Eagles Creating Two Problems With LG Situation; Why Week 2 Wasn't Time Make Two Changes

Sports admin September 20, 2026 0 Comments

Eagles Creating Two Problems With LG Situation; Why Week 2 Wasn’t Time Make Two Changes

The Philadelphia Eagles made the call at left guard. Cam Jurgens will move over from center to left guard to replace the injured Landon Dickerson, while Drew Kendall will start at center (per NFL Network).

Philadelphia certainly went bold with these moves, deciding to shuffle two positions on the offensive line rather than just finding a left guard replacement. The Eagles were so close to the vest with the left guard situation they had Fred Johnson available as a left guard during the open portion of practice available to the media this week.

Two problems on the offensive line were created here, both of which are unnecessary.

Why have Kendall at guard at all?

Kendall has been getting cross trained at guard for over a year now, as Jurgens was entrenched as the starting center with a lucrative contract extension. Whether Jurgens played as an elite center or not, he was selected to the Pro Bowl in each of the last two seasons. Jurgens was certainly good enough to be considered one of the top centers in football.

This was part of the reasoning to cross train Kendall at guard. Have Kendall learn multiple positions so he could be a starter down the road at guard with Jurgens as the long-term center.

Kendall played guard throughout the summer as he battled for the No. 3 guard spot. The 2025 fifth-round pick won the No. 3 guard spot early in camp, becoming the top option on the offensive line when Landon Dickerson or Tyler Steen needed a play off.

Kendall was the No. 3 guard for a reason. If the Eagles needed a long-term replacement for Dickerson or Steen, Kendall was the guy. He didn’t allow a pressure in 13 pass-blocking snaps and was only beat once (didn’t allow a pressure) when playing guard in the preseason (not center).

So why have him play guard at all if Kendall was going to move back to center anyway?

Kendall has played center in a regular season game before, which is perhaps the Eagles’ way of thinking here. He played 62 snaps in Week 18 of last season, allowing one pressure in the game — a 2.2% pressure rate allowed per dropback.

The comfort level of Kendall playing cneter is what the Eagles trust, even if Kendall has never taken snaps with Jalen Hurts in a regular season game. That’s part of the unknown with this move, as Hurts has worked with Jurgens for the past three seasons.

Jurgens has never played left guard

Jurgens has been a guard in the NFL before, playing the whole 2023 season at right guard as a way to get him on the field while Jason Kelce was still at center. The heir apparant for Kelce, playing Jurgens at guard made sense considering the Eagles had a vacancy at right guard and that was a way to get him regular season snaps.

Jurgens was fine at right guard, not allowing a sack in 366 pass-blocking snaps (11 games), but a 4.9% pressure rate allowed per dropback. This is why moving Jurgens to guard doesn’t make a lot of sense right now.

He was elite at center last seaosn, not allowing a sack and just eight pressures in 14 games — a pressure rate per dropback of 1.8%. Jurgens was one of the best centers in football last season. Even with an inconsistent Week 1, why move him to a position he’s never played in a regular season game before?

Moving Jurgens to another position doesn’t make sense here, especially with Jeffery Simmons in Week 2. Maybe Jurgens’ experience makes him more equipped to handle Simmons in the A-gap and B-gap, which is massive for an offensive line.

Perhaps Jurgens communicated better with Jordan Mailata during the week regarding protection and reads. This brings us back to why even train Kendall at guard at all if the No. 2 center and No. 3 guard was just going to end up playing center anyway.

The results will be the results, and we’ll certainly see in Week 2. Whether moving two positions works or not, this is a bold move by the Eagles.

And it still created a problem that didn’t need to exist. This is Chris Kuper’s show now and how he wants to handle his offensive line.

Let’s see if it pays off.

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Today’s best reads

Sean Mannion Gives LG View: Reading Eagles’ Thinking On Landon Dickerson Replacement
Inside The Eagles Locker Room: Cam Jurgens Keeps It Real With Lighthearted Interview
Eagles Are Better Off Making Just One Change On The Offensive Line
Eagles Won’t Be Benching Landon Dickerson After Tough Week 1 Tape
Inside The Eagles Locker Room: Drew Kendall At LG? Zack Baun Wants To Be The Best, And More

This article was originally published on www.si.com/nfl/eagles/onsi as Eagles Creating Two Problems With LG Situation; Why Week 2 Wasn’t Time Make Two Changes.

This story was originally published September 20, 2026 at 10:30 AM.