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.
