Eagles Film Review: Tyler Steen is a perfectly capable starting guard

Over the past few weeks, I’ve been spending a lot of time watching offensive line film as part of my work with The Scouting Academy. One of the five offensive linemen I have to evaluate for the course is Tyler Steen, which made this pretty perfect timing considering how many of you have asked me for a more detailed look at his game. After watching hours (and hours…) of clinics, I was interested to see whether my opinion of Steen had changed as I studied him, and it has!  

I came away from this study more impressed with Steen as a run blocker than before, while slightly more concerned about his pass protection. It is also important to remember the context here. This was Steen’s first full season playing right guard at the NFL level. The Eagles’ offensive line also played poorly, and Lane Johnson missed half the season. Overall, there is plenty to like. There is also plenty that needs to improve.

Just FYI, I didn’t include film here to back up my work as I usually do, because I’m writing this while on holiday and the film I used for the Scouting Academy isn’t available to share publicly or record in the normal way. However, before I went away, I recorded a video on Steen’s film for my Patreon, so if you want to see me break down his play in video form, please check it out there! Right, enough pointless chat, let’s go!

Athletic Ability and Movement Skills

This is easily the biggest reason to remain optimistic about Steen. He is an excellent athlete for an interior offensive lineman. His first-step quickness immediately stands out on film. Steen can explode out of his stance and cover ground extremely quickly, particularly when he is asked to work laterally or climb to the second level.

There are difficult reach blocks that Steen makes look relatively straightforward because of how quickly he can get himself across a defender’s face. When the Eagles ask him to reach defenders on outside zone runs, he has the foot speed to get to the defender’s outside shoulder and establish positioning before the defender has an opportunity to cross his face. That’s obviously a big help when you consider what the Eagles will do this year.

Steen does not need everything to happen directly in front of him. He can pull, climb, and work horizontally very effectively. He can briefly assist another offensive lineman before quickly transitioning onto a linebacker. He looks comfortable operating in space and rarely appears labored when asked to change direction or cover significant ground.

There are some impressive snaps where Steen gets out of his stance almost immediately, reaches what initially appears to be an extremely difficult landmark, and gets himself into the perfect position to seal the defender.

You can improve an offensive lineman’s technique, but it is much harder to manufacture the type of movement ability Steen already possesses. His athleticism gives him a relatively high ceiling because there are blocks he can physically reach that plenty of NFL guards simply cannot.

Zone Blocking

As referenced above, Steen’s movement skills make him particularly effective in the zone-run game. I came into this study expecting to be more critical of his run blocking, but there is a lot to like about the way Steen operates when the assignment is primarily about positioning rather than pure displacement. His initial phase on zone concepts can be excellent.

He gets off the line quickly, understands where he needs to get his body, and possesses the lateral quickness to establish leverage. On outside zone, there are snaps where Steen reaches the outside shoulder of a defensive lineman incredibly quickly and gets himself into an ideal position.

There are also good examples of Steen working to the second level, locating linebackers and using his movement skills to seal them away from the football. He moves naturally in space and doesn’t look uncomfortable while adjusting to moving targets. This is a big part of the zone run game.

Run Game Processing and Combination Blocks

Steen also showed more encouraging mental processing in the run game than I expected. I thought his work on combination blocks was consistently impressive. He generally understands how to work alongside the center or tackle without creating unnecessary space between the two blockers, and he appears comfortable determining when he needs to remain attached to the defensive lineman and when he can climb to the second level.

There were many excellent examples of his work with Cam Jurgens. There were times that Steen recognized that Jurgens needed some initial assistance, helped secure the first-level defender with one arm, and then immediately climbed once it became clear Jurgens had control of the block.

Offensive line play happens incredibly quickly, and poor timing on combination blocks can ruin an entire run. Leave too early, and the first-level defender can split the block. Stay attached too long, and the linebacker runs freely to the ball. Steen shows a good understanding of that relationship.

