Taking a closer look at Eagles' right guard competition in training camp

We’re getting close to Eagles training camp so we’re taking a look at some notable camp competitions.

We’re starting off with right guard.

The Eagles boasted one of the best offensive lines in the NFL last season and will return four of five starters from 2022. The only one who isn’t back in 2023 is Isaac Seumalo, who signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers as a free agent. 

Seumalo was drafted back in 2016 as a possible eventual replacement for Jason Kelce but eventually moved to guard and became the Eagles’ starter at left guard. But once Landon Dickerson took over that spot, Seumalo returned from injury in 2022 and started every game at right guard last season. Now that he’s gone, the Eagles need to replace him. At least they have some good options.

Let’s look at the players:

Cam Jurgens
Age: 23
Experience: Year 2 (35 snaps as rookie)
Size: 6-foot-3, 303 pounds

The Eagles used the No. 51 overall pick to draft Jurgens out of Nebraska last season. Kelce helped scout Jurgens, who is expected to be his eventual replacement. But after a virtual redshirt rookie season, the idea of playing Jurgens at right guard for the 2023 season makes sense. And in the two OTA practices open to reporters this spring, it was Jurgens lining up at first-team right guard.

Jurgens made the switch from tight end to center early in college but the only position on the line he played at Nebraska was center. The Eagles planned on cross-training Jurgens at guard as early as last training camp but when Kelce needed minor elbow surgery, Jurgens had to spend most of the summer as the first-team center. Those reps were valuable but it meant that his cross-training process was delayed, although he eventually got some practice reps at guard throughout the season.

While Jurgens is officially listed at 303 pounds, he said this spring that he weighed 305 and his goal was to return to training camp at around 310-315. Jurgens doesn’t have the prototypical size many associate with the guard position; he’s not Landon Dickerson. But he is very athletic and understands leverage and angles. He’ll have to use those things to his advantage if he starts at guard for the Eagles.

Tyler Steen
Age: 23
Experience: Rookie
Size: 6-foot-6, 331 pounds

The Eagles used the No. 65 overall pick (third round) to draft Steen out of Alabama. He was taken one pick before the Eagles took safety Sydney Brown.

Steen actually began his college career as a defensive lineman at Vanderbilt but flipped to offense pretty early. Eventually he became a starter at right tackle for one season and then two more seasons at left tackle at Vandy. Then he transferred to Alabama and started all 13 games at left tackle as a senior and was named to the All-SEC second team.

What really helped the Eagles evaluation of Steen was seeing him at the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Alabama. After playing exclusively at tackle following his move from the D-line, Senior Bowl week gave teams a chance to see Steen at guard. While he wasn’t initially thrilled with the idea of playing a ton of guard that week, it helped boost his stock and the Eagles took notice. It’s not that Steen can’t play tackle in the NFL, but some teams saw him as a more natural guard.

During the spring, Steen was working as second-team right guard behind Jurgens.

Jack Driscoll
Age: 26
Experience: Year 4 (16 career starts
Size: 6-foot-5, 312 pounds

It’s hard to believe that Driscoll is already entering his fourth NFL season. The Eagles drafted him out of Auburn (he also played at UMass) in 2020 and Driscoll has grown into a valuable and versatile backup offensive lineman as he enters a contract season.

In his three seasons, Driscoll has played in 37 games with 16 starts. Here’s how those 16 starts break down: 8 at right guard, 7 at right tackle, 1 at left tackle. All eight of Driscoll’s starts at right guard came in 2021 after Brandon Brooks went down for the season.

While Driscoll has the most NFL experience of the three players we’re naming, it seems very possible that the Eagles view him as an important utility player who can back up multiple positions. He have seen him need to fill in for Lane Johnson plenty over the last three years at right tackle and that might be reason enough to keep him as a backup at multiple spots and out of the starting lineup..

The rest

The Eagles have some other options along the interior, starting with Sua Opeta, who has been with the Eagles since he joined the team as an undrafted rookie back in 2019. Opeta has played in 25 games with 4 starts in his career. The Eagles also still have Brett Toth, Julian Good-Jones and Cameron Tom on the roster fighting for jobs. Toth offers some position versatility as a backup.

Outlook

This is probably Jurgens’ job to lose. While it wasn’t surprising to see him get the first-team position during OTAs, we’ll see if that continues in training camp. There will be some natural opportunity to get Steen out there with the first team, though. Kelce is 35 so when he gets a day of practice off, the Eagles can slide Jurgens to center and play Steen at right guard next to him. It’s not guaranteed that Jurgens will be the Eagles’ starting right guard in 2023 but Steen would need to be an obviously better option to take that gig from him.

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