Mekhi Becton continues to push for Eagles’ starting right guard job: ‘He’s really excelling at that position’

When it comes to playing various positions on the offensive line, Mekhi Becton likened his brain to a filing cabinet.

The Eagles offensive lineman has files for right tackle, left tackle, right guard, and left guard in his metaphorical cabinet, complete with information accumulated throughout his football career that guides his approach to each position. The tackle files ought to be the most thorough, given his background playing the position from high school through his three-year stint with the New York Jets.

“Every day, I’ve got to pick through the files, see what file I’m picking out today,” he explained Sunday.

Since the beginning of camp, Becton has been reaching for that right-guard file on a consistent basis, leading to his emergence as the front-runner for the starting role. The 6-foot-7, 363-pounder started working in that spot with the first-team offense when Tyler Steen was sidelined with an ankle injury earlier in camp. Since Steen’s return to action, Becton has yet to relinquish his position with the starters.

The right-guard file might not be the heftiest one in the cabinet, but Becton has found that his experience at tackle can help him navigate his newfound role at guard.

“It’s still O-line at the end of the day,” Becton said. “I’ve still got to get my hands, I still got to do my footwork. So it’s just all about having my footwork, just got to do it tighter than I did at tackle.”

Becton had the opportunity to translate his experience at right guard in practice to game action for the first time in the Eagles’ preseason opener against the Baltimore Ravens on Friday. He played for just one drive alongside the second-team offensive line before Steen replaced him for the majority of the game.

» READ MORE: Eagles-Ravens takeaways: Evaluating Tyler Steen’s hobbled performance; help wanted at wide receiver

Overall, Becton was relatively unnoticeable — in a good way — in his exhibition debut. He said that he enjoyed going up against players who weren’t his own teammates in a fast-paced setting. When practice resumed Sunday, Becton continued to hold down his spot with the starting offense.

“I think he’s settling into this spot at guard right now,” linemate Landon Dickerson said. “Little bit of an adjustment for him, but the way he’s built, the way he can move, his long arms, his reach, lateral quickness, I think right now, he’s really excelling at that position. It is a bit of it’s an adjustment for him, but he’s handled it extremely well.”

As Becton navigates the transition, he has the benefit of being surrounded by offensive linemen with a history of playing multiple positions. Cam Jurgens, who is taking over for Jason Kelce at center, spent last season as the starter at right guard. Similarly, Dickerson previously played right guard at Florida State and center at Alabama before transitioning to left guard with the Eagles.

While neither player has lived through the tackle-to-guard transition, they can still offer their perspective on the technique needed to excel as a guard.

“It’s talking about angles and where I want him to be and just how different every D-lineman plays,” Jurgens said. “You’re going to have two-gappers, penetrators, different guys play different techniques and figuring out how the footwork changes from each defensive guy and depending where that linebacker is and if we have certain motions and whatnot where it may change our footwork.

“There’s a lot of little things that go into it that people don’t realize how much goes into it. That takes time to build and learn, and that’s what helps playing guard last year, being able to talk to through them angles.”

When Becton isn’t being tested in-game, he’s taking advantage of the challenges presented in practice by members of the defensive line. On Sunday, Becton continued to go head-to-head against Jalen Carter. Earlier in camp, the second-year defensive lineman rag-dolled Becton in offensive line/defensive line one-on-one drills. Now, Becton said he feels like he’s holding his own, a sign of his recent progress.

“I’m starting to catch up to him,” Becton said. “So I’m starting to get his number. We’re starting to get each other’s number. So we’re working. Iron sharpens iron, for sure.”

Becton said he didn’t have any expectations about what the position change would be like when he first began to dabble at left guard in Dickerson’s excused absence during minicamp. Jurgens isn’t surprised that the transition has gone well so far given Becton’s open mind since joining the team this offseason.

“I think early on when he got here, he was so happy to be with the Eagles and he was so fun to have in that room,” Jurgens said. “I’m not surprised by it, because in OTAs, we would be going through and just how many questions he would ask and how engaged he would be and how much he just wanted to learn.

“It’s fun playing next to him, because he just enjoys being out there and playing football, and you can see he’s having a lot of fun out there.”