Initial Hand Placement

There are also examples of Steen displaying very good hand placement. On his better snaps, his hands remain tight and inside the defender’s frame. His elbows don’t flare excessively, and he can get his hands underneath the defender’s shoulder pads and establish initial control by winning with good low pad level. When his lower body and upper body are working together, the result can look excellent.

He can use his feet to establish position before using his hands to control the defender, and there are snaps where he effectively uses that leverage to turn or drag a defender away from the play. Steen’s initial punch can also carry some force when he is balanced. The issue is that his hand usage becomes much less consistent once the defender begins fighting back, but the flashes are significant because they demonstrate Steen’s ability to maintain technically sound hand placement.

Pass Protection Technique

This was my biggest concern after watching Steen. His pass protection was worse than I expected. The athletic tools are clearly there, which almost makes some of the issues more frustrating. Steen should have the movement skills to become a dependable pass protector, but there are too many technical inconsistencies right now for me to consider him particularly reliable when isolated one-on-one.

His footwork and hand placement are not always synchronized. There are snaps where Steen delivers his punch before he has established a stable base underneath him. When that happens, he doesn’t have enough strength behind the strike and leaves himself vulnerable if the defender defeats the initial contact.

He can also overset. Steen is athletic enough to cover a lot of ground very quickly, but occasionally that becomes a negative. He can move too far outside, giving the defender an easy path back inside. For an interior offensive lineman, that is a major problem.

The quarterback’s location must influence how Steen approaches the rep. He cannot consistently allow interior rushers a two-way go. There are snaps where he becomes too square to the defender or opens himself too far and loses the half-man idea he should be trying to maintain (for those who are unsure what I mean by this, as a lineman, if you get yourself into a favorable position, you can target half the opponent’s body, making it easier for you to win the rep). The defender then has options in both directions.

Steen’s athleticism allows him to occasionally recover from imperfect positioning, but relying on athletic recovery is not a sustainable approach in NFL pass protection. Defensive athletes are too good. The technical landmarks need to become more consistent.

Hand Resets and Recovery

Steen’s hands are another reason his pass protection can break down after initially looking comfortable. His first punch can be effective. His second action is much less reliable. NFL defensive linemen are simply too talented to expect the first strike to win every rep. Offensive linemen have to be able to reset their hands, re-fit inside, and continue fighting for position after the defender counters. I didn’t see enough of that from Steen.

He can sometimes treat the initial punch almost as though it should end the rep. When the defender knocks his hands away or defeats the initial strike, Steen doesn’t consistently reload and regain control.

His two-handed punch can also be overly aggressive. There is nothing inherently wrong with using both hands aggressively when the opportunity is there, but if both hands fire simultaneously and miss, Steen has very little left to recover with. Developing more independent hand usage would help him significantly. There are too many reps where the first punch fails, and the entire pass-protection rep deteriorates from there.

His shorter arms also appear relevant here. They are not some fatal flaw that automatically prevents him from playing guard, but they reduce his margin for error. When Steen’s feet are not underneath him, he can find himself reaching for contact. That creates lunging, and lunging makes the recovery process even more difficult.

Anchor and Functional Strength

This is the other major concern in pass protection. Steen does not consistently anchor well against power. There are reps (see Quinnen Williams last year) where powerful interior defenders get into his frame and simply walk him backward. Once Steen loses the initial leverage battle, I don’t see enough lower-body strength or recovery strength to consistently anchor and stop the rush.

That is particularly concerning because NFL defensive coordinators are always looking for individual weaknesses. If defenders believe they can threaten Steen with speed, make him overset and then counter inside, that creates one problem. If they believe they can simply convert speed to power and drive him into the quarterback, that creates another.

Steen needs an answer to both in order to develop further as a player. His base contributes to the problem. If his feet and punch are poorly synchronized, he can make his anchor look worse because he is trying to absorb power without a stable platform underneath him.

