We got defense and wepinz!

49 minutes ago, vaeagle2 said:

wouldn't surprise me to see the o-line next year as

mailata LT

dillard LG

seumalo C

brooks RG

lane RT

Dillard as a guard?  Power and strength at tackle was an issue.  I think he has the feet for it but not the muscles for it.  But they are going to have to find a spot for him.  I'm not sold on Seumalo as a center but justrelax was talking me into it a bit.   I think we need to select  plug and play interior linemen this upcoming draft.

Man... that Fulgham TD in the Ravens game hit him in the chest. Went right through his hands and hit his chest before anything else. Hes been good, but also been lucky. Im afraid its all gonna come crashing down at some point. 

29 minutes ago, Utebird said:

Not sure what Solak is watching, Mailata looks like starter to me

If dillard was slated to be a starter this year then Mailata looks like one as well. Mailata has already shown in 3 games more than dillard did last year.

Dismissing Mailata as just getting a way with things because of his size is negligent. His size is an asset why not take advantage of it?

And looks much much much better than Driscoll and honestly like the only lineman who does not get physically overmatched

23 minutes ago, LeanMeanGM said:

It’s not even that crazy of a take. It’s the same thing Tra Thomas and Todd Heremans said about him. But people are going to take it personal because it’s Solak 

I think the counterpoint a lot of people are trying to make is that I don’t know how could make "projections” about Mailata’s ceiling with so few reps. Yes he’s been in camp a few years but that’s not live fire. His curve is moving in the right direction, who knows where that stops?  
 

there will always be a resistance to a guy like Mailata coming in from outside of the typical pipeline. 

2 minutes ago, Allhaildawk said:

I think the counterpoint a lot of people are trying to make is that I don’t know how could make "projections” about Mailata’s ceiling with so few reps. Yes he’s been in camp a few years but that’s not live fire. His curve is moving in the right direction, who knows where that stops?  
 

there will always be a resistance to a guy like Mailata coming in from outside of the typical pipeline. 

That’s fair, I’m just reading it as it’s too early to proclaim he’s the future at LT. He’s playing good enough now, and he’s trending in the right direction. We’ll see how high he raises his ceiling. 

 

14 minutes ago, LeanMeanGM said:

That’s fair, I’m just reading it as it’s too early to proclaim he’s the future at LT. He’s playing good enough now, and he’s trending in the right direction. We’ll see how high he raises his ceiling. 

Oh yes completely agree. Can’t hand it to him in any way. But if he earns it he earns it. If nothing else I want him here as the swing tackle. Which on this team may as well be a starter. 
 

And yes I still want to see him on a kick return. Cowboys please. 

1 hour ago, Mike030270 said:

Dillard is likely the starter when he's healthy. They aren't going to give up on that 1st rounder that quickly. Look how long it's taken them to let go of other 1st and 2nd rounders

That would be the dumbest move i've seen in the 55 years i've been an Eagles fan

2 hours ago, Casey @ Bat said:

This was also said about Jamon Brown last week as well and .... well you know how it turned out.

To no ones surprise Calais Campbell was  named DPOW.

That's a pessimistic outlook.  

1 hour ago, LeanMeanGM said:

For comparison, JuJu Smith Schuster is only 23 and he’s been in the league for 4 years. Anyone 23 and older should at minimum knock them down a round if not taken off the board completely 

Your last point is excessive (Wentz, Lane, Goedert, and Ertz were all 23 IIRC), but age definitely matters with high round draft prospects. Crazy to think that Derek Barnett is younger than Andre Dillard.

2 hours ago, AzBirdGang said:

I just want to reiterate how rare Mailata's story is. A 7th rounder who never played football in his life is dominating his matchups against the #1 defense in the league. 

Question for the blog. Where do you think Mailata would go in this upcoming draft? His punch and size should vault him way up the draft. 

I would say 2nd round based his tape so far and his size. Maybe late 1st. Lane says he is a freak. 

 

1 hour ago, Utebird said:

I think he'd easily go 1st round. Guys his size aren't supposed to move like him

He'd honestly have the potential to go as high as top 5... He reminds me eerily of Lane Johnson.  Johnson moved from QB at a JUCO to OT at Oklahoma, after a quick TE stint.  But, he was such a freak athlete.   At this point, Mailata doing it at 23 years old would make him a 5th year senior, and has actual game tape versus NFL competition, so its less projection.   He'd be a stud OT pick and teams would be tripping over themselves to move up to get him in the top 10.   He's not 'there' yet, but he's getting close.  He's really looking like everything that he had to potential to become and more.  We'll see if that can happen, but so far its looking very promising.

4 minutes ago, Saltpeter said:

Your last point is excessive (Wentz, Lane, Goedert, and Ertz were all 23 IIRC), but age definitely matters with high round draft prospects. Crazy to think that Derek Barnett is younger Andre Dillard.

Yea, it was slightly hyperbolic. QB's shelf life gives them more leeway. Just say no to anymore Danny Watkins or Hayden Hursts. 

1 hour ago, Utebird said:

Yup, interesting what the do going forward, dillard obviously can't play RT but does one sit a 1st round pick.??

