Why the Eagles drafted a guard who never played guard

[time2rock]

Why the Eagles drafted a guard who never played guard

 

 

 

Reuben Frank

EAGLES INSIDER

The Eagles drafted a guard who had never played guard.

Tyler Steen played right tackle at Vanderbilt and right and left tackle after he transferred to Alabama and replaced Evan Neal. But even though he stands 6-foot-6, 320 pounds and looks like a tackle, the Eagles project him as a guard for one huge reason.

Arm length.

NFL teams want offensive tackles whose arms are at least 34 inches long. Steen’s are 32¾. It sounds silly, but arm length is crucial for offensive tackles, who need to keep rushers away from their body. The shorter your arms, the harder that is to do. The better you can keep rushers off your body, the better you can wall off the edge and protect the quarterback.

Steen was a good enough athlete to play tackle at a high level in college. He played with tremendous power and polished technique, and the Eagles loved what they saw.

Steen was smart enough to understand after the season ended that his NFL future was probably at guard, so when he went to the Senior Bowl in Mobile, he worked at guard.

The Eagles noticed.

"Yeah, (that was) really valuable,” Howie Roseman said. "You get to see him in the SEC playing tackle, and him … playing left tackle for the University of Alabama, obviously that's a high-profile position. There have been a lot of NFL players that played that position, and you watch him play tackle and he's had success there.

"Then he moved at the Senior Bowl, he played guard. You could see him moving people off the ball, you could see his athleticism in space. This is a 6-6, 320-pound guy who started in the SEC, smart guy, comes from a great family, and obviously Coach (Jeff) Stoutland (is) a big part of our process, as well … and (he’s) really excited to get his hands on him.”

The Eagles selected Steen in the third round and made it clear from the start that they see him as a guard. Now, in a pinch, could he play tackle? Probably. The Eagles do value versatile linemen. And they don’t have a ton of depth behind Lane Johnson and Jordan Mailata at tackle. But the expectation is that when the Eagles start OTAs and get to training camp, he’ll be exclusively a guard.

Without the work he got at guard in Mobile, it’s likely the Eagles don’t draft Steen with the 65th pick.

"I felt pretty good over there,” Steen said. "I feel like I could play across the offensive line, so getting the opportunity to play guard at the Senior Bowl was pretty good. I felt pretty comfortable over there. I took the same approach as playing tackle, and it felt pretty comfortable there.”

The Eagles are settled at left guard with another Alabama product, Pro Bowler Landon Dickerson. 

But right guard is different. Isaac Seumalo, the starter most of the last five years, is now a Steeler. Cam Jurgens got some practice time at guard last year although his future is at center in the post-Jason Kelce era. And after initially saying it was too early to speculate on the 2023 starter, Nick Sirianni conceded that Steen will have the opportunity to compete with Jurgens.

"That's really a long way away,” Sirianni said. "We don't have to make that decision for a while, but the best player will play at that position, and we feel like we have some good options. … It's too early to say that, but the best player will play. I guess that kind of answers that question.”

Since Kelce will get a lot of days off in training camp, Jurgens will practice a lot at center with the first offense and that will allow Steen to work with the 1’s at right guard fairly often.

This is an entirely homegrown offensive line and has been since Brandon Brooks retired. The Eagles will sign free agents at other positions, but on the O-line they seem to really like drafting young kids and letting Stout mold them into stars.

"I know they've got a great coach over there with the Eagles,” Steen said. "I know they've got some really good players across the offensive line, one of the best offensive lines in the NFL, and it's a great honor to be a part of that, get the opportunity to be a part of that. 

"I know Coach Stoutland is an incredible coach. I know he's got a lot of respect across the country. I can't wait. I can't wait to be a part of that.”

https://www.nbcsports.com/philadelphia/eagles/why-eagles-are-convinced-tyler-steen-can-switch-guard

[UK_EaglesFan89]

Their need at RG is greater than at OT. The team needed to add depth at RG and with Steen they get that. Plus they get a little bit of versatility as he could probably play OT in short spots if they needed him to. All in all it’s a draft pick that made sense.