The most obvious examples come against high-level power rushers, where Steen can be driven backward without showing the ability to suddenly drop his hips, re-establish leverage, and stop the momentum. Improved technique should help, but I also want to see Steen become physically stronger.

Sustain and Finish

This is probably the biggest issue with Steen’s run blocking. Steen can get himself into a fantastic position and still fail to finish.

There are difficult reach blocks where he does everything required athletically. He fires off the ball, gets across the defender, establishes leverage, and appears to have won the rep. But good defenders have counter moves, and Steen struggles to handle this. Steen needs to become much better at sustaining his blocks after establishing initial positioning. Getting to the correct spot is obviously hugely important, but NFL offensive line play cannot stop there.

Imagine a block as being split into 3 parts. The initial block, hand fighting, then the finish. Steen excels at the first part but struggles outside it.

I also don’t consistently see the physical demeanor I want from an interior offensive lineman. There are individual snaps where Steen finishes extremely well, particularly when he reaches defenders at the second level, so I don’t think he is incapable of playing with aggression. It simply isn’t consistent enough.

I’d like to see more snaps where Steen establishes control and then actively tries to eliminate the defender from the play rather than merely occupying him. He does not need to throw defenders onto the bench on every snap, but greater physicality and more consistent finishing would make a significant difference.

Gap Run Blocking

Steen is less impressive when the assignment requires him to generate displacement (as gap scheme runs often do) rather than simply win with positioning.

On zone concepts, Steen’s athleticism can be the dominant trait. He can beat defenders to landmarks and use angles to create running lanes. On gap concepts, there are more situations where he needs to move the defensive tackle to create the gap for the running back. That is where his limitations become more apparent.

I wanted to see considerably more movement at the line of scrimmage outside of double teams. There are occasions where Steen helps create significant displacement, but it frequently comes when he is working alongside another offensive lineman rather than generating that power independently.

His lower half does not consistently look powerful enough, as I referenced earlier. Steen can establish the initial contact and put himself in a good position, but there is often a noticeable drop-off between making contact and actually driving the defender away from the football.

Sometimes, it’s alright to just say a player is average right now. Not everything has to be a hot take about something being terrible or amazing. I don’t look at Steen and see a player the Eagles desperately need to replace. I also don’t see a clear long-term starting right guard who has already answered every question and deserves a 2nd contract as soon as possible.

Right now, I think Steen is an average NFL starting guard. And that isn’t necessarily a criticism. Finding competent offensive linemen is difficult, and Steen has already shown that he possesses traits worth developing. His athletic ability is legitimate. He gets out of his stance extremely quickly, moves very well for his size, understands combination blocks, and can execute difficult assignments in space. His zone blocking in particular gives you something to work with, especially when you consider what Sean Mannion’s offense will ask from linemen.

However, he needs to sustain blocks better, become a more consistent finisher, and develop his hand usage beyond the initial strike. His hands and feet need to work together more consistently, which will help his anchor and his ability to handle part.

The encouraging part is that this was essentially his first season as a full-time NFL right guard. Steen is not a finished product, and offensive line development can take time. He has already done the hard part in some respects because he possesses the athletic traits required to execute a wide variety of assignments.

At this stage, I am perfectly comfortable with Steen entering the season as the Eagles’ starting right guard. I don’t view the position as an obvious weakness that requires an immediate replacement. Being an average starter is fine early in a player’s career. Eventually, particularly when the discussion turns toward a second contract, you want more certainty.

If Steen cleans up his pass-protection technique, develops better independent hand usage and hand resets, improves his anchor and becomes more consistent at sustaining and finishing blocks, there is enough athletic talent here for him to develop into a good starting guard. If those areas remain largely unchanged, I think the Eagles will eventually have a decision to make.

Thank you for reading! I’d love to hear your thoughts, so feel free to comment below and ask any questions. If you would like to support me further, please check out my Patreon here.