If anything could trade Lane and put Mailata at RT and Dillard at LT. 

Or maybe they just trade dillard next year and eat the pick?

No... you look to trade him before his stock drops... or you move Mailata to RT (where he has worked out last preseason and did alright).    It really comes down to their belief in Dillard at LT.  Mailata looks so good though, it might be best not to mess with that.

1 hour ago, Mike030270 said:

Dillard is likely the starter when he's healthy. They aren't going to give up on that 1st rounder that quickly. Look how long it's taken them to let go of other 1st and 2nd rounders

In those situations, they didn't have a replacement available.

1 hour ago, ManuManu said:

 

Do not agree.

1 hour ago, eagle45 said:

Lane was a top 3 OT, playing RT, in our SB year.  Also, and I don’t care what @justrelax says, Lane eclipsed Peters as a pass protector long before anyone will admit, yet the offense thrived with him at RT.

In this passing league, you want 2 stud OTs.  RT doesn’t need to be limited to an unathletic grinder.  
 

If they still think Dillard can be the lightning quick slick pass protector they hoped for when he was drafted, then Mailata won’t be wasted at RT.  We’d have bookends first the future.

No doubt that in 2016, Lane was the better OT.  

1 hour ago, Utebird said:

I think Herbig has looked better than driscoll, and herbig is nothing special but he's surprised me. Driscoll is a scrapper but he's clearly outmatched on the outside.

Having said that not sure who the poster is referencing as the" Young" OL as Mailata is still young and has been far and away the most impressive young lineman.

Driscoll isn't an OT.  His future will be LG or C... or the swingman inside.  I don't see Driscoll long term at OT.  He's playing there out of necessity, not design.  Same as Seumalo ended up at RT his rookie year.

Why are peeps adamant that Dillard can’t play LG?  He has the athleticism for it, right?  LG involves a lot of pulling?  Andy used to draft tackles and move them to guard all the time.

If trends continue we’d be foolish to move Mailata to accommodate Dillard.

1 hour ago, MediterraneanDiet said:

Not a chance to get a 2nd fir Dillard right now.  After a year of solid play at tackle, maybe.

Eh, he has the injury working against him. I would imagine grades on Dillard vary wildly around the league based on where teams had him on their draft board. Still, you're likely not getting a freak athlete with Dillard's upside in the late 2nd, and you're definitely not getting that at a reasonable price on the FA market. Late 2nd is likely possible.

2 minutes ago, Arsenal79 said:

Why are peeps adamant that Dillard can’t play LG?  He has the athleticism for it, right?  LG involves a lot of pulling?  Andy used to draft tackles and move them to guard all the time.

If trends continue we’d be foolish to move Mailata to accommodate Dillard.

Could you imagine Dillard trying to block a Fletcher Cox bull rush? He'd be picked up and thrown to the moon.

Dillard didn't have tackle strength last year. I don't see how he would have guard strength all of a sudden.

1 hour ago, ManuManu said:

Lifted from a PFF fantasy football article about starts/sits for Eagles-Giants. Fulgham’s grade vs man coverage is awfully impressive...

"The targets should continue to come Fulgham’s way and, hopefully for his sake, Jackson’s presence will lessen the likelihood of shadow coverage from James Bradberry. He owns PFF’s fifth-highest coverage grade among CBs, but Fulgham has proved he won’t back down in tough matchups. The Eagles’ wide receiver owns the fourth-highest PFF receiving grade this season. Considering this matchup further, Bradberry has a 71.1 PFF grade in man coverage, so it slightly favors Fulgham based on his PFF grade versus man coverage (87.7).”

Nah... Bradberry would be better off shadowing Fulgham.  Putting him on Desean is a terrible mismatch.

1 hour ago, HazletonEagle said:

Man... that Fulgham TD in the Ravens game hit him in the chest. Went right through his hands and hit his chest before anything else. Hes been good, but also been lucky. Im afraid its all gonna come crashing down at some point. 

Shhhhhh.... Let me have this.

1 hour ago, LeanMeanGM said:

That’s fair, I’m just reading it as it’s too early to proclaim he’s the future at LT. He’s playing good enough now, and he’s trending in the right direction. We’ll see how high he raises his ceiling. 

He's got 10 more games (maybe more) this season to get reps.  He desperately needs reps, which is why him ending up on IR the last two years was so disappointing, because it ends even practice reps.

50 minutes ago, ManuManu said:

 

Disagree.  Driscoll is more polished than Mailata, but that's due to his YEARS of playing.  In terms of effectiveness, Mailata has been far more effective than Driscoll when it comes to making the blocks.  In terms of assignment identification, I'd give the edge to Driscoll. 

6 minutes ago, Iggles_Phan said:

Driscoll isn't an OT.  His future will be LG or C... or the swingman inside.  I don't see Driscoll long term at OT.  He's playing there out of necessity, not design.  Same as Seumalo ended up at RT his rookie year.

They’ve pretty much had him at tackle since he was drafted, no? And when he was drafted he was announced as a tackle, too.