Cam Jurgens' surprising ranking among NFL centers doesn't fit his production

Philadelphia Eagles center Cam Jurgens had one of the most impossible tasks of any player in franchise history: replace the best in Jason Kelce.

From the moment he was selected in the second round of the 2022 NFL Draft, every Eagles fan knew Jurgens was going to replace Kelce eventually. The first two seasons were Jurgens sitting behind Kelce, learning the center position while having to fill in at guard to help when injuries occurred.

Kelce's retirement announcement after the 2023 season marked the beginning of the Jurgens era, and what a way to start. He helped the Eagles win the Super Bowl, was selected to his first Pro Bowl, perfected the Tush Push, and landed a massive four-year, $68 million contract extension in the offseason.

So, all this should mean that he is among the best in the NFL, correct? PFF would argue to pump the brakes.

Jurgens' PFF ranking among centers doesn't reflect his impact

Continuing the series on positional rankings before the 2025 season, PFF's Mason Cameron ranked Jurgens 13th among centers in the NFL. Cameron looks at Jurgens as showing improvement, but he has a flaw he's working on improving.

"Jurgens has struggled at times as a pass protector, but his overall grading profile since becoming the Eagles’ starting center shows an upward trend that should continue into 2025. If you exclude Jurgens' playoff performance, during which he was battling an injury, his PFF overall grade (67.1) charted as a top-10 mark at the position."

Last season, Jurgens only missed one start, and that's when the Eagles benched the starters in the previous game of the year against the Giants. His Pro Bowl selection and sheer dominance on the line in year one at center should have been enough to at least get him into the top 10.

Jurgens' PFF grades from last year among centers have his overall grade at 67.1, which ranked him 16th out of 64. His best grade was in run blocking, where he ranked 19th with a 68.5.

Is it fair to say that Jurgens is not the best in the NFL? Yes. He does need some improvement in pass blocking, but Jurgens has made massive strides in year one as the starter.

At the very least, the 25-year-old center shows the most upside among the top 15 centers on the PFF list. He continues to improve and his four sacks allowed might seem like a lot, but that number will continue to decrease as he goes through the years in the NFL.

Kelce didn't get his first Pro Bowl selection until his fourth season in the NFL, so Jurgens is already ahead of him. Who knows if Jurgens ends up being as great as Kelce, but so far, he looks to play the part well for the Eagles.