Can Steen finally hang onto Eagles' starting right guard job?

Can Steen finally hang onto Eagles' starting right guard job? originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

Two days into training camp, the right guard competition isn't a competition at all.

Not yet, at least.

Tyler Steen has taken every first-team rep so far, and while that doesn't guarantee anything, it is notable. It means the job is Steen's to lose.

If Jeff Stoutland had worked Matt Pryor in with the first team even a little bit, it would have signified some level of competition. But Pryor, who spent the 2019 and 2020 seasons with the Eagles and has 40 career starts, has been exclusively the second-team right guard so far.

And with offseason pickup Kenyon Green,the Texans' first-round pick in 2022, out so far with a knee injury, the third-string right guard has been Hollin Pierce, an undrafted rookie out of Trenton and Rutgers.

Of course, Steen was also the unquestioned starter this time last year. Then he suffered an ankle injury on July 27, the third day of training camp, Stoutland gave offensive tackle Mekhi Becton a shot at right guard and other than a couple games when Becton was hurt, Steen never got the job back.

Becton is now with the Chargers, and Steen - now in his third year out of Alabama - is once again trying to hold onto the job.

Remember, his rookie year he started out competing with then-rookie Cam Jurgens at right guard, a competition that never really took shape because Jurgens was just too good.

So this is Steen's third training camp competition, and it's a crucial one for him. We're only two days into camp and the pads haven't gone on yet, so it's too early to anoint anybody. But for Steen, so far so good.

Tyler has really developed the past couple years," Lane Johnson said. Physically and communication has been good. So he's playing with more confidence and I have confidence in him moving forward. Got a chance to play with him much throughout the past couple years. So it's good."

Steen played 71 snaps at guard as a rookie third-round pick in 2023 and 316 snaps at both guards last year. Out of 87 guards who played at least 100 snaps, his run Pro Football Focus block grade of 51.0 ranked 82nd, his 37.5 pass block grade ranked 84thand his overall grade 40.7 ranked 85th.

For the record, Pryor ranked 34thas a run blocker (65.9), fifth best as a pass blocker (78.1) and 23rdoverall (69.9).

Green ranked 86thout of 87 run blocking (39.7), 80thas a pass blocker (44.6) and 86thoverall (38.6).

Pryor is a capable option, but the Eagles clearly want Steen - their third-round pick in 2022 - to win the job.

Steen's doing a tremendous job," left guard Landon Dickerson said. As he's gotten more comfortable, he's had a couple of years, some starts, some games, I think he's getting more comfortable now in that position. Obviously, the more you practice, the more you feel comfortable, the better you get.

I think also having guys like Matt Pryor, a guy that's been here before, a veteran guy, and Kenyon Green, who's also been in the league for a little bit, that really (helps). A lot of good guys, a lot of young guys coming along, really getting better."