With the retirement of long-time center Jason Kelce, the Eagles now have an open starting spot to fill on the offensive line. While Kelce is vacating the center spot, Cam Jurgens was drafted out of Nebraska back in 2022 with the sole purpose of eventually replacing Kelce in that middle role. In order to play center, though, Jurgens will need to move over from last year’s starting right guard role, opening up a starting position at that spot.
Jurgens was too talented to keep off the field for too long, and after Isaac Seumalo departed for Pittsburgh following Jurgens’ rookie year, the former Cornhusker was asked to step into Seumalo’s starting job at right guard. Jurgens did miss six games in 2023, but in those games, he was replaced by Sua Opeta, who departed for Tampa Bay in free agency.
Philadelphia already has a pretty good idea of who will be filling the vacant role, though the competition remains “open” for now. The team drafted Tyler Steen in the third round out of Alabama last year with the belief that he may have been able to push Jurgens for the starting right guard job as a rookie. While Steen did start one game at the position in his first season, it was as an injury replacement for Opeta, who was already filling in for Jurgens. With Opeta gone and Jurgens sliding further inside, Steen seems the obvious choice for the job now. According to Dave Zangaro of NBC Sports, the Eagles “even moved his locker into the starting right guard spot in the locker room” to potentially indicate that the job is his to lose.
One player he could potentially lose it to is veteran tackle Mekhi Becton. Once seen as a sure left tackle in the sport, the former first-round pick was signed by Philadelphia this offseason with the intention that he would serve as a swing tackle. Since then, Becton has been utilized consistently throughout the spring at right tackle and left guard. The Eagles tend to like big guards, and while Steen stands at 6-foot-6, 321 pounds, Becton stands over him at 6-foot-7, 363 pounds. Should Becton’s versatility continue to expand, Steen may find a challenge in winning the starting job.
The other veterans on the interior line include Matt Hennessy and Max Scharping. Both players have extensive experience as starters. Hennessy has mostly been a center but does have guard experience, as well. He’s been working as the second-team right guard for most of the spring. Scharping has 33 starts to his name but hasn’t made a regular season start since the 2021 season.
The team also drafted two rookies, but neither seem to be serious contenders to challenge Steen. Trevor Keegan, a fifth-round pick out of Michigan, made all of his starts on the left side of the line in college. Making the jump to the NFL is one thing, but throwing in a switch from one side of the line to the other is another thing altogether. Dylan McMahon was the other selection, getting taken in the sixth-round out of NC State. McMahon seems to be on a center-only track right now and should slot in behind Hennessy as the third center on the depth chart as a rookie.
The job isn’t Steen’s for sure, right now, but it sure seems like a lot would need to happen in order for him to lose his hold on the gig. Steen would likely need to struggle through training camp, and one of the others would need to step up and seize the role themselves. It’s not impossible for someone else to take it, but it appears to be Steen’s job to lose at the moment.
