Nick Siranni signals open competition at right guard after Tyler Steen pick

The Eagles’ head coach and GM talked about the lineman’s versatility at guard and tackle.

The Philadelphia Eagles rounded out their Friday night with two third rounds picks, taking Alabama T/G Tyler Steen and No. 65, and Illinois SAF Sydney Brown at No. 66. GM Howie Roseman and head coach Nick Sirianni broke down those two selections, and Roseman also explained why they wanted to trade back three spots to add two more picks on Saturday.

Here’s what the pair had to say:

On Tyler Steen at No. 65

NICK SIRIANNI: “Obviously, we want to get him here and work with him, see what will happen next week at rookie minicamp, and get him in the building, but we think he has great flexibility. He’s been able to play, and we feel like he can play both positions, and we’ll see what happens.”

Roseman talked about how Steen’s experience playing guard was really valuable, and then to see him playing in the SEC at tackle, really highlighted his versatility. He pointed out that Steen showed a lot of growth going from Vanderbilt to Alabama, and then to play left tackle for Bama is a high profile position.

HOWIE ROSEMAN: “He moved at the Senior Bowl, he played guard. You could see him moving people off the ball. You could see his athleticism in space.”

Sirianni was then asked if Steen could compete for the right guard spot, with the head coach saying that they are a long way away from that and don’t have to make that decision right now. But, Sirianni did note that the best player will play at the position and they’ve got some good options — indicating that the job won’t just be given to Cam Jurgens.

On Sydney Brown at No. 66

HOWIE ROSEMAN: “When you look at Sydney, the way they used him at Illinois, they used him a lot around the box — he would blitz, he would cover tight end, he would play in the run game —, and so you kind of had an incomplete evaluation. And then the Senior Bowl, which Jim Nagy and staff do a tremendous job there — they give us the opportunity to see him being a post player, playing in the deep half, playing one-on-ones, and you saw the athleticism, and I think that really helped complete our process.

Sydney Brown was a passion player for a lot of people in this organization, he was a red-star guy, and I think just a tremendous person with obviously really good athletic tools, leadership ability, and you know, for us, just excited to get him in the building.”

Roseman went on to explain that he and the scouts aren’t creating the scheme, so they do work with the coordinators to make sure they’re bringing in guys that will work for what the team is trying to do — which includes consulting with new DC Sean Desai.

The Eagles GM later said that Brown is a guy who is exciting to watch — he flies around, has exceptional play tempo, is a big hitter, can make plays on the ball, can blitz, and can play in the run game.

On the decision to trade back from No. 62

HOWIE ROSEMAN: “We wanted to take a couple more shots tomorrow. And so, we understood — we didn’t know, we were really kind of trying to bring some good luck into it so we didn’t lose these two guys, but I thought for us to get a middle sixth round pick, and to get another shot in the seventh round, we want to take those shots. Those have been some high upside shots for us, when I think about some of the picks we’ve hit on in the sixth and seventh round.”