Will Cam Jurgens move to RG after Jason Kelce’s contract extension?
Jason Kelce is back. One more year, $14M, and it still doesn’t seem like enough. The Cincinnati product will be taking to the field for his 13th NFL season, all of which have been played in the midnight green colors of Philadelphia. While it’s great that the fan-favorite is returning, it naturally raises another question – what happens to Cam Jurgens?
Cam Jurgens was drafted with the 51st overall pick in last year’s NFL Draft and was hand-picked by Kelce to be the heir to his throne. One glance at his tape is all it takes to understand why he was the chosen one. The Nebraska product is over 300 lbs and moves like a young Jason Kelce.
The thought process was that Kelce would likely retire after 2022. It’s why Kelce helped Howie Roseman choose which player would one day fill his shoes. But after a few years of debating retirement, he’s not ready to hang up the cleats just yet…and that puts an immediate ceiling over Cam Jurgens.
Or does it?
Will Cam Jurgens move to guard?
The likely scenario is that Jurgens will replace Isaac Seumalo at right guard. Seumalo is set to hit free agency after an impressive tenure in Philadelphia, leaving the Eagles with a gap to fill at guard. Jurgens feels like the immediate solution to that problem, although there is a caveat.
Cam Jurgens never played guard in his life prior to being drafted by the Eagles. He did play one snap against the Bears and has reportedly been working at the spot throughout 2022, and is only an inch shorter than Seumalo while weighing the same.
It will be down to Jeff Stoutland to get Jurgens ready for a full season at RG. It’s not the end of the world if he doesn’t reach the level Seumalo once did and I don’t think anyone is expecting him to. If he can prove himself productive at both spots then it’s only going to add to his value down the line.
With that said, one has to wonder how much this will hinder his development (if at all). It could be a non-issue, but the Eagles drafted Jurgens to replace Kelce and as we go into year two of his growth, he still won’t be starting full-time at the position he was drafted.
In an ideal world, Jurgens will hold his own at RG and eventually transition to center. The Eagles cannot afford to keep him under wraps for another year, so it’s once again down to Jeff Stoutland to work some magic and prepare the longtime center for a very different kind of season.
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