September 25, 2024
It was a bad summer for Tyler Steen, who entered Philadelphia Eagles training camp as the favorite to land the starting RG job, but after suffering an ankle injury in the third practice, Mekhi Becton took over and never looked back. It was the second straight year that Steen lost a camp battle for the starting RG job, after Cam Jurgens beat him out last season.
On Sunday against the Saints, Becton injured his finger after playing just 14 snaps, and Steen's number was called. He was excellent.
"I think this was a huge example of next man up game in many positions," Kellen Moore said on Tuesday. "Certainly with the offensive line, those guys did a phenomenal job, Fred Johnson, Tyler Steen, just popping in there and just playing ball. At times, you know, you play these situations out and you never know when your number is going to be called and to hop in there."
The following is a Twitter thread of some notable blocks that Steen made in the 58 snaps he played in New Orleans:
Tyler Steen had a great game filling in at RG for an injured Mekhi Becton. A quick thread some of his blocks, in chronological order 🧵
— Jimmy Kempski (@JimmyKempski) September 24, 2024
Takeaways:
• Steen was outstanding in pass pro, particularly while passing off twists and stunts with Fred Johnson, who filled in for a concussed Lane Johnson in the first half as well. You'd think Steen and Johnson have played together for years, but the reality is that they rarely even play next to each other in practice, as Johnson typically got second-team reps at LT in training camp, while Steen was on the other side of the line at RG.
"That front was going to be a really challenging front for us especially from a protection standpoint," Moore said. "They do a lot of movement, a lot of games, they create a lot of stress and challenges. For [Steen and Johnson] to communicate at that high of a level with that limited amount of exposure together was a really, really cool example of how much time and effort those guys put into individual drills, the film room, all those things, it adds up. Those guys did a nice job.
"I think obviously [OL coach Jeff Stoutland] does a great job, those guys are constantly rotating throughout practice or whether be on scout team or whether it be on first team and because not every single guy is going to get every single rep. So they are constantly rotating, spending time around each other because like all of our guys, we don't know how these lineups are going to play out. Sometimes you have to make those different adjustments, different positions may — you may need to play multiple positions and so they are constantly rotating to put themselves in ready position."
• In the run game, Steen was physical. He had a pancake on Saquon Barkley's 65-yard TD run, and he moved Saints linemen on double-teams with Johnson and Jurgens.
"I didn't realize it was a big run until he was like 40 yards down the field," Steen said of the Barkley run. "I looked up and I was like, 'Oh, nobody gonna catch him.' So that was pretty cool."
He also looked agile pulling across the formation and getting to the second level.
• Because Steen was a four-year starter at LT in college, the Eagles can do creative things with him. They like running play action gap schemes, in which the guard will pull across the formation to sell the run, and then block the edge rusher on that side in pass protection. For example:
Not every guard can execute those blocks, but Steen is comfortable on the edge. So are Becton and even Landon Dickerson, for that matter.
"Like you're saying, the gap schemes, when you pull guys and you're selling a run with the ability to pass, obviously it's a different launch point for the quarterback in many ways," Moore said. "So those guys have to have an excellent feel of anticipating where the rusher is going to be, being able to adjust just because different than when you're stationary and you snap the football, the edge rusher’s usually in close proximity. You have to be able to navigate that. Those guys did a nice job of it, gave really clean pockets and used some of those actions to get the ball downfield."
The Eagles are already paying a lot of money to LT Jordan Mailata, LG Landon Dickerson, and RT Lane Johnson. They're likely to pay C Cam Jurgens when he is eligible for a contract extension during the 2025 offseason.
At RG, Becton has played very well in his own right, as he had a very encouraging Eagles debut Week 1 against the Packers. He is scheduled to be a free agent next offseason, and it is going to be hard for the Eagles to play big money to five offensive linemen. If Becton continues to play well at RG, the Eagles may not be able to afford him. Steen is only in the second year of a cheap rookie contract, and his performance against the Saints should give the team a sense of relief that he can step in and be a full-time starter at RG in 2025 and beyond, or earlier if needed.
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