When the Philadelphia Eagles drafted Cam Jurgens in the second round during the 2022 NFL Draft, the expectation was that the shorter, stockier Cornhusker would replace Jason Kelce at some point in his career.
Cam Jurgens has a new role to play in Eagles offense
Free agency has gotten in the way of that though and Jurgens now finds himself battling for the starting right guard spot following the departure of Isaac Seumalo to Pittsburgh. Having to learn an entirely new position has its own challenges, but the 23-year-old has learned to keep it light-hearted in the offensive line room.
“It’s not as challenging going from tight end to center so that helps,” Jurgens joked. “It’s been fun. It’s super helpful having Kelce next to me telling me how things are supposed to be fun. Just being able to watch film every day and watch how Isaac handled himself every day, it’s cool getting to see that.”
Offensive line factory
Cam Jurgens wasn’t the only center that the Eagles have drafted and turned into a guard over the last few years. Just a year prior to his selection, the team drafted Landon Dickerson who has since become an All-Pro caliber player at the left guard spot.
But Dickerson weighs over 330 lbs. That’s a stark contrast to Jurgens hovering at the 310 lb range and is a big reason why the Nebraska product has been mixing film of both his current teammate and a former one.
“I think Isaac is awesome to watch film of. He’s very athletic, I’ve been watching him a lot and I’m not quite the 350-pounder, like Landon so I handle things differently,” Cam Jurgens added. “We’re still playing the game of football so I still want to be athletic.”
Cam Jurgens is trying to learn as much as he can
In a Jeff Stoutland offense, being around All-Pro and Hall-of-Fame talents is a common thing for young talents. That makes communication critical for one of the best overall groups across the league. Luckily for Jurgens, the differences in communication aren’t that massive even if there’s an entirely new position to learn.
“I think it’s getting into right guard and being able to communicate with the tackle and center from the guard perspective. Last year was solely at the center position, but now it’s feeding information to Kelce. It’s a little bit different,” Cam Jurgens explained. “You want to learn the scheme inside and out…so when you are at guard, you have a little more perspective with those around you.”
Kelce has been a major player in both the selection of Jurgens and his overall development. While the team seems to be allowing the 35-year-old future Hall-of-Famer to go out on his own terms, he’s already been a major help in getting Jurgens prepared for a brand new position heading into the new season.
“It does help. I think it helped a lot at center. When we’re doing combo blocks, he knows what is supposed to be like. It’s super helpful in that aspect,” Jurgens said.
Time will tell if the undersized guard will be able to move back to his regular position or simply become another in a long line of Stoutland University graduates but it’s clear that the Eagles are going to make sure their former second-round pick has plenty of time to master a new position at heart.
