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Cam Jurgens film break down. Is he the future at center?

2 May 2022 DRAFT Eagles News Philadelphia Eagles

With the 51st pick in the NFL Draft, the Philadelphia Eagles took former Nebraska center Cam Jurgens as their long term answer at center. The pick received mix results from fans, but it was clear that GM Howie Roseman was locked into Jurgens and he was the player they coveted at that spot. Jurgens started his career as a tight end before transitioning to center in 2019. He made 18 consecutive starts to end his career, and finished as a 3rd team All-Big 10 selection. Jurgens has a lot of developing left to do as a player, posting PFF grades of 44.1 (2019), 42.7 (2020), and 71.4 (2021) from the pivot.

While many felt at the time, and still feel that Jurgens was a reach, he gets the opportunity to learn from a HOF center and one of the best offensive line coaches in the game. There’s talk about Jurgens maybe getting snaps at RG, but it would be in his best interest to redshirt in 2022 and learn the game and work on his technique before being moved into the starting lineup. But it definitely helps to know that Jason Kelce was a big fan of Jurgens and believes he has plenty of potential in the NFL. Enough talk though, let’s take a look at Jurgens’s strengths as a player and areas for improvement.

Cam Jurgens: 6’3 303 lbs

Strengths:

  • Athleticism
  • Run blocking
  • Recognition

Weaknesses:

  • Blocking technique
  • Penalties

Strengths:

Athleticism

One thing is definitely clear when watching Jurgens play, he is a plus athlete at the position. He’s able to use his athleticism in a variety of ways to pull in front of running backs, get to the second level to block line backers or secondary players, and to pick up blitzers. He ran a 4.94 40 yard dash at the combine, highlighting his athletic ability.

Jurgens does an excellent job pulling out to the left and kicking out the outside linebacker #10 on the play. He also shows good strength and a nasty streak to toss Lewis to the ground.
Jurgens again pulls left to make a key block to help spring his RB, kicking the Oklahoma CB out of the play and off the screen.
This time Jurgens pulls to the opposite side to make the kick out block on the Oklahoma CB to help open the hole wide right for a solid gain.
On this last play Jurgens does an excellent job getting wide to the right on the pull and absolutely destroying the cornerback on the outside. He finishes the play off by burying the defender into the ground.

Run blocking

Jurgens is a much better run blocker at this point than he is a pass blocker, and he’s able to use his athleticism to attack defenders as opposed to sitting back and waiting for them to engage. He has really strong hands and when he’s able to get into the body of the defender, he’s usually able to stay latched on and open up good running holes.

Jurgens is able to get an excellent seal block and turn the shoulder of the defensive tackle to open up a lane for the rushing TD.
Here Jurgens combo blocks with the right guard to move the tackle out of the hole and open up a wide lane for the running back.
This is another great combo block by Jurgens, he’s able to help move the defensive tackle out out of the hole and then get to the next level to seal the linebacker for a first down.
Jurgens does a great job of getting to the second level and on the linebacker in a hurry to move him out of the hole and backwards several yards.

Recognition

Despite being relatively new to playing center, Jurgens does a good job of identifying blitzers and making blocking adjustments. You see him routinely slide outside to pick up free running pass rushers to keep his QB clean in the pocket and his athleticism plays a big part in that.

Jurgens snaps the ball and immediately slides out to the right to kick out the pass rusher and allow the QB time to get the pass off.
Jurgens again identifies the free rusher and kicks outside, this time to the left, to pick up the free rusher and give the QB time to make a deep throw downfield.

Weaknesses:

Blocking technique

Jurgens is still a work in progress with his blocking technique. Again, he’s a lot better going forward as a run blocker than he is moving backwards pass blocking. He struggles with power rushers, and when he can’t get a good base beneath him he tends to get beat relatively quickly. He needs to continue to work on his hand placement and footwork to make sure his hands and feet work in unison.

Jurgens gets destroyed on the play and is bull rushed by the defensive tackle, ultimately getting knocked to the ground leading to a sack.
Jurgens had a TOUGH game against Oklahoma and their defensive tackle duo. On this play he gets pushed back into the QBs lap forcing Martinez to escape the pocket.
Jurgens is again pushed into the lap of the QB, this time by Minnesota’s defensive tackle, preventing Martinez from stepping into his pass leading to an inaccurate throw.
Jurgens is beat immediately with the speed rush and can’t prevent the defensive tackle from caving the pocket in. This forces Martinez to make a quick throw to the outside to avoid the sack.

Penalties

Jurgens is an aggressive player and plays right up until the whistle most times. There are instances in which he gets himself in trouble by being too physical however, which led to personal foul penalties. Jurgens has to learn to keep his play within the boundaries of what’s allowed, because 15 yard penalties can be a drive killer and lead to you not seeing the field.

Jurgens takes it a bit too far in the bottom right hand corner of the screen, picking up and slamming the Oklahoma CB to the ground, and then diving on top of him after the play is over.
Jurgens was penalized on this play for being too physical after the whistle on a screen play. He continued to block the safety well after the play was over, making the penalty an obvious one.

Final analysis:

When Jurgens was selected I felt there were better players on the board at the time that could have an immediate impact on the Eagles roster in 2022. But after re-watching several games it’s easy to see the potential that Jurgens has to become an impact player at an integral position. He’s still a clear work in progress and could use 2022 as an opportunity to red shirt in order to get better with his hands, feet, and overall strength as a blocker. Jason Kelce isn’t going to be around forever so it’s important to begin thinking about a contingency plan for 2023 and beyond. It helps that Kelce signs off on the pick, and I’m sure he will be more than willing to help Jurgens learn the tricks of the trade and pass off an knowledge he has that will help shorten his learning curve. I look forward to seeing Jurgens fighting against Davis and the interior defensive linemen in training camp, which will only help him become a better player.

Grade: B

I give this selection a B, which is higher than my initial thoughts after Jurgens was selected. He has a great opportunity ahead of him to make the best of his draft selection and doesn’t have a ton of pressure on him to produce immediately. I have my doubts that he can play right guard right away, and rushing him to start immediately wouldn’t be in his best interest.

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