When Jordan Mailata went down with a “serious hamstring injury” in Week 6 against the Cleveland Browns, fans immediately began to hypothesize about how the Philadelphia Eagles would replace their star left tackle.
Would they give the first crack at the position to Fred Johnson, their usual backup at the position? Or would they instead give the nod to Mekhi Becton, the former New York Jets left tackle who has started every game for the Eagles this season at left tackle?
Asked this question during his Friday media session, head coach Nick Sirianni weighed in on the situation, but not before committing some serious time to celebrating Becton for his impressive on-field play both during games and on the practice field.
“Yeah, good question. I think Mehki has done a really nice job. I’m really pleased that we have him. Great job to [Executive Vice President/General Manager] Howie [Roseman] and his staff of getting Mehki in this building,” Sirianni told reporters.
“Mekhi has done a nice job next to [T] Lane [Johnson] on the line of scrimmage. We’ll see where he has to go this week. But he’s a big man inside at guard. We had a pass rush drill the other day, and what a battle between him and [DT] Jalen Carter. You’re watching it and you’re like, this is how you get better. Iron sharpening iron, good player against good player.
“He’s so long in there as a guard. And there are about three or four blocks I see a game of the movement that happens on a three technique between Lane and Mehki, and that happens at practice a lot. Mehki is a big, powerful man.”
Interesting stuff, right? Well wait, it gets better, as Sirianni had plenty more to say on Becton’s play, including what Jeff Stoutland has seen from his gigantic new weapon.
Nick Sirianni really likes Mehki Becton at right guard for the Eagles
Further discussing how Becton fits into the Eagles’ weekly plans and what value he brings to the position as a tackle-sized guard, Sirianni noted just how coachable the former Jet has been in Philadelphia, even if he wasn’t initially signed to play right guard.
“Like I said, I can’t say enough good things about how Mehki has done since he got here, and [Run Game Coordinator/Offensive Line] Coach [Jeff Stoutland] Stout and all the things that he’s done to help him,” Sirianni noted.
“I go sit in an offensive line meeting the other day. I’m sitting in there, and Mehki has a rep, and then Coach Stout starts to talk, gives his coaching point, and then [G] Landon [Dickerson] has a coaching point.
“That’s unbelievable. That is a sign of a good team coming together. All these little things, all these little steps. I was really impressed by that, when Landon offered up a coaching point, Mehki looking over at him. That’s impressive to me.”
Welp, there you go, folks; while Sirianni didn’t explicitly say Becton was going to play right guard moving forward, he spent quite a bit of time talking about how much he likes the former Louisville Cardinal as his right guard and never once mentioned the possibility of playing left tackle. Is that the correct choice? That depends on who you think is a better player: Johnson or Tyler Steen, the Eagles’ primary reserve at right guard.
For the Eagles, they clearly like the idea of just replacing one starter instead of two, and Johnson has looked better at left tackle than on the right side, so hey, why not give it a try? Worst case, the team has to switch back in Week 8, or an injury makes the plan irrelevant altogether.
