Cam Jurgens is on guard with Jason Kelce returning as the Eagles’ center
Jurgens was drafted to be Kelce's replacement and might have to move to guard for the time being while the future Hall of Famer remains. Will Jurgens be ready?
Two days after the Super Bowl, with signs already pointing to Jason Kelce’s return, Cam Jurgens was asked how he would mentally handle another season of not starting at center.
“I’ll be fine no matter what happens,” Jurgens said last month during locker clean out day at NovaCare Complex. “If I got to learn under [Kelce] for another year, or play alongside him for another year, I’m going to be OK either way.”
Kelce made it official on Monday: He announced that he will be back for a 13th season. But his blocking of Jurgens at center doesn’t have to be an either/or scenario. The second-year offensive lineman can both mentor under Kelce and play next to him as Isaac Seumalo’s replacement at right guard.
Seumalo, slated to become a free agent on Wednesday, had yet to agree to terms with another team as of Monday night, but Kelce’s return along with the guard’s expected market value all but guarantee his departure.
» READ MORE: Jason Kelce puts off retirement, says he will return to Eagles for 13th season
He drifted under the radar for various reasons, but Seumalo had maybe his best season in 2022 and simply moving Jurgens into his spot doesn’t mean he’ll be as productive. The vacancy does, however, allow the Eagles to finally take the training wheels off their second-round draft pick.
The promotion won’t come at his projected position, but with salary cap constraints forthcoming with quarterback Jalen Hurts’ expected contract extension and the investment general manager Howie Roseman made in the Nebraska product, Jurgens is no longer a luxury the Eagles can keep in bubble wrap.
Embracing Kelce’s return as Roseman did — he gulped a shot of mezcal with the center when told at the NFL combine nearly two weeks ago — was a no-brainer. The future Hall of Famer not only remains at the peak of his profession, but also the leadership and coach-like acumen he brings to the Eagles is immeasurable.
But the agreement reached Monday will cost somewhere in the $14 million range next season and it will delay Jurgens’ ascent. If he can transition into playing guard without there being a major downgrade, then the decision to select him without there being an immediate need won’t look as bad.
If Jurgens struggles to the point of having to be benched — and it’s not like there’s never been precedent in this regard (see: Seumalo, 2017) — then it could be three seasons before he yields significant payback.
He never played guard prior to the NFL and lined up there for just one snap last season vs. the Bears. The 6-foot-3, 303-pound Jurgens also doesn’t have prototypical size for the position. He cross-trained at both spots during the regular season, but whenever left guard Landon Dickerson needed a spell, it was Andre Dillard who got the nod.
» READ MORE: Source: Eagles OT Andre Dillard agrees to $29 million contract with the Titans
Eagles offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland lamented not having training camp to work Jurgens out at guard — he was restricted to center as Kelce recovered from elbow surgery — but it was only a minor setback.
The early returns on Jurgens at center were mostly positive, though. While Kelce recovered from elbow surgery, the rookie handled first-team duties through the preseason. He looked in some ways like a clone of the freakishly athletic veteran.
Jurgens also got a taste of the regular season and the postseason with 37 snaps at center in mop-up duty. Kelce hasn’t missed a start in 149 straight games, including the playoffs, but Jurgens is seemingly ready should the 35-year old finally break down.
Kelce has benefitted from the Eagles’ shortening of practices and rest days the team’s training staff has suggested for veterans. He came closest to retiring following an exhaustive and injury-marred 2018 season, but has seemingly needed less time each year since to decide upon his return.
The Eagles are coming off a Super Bowl run, Hurts offers the greatest optimism the team has had at quarterback in years, and coach Nick Sirianni has delivered a winning offensive scheme and culture — all reasons Kelce has previously cited for another go-around.
He endorsed the Jurgens pick pre-draft — not that Roseman based his decision on a player’s evaluation — but Kelce doesn’t owe his eventual successor anything. He tutored the rookie and was often good cop to Stoutland’s bad cop in positional meetings. The coach calls on all his charges, but Jurgens had to keep his head on a swivel.
“I got it a lot,” he said. “But it was a good year. If I need to know it in the future, why not now?”
» READ MORE: In Howie We Trust: Eagles enter free agency led by Roseman, the NFL’s best GM
His future at center, though, will continue to be on hold. Jurgens has his first full offseason as a pro to increase his strength should he move to guard. Kelce can help against bigger interior linemen, but moving from center does offer a break from two of the necessities of the job.
“You don’t snap the ball at guard and you don’t have to make all the calls,” Jurgens said. “But you’re still doing a lot of the same stuff. You’re still blocking a 300-pound man coming at you.
“And it’s a tough job.”
It seems all but his.