It took until late April for Mekhi Becton to land with a team. Before his first preseason game with the Eagles, the former Jets long-term left tackle hopeful is making a case for a starting role at a new position.
The Eagles continue a close examination of Becton at guard. The former first-round tackle saw reps at guard during the team’s offseason program, and although 2023 third-rounder Tyler Steen entered camp as the favorite to take over — as 2023 RG starter Cam Jurgens slides to center post-Jason Kelce — Becton may interfere with the organization’s previous plan.
Steen missed some time due to injury recently but has since made his return to practice. For a third straight day with Steen back at work, PHLY’s Zach Berman notes Becton is running with the team’s first-team offense. This trend began when Steen went down with an ankle injury on Day 3 of training camp, per NBC Sports Philadelphia’s Dave Zangaro, who notes Steen’s stock has begun to drop since.
Steen took all the team’s first-string RG reps before his injury, per the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Jeff McLane. While the Eagles may be easing Steen back into action, a position battle — at the very least — appears to have formed here.
Becton becoming Philly’s answer at right guard would mark a significant change for the ex-Jets starter’s positional trajectory and halt a period of internal Eagles solutions up front. The Eagles drafted both Jurgens and Landon Dickerson as potential center heir apparents, using the former at left guard once he proved an immediate solution there during Kelce’s career. With Kelce hanging up his cleats after 14 seasons, Jurgens is sliding to center to create an RG open Steen was ticketed to fill. While Nick Sirinni indicated Becton’s continued run with the first team does not reveal a shift in this competition, it does appear the 2020 first-rounder is in the lead.
Becton, who signed a one-year deal worth $2.75MM, has never played a down at guard in the NFL. The Jets kicked him to right tackle at multiple points, doing so in a game for the first time last season. Of course, Becton position changes were largely moot in 2021 or ’22 since he missed all but one regular-season game during that span. He returned to extensive action last season, however, playing mostly left tackle but logging 101 snaps on the right side. The underwhelming Jets tackle, however, appears to have a gateway to starting for what has been one of the NFL’s premier offensive lines over the past few seasons.
While Becton has never played an NFL down at guard, Steen logged only 71 snaps as a rookie. The preseason slate will play a central role in determining which of these blockers steps in, but Becton making this strong of an impression at a new position early is certainly notable.
As an NYG fan, PHI resurrecting Becton, is just another notch on Jeff Stoutland, who is already a Hall of Fame coach, amazing career. The man should be the epitome of what all offensive line coaches should look up to. “Jeff Stoutland University” should be trade marked and everyone should attend.
I see it more the reason to move Evan Neal inside. He has the size and strength but the speed isn’t there at this level. Becton may be the same, though injuries have been his issue to date compared to neal who has been overmatched on the edge
As a Jets fan hoping for the best for Mekhi. Injuries took him down in New York but he worked hard to get past them and to get in shape. Hope he has a great career in Philly.
I’ll always be annoyed that the Jets took Becton over Wirfs, but he had a pretty nice rookie year, and his problems were more about staying on the field than being bad on it. Curious to see how he does with Stoutland and on the inside. That is one beefy guard.
No Wirfs but the Jets landed an 8x Pro Bowler (Tyron Smith) in free agency so that has the potential to be one of the best offseason acquisitions.
I like the Smith signing, but he turns 34 this season and he’s missed 36 games over the last four seasons. He’s not exactly consolation for not having a young superstar at tackle. Hopefully Fashanu can turn into that with Smith as a bridge/mentor.