and feel like,” Jurgens said. “Big thing is just he’s going to show me how he’s going to hit the block and how he expects the presence of a guard right next to him.”
As for the transition from center to guard, Jurgens hearkened back to his college days at Nebraska when the shift he was asked to make was far more daunting.
“It’s not as challenging as going from tight end to center,” Jurgens laughed. “So that helps.”
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