Handicapping the Eagles’ hottest training camp battles originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
One of the reasons Eagles training camp is so highly anticipated this summer is because there is legitimate competition at a number of important spots.
It’s unusual for a team coming off an 11-win season to have this much competition, but it wasn’t an ordinary 11-win season. Not the way it finished.
Eleven guys who started at least one game on defense are gone, as well as eight on offense. That’s a lot. Those departures – including a couple prominent retirements – mean battles all over the place for roster spots, for playing time, for starting positions.
It all starts Wednesday morning at the NovaCare Complex.
Let’s handicap six of the most important competitions we’ll all be watching over the next few weeks at training camp and in the preseason games.
Right guard
The candidates: Tyler Steen, Matt Hennessy, Mekhi Becton, Max Scharping, Trevor Keegan
Steen gets first crack at a position that’s been in flux for the Eagles for a while. In the 13 years Jason Kelce played center, the Eagles used 19 different right guards, including such all-time greats as Jack Anderson, Andrew Gardner, Kyle DeVan and Jamon Brown. I think we all miss the Jamon Brown Era. The Eagles really want Steen to win the job. He’s a 3rd-round pick, he just turned 24 and they believe after transitioning from college tackle to NFL guard last year, he can be a very good interior lineman. But there are options. If Steen struggles, there’s Hennessy, the former Temple and Don Bosco Prep player, who started 22 games at center and guard for the Falcons, and Becton, a former high 1st-round pick who’s only 25 and worked at both guard and tackle after joining the Eagles in the spring. Scharping is an interesting option. He’s the most experienced of the group, having made 33 starts at guard for the Texans and Bengals over the last five years. It’s the obvious pick, but I’m going with…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/handicapping-eagles-hottest-training-camp-140941196.html
Author : NBC Sports Philadelphia
Publish date : 2024-07-22 14:09:41
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