Philadelphia Eagles: Should Landon Dickerson start out at guard?

2020 was a massive wake-up call for Philadelphia Eagles fans of just how well they’ve had it over the past decade.

Now granted, the Eagles haven’t been a stalwart dynasty a la the Patriots over the second decade of the 21st century, as the team has cycled through multiple coaches and had seasons ranging from four wins to 16 wins and have recorded the same number of fourth place NFC finishes as first places finishes.

But one thing the Eagles never had to worry about – not to this extent anyway – was having a below-average offensive line.

From losing Brandon Brooks and Andre Dillard in the summer, to Jason Peters‘ regression regardless of position, and a slew of in-season injuries that afforded Jamon Brown his final chance to start an NFL game, the Eagles cycled through offensive linemen like the Washington Football Team cycles through quarterbacks, and had their quarterbacks suffer through 65(!?) sacks as a result.

2021, however, should be a return to the status quo.

With four of their five 2019 starters expected to return for the forthcoming season, the Eagles should be able to keep Jalen Hurts upright a little better than last season and could even generate a legit run game behind some big uglies up front.

But there is an underrated question surrounding the Philadelphia Eagles’ offensive line that could turn into a pretty exciting training camp battle depending on how things go down: Where will Landon Dickerson line up in 2021?

Should the Philadelphia Eagles play Dickerson at guard or center this summer?

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Where does Landon Dickerson fall in the Philadelphia Eagles’ offensive lineman hierarchy? Is he their sixth-best player? Fifth? Fourth?

It’s a weird question, right? We haven’t seen him play a single game – preseason or regular – in midnight green just yet, and he’s coming off of a late season-ending right knee injury in December, but if he’s healthy, Dickerson has the potential to be a Day 1 starter who could remain a fixture of seemingly any offensive line for the next decade to come.

I only ask because if he falls within the top-five, why on earth would the Eagles keep him on the bench?

While Dickerson was technically drafted as a center, he actually started out his career as a right guard at Florida State from 2016-18, before he started snapping balls to Mac Jones as a member of the Alabama Crimson Tide. Over his final three seasons of college football, Dickerson technically logged snaps at all five offensive line positions, from left tackle all the way to the right, but after taking up the center spot in 2019, the 6-foot-6, 325 pound Hickory, North Carolina native has really come into his own as one of the elite centers the NCAA had to offer in 2020.

Fun fact: Dickerson is listed as an “offensive lineman” on the Philadelphia Eagles’ website, whereas Jason Kelce is listed as a center, and Isaac Seumalo is listed as a guard. Interesting stuff.

Even if Dickerson has everything it takes to eventually replace Jason Kelce as Philly’s long-term center, if he can help the team right now in place of Isaac Seumalo while playing alongside the future Eagles Hall of Famer, it’s in the team’s best interest to get him on the field early, right?

That, my friends, is the big question.

Since arriving in South Philly as the Eagles’ second selection in the 2016 draft, Seumalo has been the textbook definition of an average NFL offensive lineman. He’s started some games, been benched for veteran journeymen in others, and even turned in a solid 2019 season as an every-game starter before suffering a string of injuries that kept him out of seven games from Week 3-10. While the Eagles won’t be out of luck if they have to rely on Seumalo yet again as their left guard, if they can get more production out of Dickerson, why not do so?

Fun fact II: Isaac Seumalo also played a number of positions during his tenure at Oregon State and was drafted to serve as an eventual Jason Kelce replacement; he just never quite got there since “The Bearded One” has been a beacon of consistency for the last half-decade.

Because of Dickerson’s injury status, it’s up in the air as to when he’ll be fully healthy to take live snaps in practice at full speed, let alone face off against full-speed interior rushers making millions of dollars to get to the quarterback as quickly as possible. If his availability for Week 1 is up in the air, it may make more sense to designate 2021 as a learning year for Dickerson, where he can learn how to be a cornerstone center for one of the best offensive lines in the game from one of the best to ever do it.

… then again, how hard is it to memorize the left guard assignments on any given play in addition to the center ones? Shouldn’t offensive linemen know all of their teammates’ assignments on any given play, if for no other reason than to know where people will be as the play goes on? Even if Seumalo has a massive edge heading into Week 1 – especially if Dickerson isn’t fully healthy until late in camp – in the NFL, things can change in a hurry. By Week 3, the Eagles could be on the lookout for a new left guard, center, or even right guard, and Dickerson should be able to fill that bill as well as any other 325-pound cartwheeler this side of the Rockies.

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So what should the Philadelphia Eagles’ plan be for Landon Dickerson this summer? Should he compete with Isaac Seumalo right from the jump or sit back and learn from Jason Kelce? That, my friends, depends on his health. If Dickerson can go when camp opens up this summer then yeah, why not cross-train him a guard and see if he can unseat Seumalo for a starting spot, even if his long-term upside is as a center? That’s what the Detroit Lions did with Frank Ragnow in 2019, and he earned a Pro Bowl nod one year later for his impressive efforts. If not? Well, having Dickerson in your back pocket as a backup for multiple positions certainly can’t hurt, especially with Nate Herbig in the fray as an early-season option should he still not be medically cleared to go in time for Week 1.

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