Eagles Working To Find A Backup Center

Eagles Pro Bowl center Cam Jurgens has been working in a limited fashion at the start of training camp as he continues to ramp up from offseason back surgery.

The silver lining to Jurgens being on a pitch count in team drills is that other players have been getting more reps, notably versatile veteran Brett Toth, rookie fifth-round pick Drew Kendall, and second-year player Trevor Keegan, a guard by trade who is now cross-training in the pivot.

Last season, when Jurgens injured his back and was unable to push through the pain for stretches, offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland felt more comfortable sliding three-time Pro Bowl left guard Landon Dickerson inside to center and inserting Tyler Steen at LG.

One of the goals this season is to find a capable backup OC and stop shuffling the deck chairs, if possible.

"I don't have a preference,” Dickerson said after practice Thursday when asked if he preferred to stay at guard no matter the circumstance. “You always want to put the best five guys on the field that you can. You've seen that over the years. If Cam goes down or I go down or somebody else does, we may shuffle things around. 

“You're trying to keep the best five guys out there. I'm always available.  I played center for a little bit in college.”

Despite Dickerson’s admirable malleability and understating his college resume as an All-American center at Alabama, he’s also perhaps the best left guard in the NFL, so if Stoutland can find comfort in a true backup center, that would enable the veteran OL coach to keep an injury from impacting two positions.

Dickerson has liked what he’s seen from the centers behind Jurgens on the depth chart so far.

"When you're not a solidified guy in the NFL, the best way to add value is to play multiple positions, so guys like Brett, who can play all five [positions], Trevor Keegan stepping up. I know he came in as a guard. He's started to transition over to center, get some reps there,” said Dickerson. “Having that ability and being able to add value to the team. 

“I think it's a great thing.” 

Toth still needs to clean up the occasional off-kilter shotgun snap, and Keegan is a work in progress, learning a difficult position the Michigan product is unfamiliar with.

"It's been one of those things he's been working at since last year,” Dickerson said of Keegan. “He worked at it in the offseason. He's working on it now. Again, it's gonna be one of those things as he gets more reps at it. As he develops [at] practice more, I think he'll get comfortable and the guys around him and the coaches will get comfortable enough to see where that falls if they want to throw him in at center or guard or wherever it may be."

That leaves Kendall, a natural center whose father, Pete, was once a Pro Bowl-level interior offensive lineman in the league.

"You talk about somebody who's just made to play in the NFL, obviously, his dad was the first-round pick. It's hard to find. It is a center-deficient league,” GM Howie Roseman said back in the spring when discussing Kendall. “There are not a lot of centers on draft boards. It is not a natural trait to snap the ball, and so not every offensive lineman can do that.”

With three options on the table, the idea of having a more entrenched backup center is the likely outcome for Stoutland.

“I think they are all doing a tremendous job and it’s always good to have guys who can do more,” Dickerson said of the competition.