4 hours ago, devpool said:

The team is probably desperate for him to win that competition, because otherwise they look incompetent for drafting him 

Typical half empty view. Or, the team looks amazing for finding an LT on the scrap heap that beat out a good player. 

16 minutes ago, greendestiny27 said:

Yup, Howard Eskim said it too. Unbelievable. So the guy took notes when he was out and has a better attitude now, that means he's the favorite to get the job? Gtfo

Say what you want about Dillard, he's a natural LT.  He needs to get stronger, get tougher, etc. But he's got great feet for the LT position.

27 minutes ago, greendestiny27 said:

Yup, Howard Eskim said it too. Unbelievable. So the guy took notes when he was out and has a better attitude now, that means he's the favorite to get the job? Gtfo

 

They will force Dillard at starting LT and Mailata will go elsewhere to be an absolute stud LT. 

2 hours ago, RememberTheKoy said:

 

They will force Dillard at starting LT and Mailata will go elsewhere to be an absolute stud LT. 

Why do all these silly narratives have life?

They're gonna have TC and three exhibition games, and Stoutland will decide (theoretically Sirianni, but if the best OL coach in the NFL tells you to play player A, you'd have to be pretty full of yourself to play player B).

It'll resolve itself on the field, as usual.

"Oh Howie has to save face!"  Uh, Howie says kiss his ring.

Wish the Eagles would do something like this. A really fun watch for us draft nerds. 

Real test of Dillard's maturity will come if he loses the camp battle to Mailata. 

2 hours ago, austinfan said:

Why do all these silly narratives have life?

They're gonna have TC and three exhibition games, and Stoutland will decide (theoretically Sirianni, but if the best OL coach in the NFL tells you to play player A, you'd have to be pretty full of yourself to play player B).

It'll resolve itself on the field, as usual.

"Oh Howie has to save face!"  Uh, Howie says kiss his ring.

Silly narrator.

Some Eagles fans and media will do all they can to attack the first round picks

13 hours ago, Mike030270 said:

To be fair he wasn't alive when they were good. Lots of the younger people weren't lol

Part of me is curious if Nick can do anything with JJAW and the other part just wants him cut

I think Howie will drag that one out though

Why would I want to be fair about that? Also the Eagles weren't very good when I was a child.

11 hours ago, 4for4EaglesNest said:

Dillard, Mailata and Dickerson all have big question marks.  With Mailata having the most upside.  I doubt very seriously that all 3 work out.  I’d be stunned if Dillard wins a starting spot.  

I'd agree what you said.  In fact, if Dillard shows anything positive on the field, trading him may be the best option.  Keep Mailata at LT.  Draft or develop Johnson's replacement at RT.  Dickerson has potential at C/G, but his health could be an issue.

 

56 minutes ago, Penn7980 said:

I'd agree what you said.  In fact, if Dillard shows anything positive on the field, trading him may be the best option.  Keep Mailata at LT.  Draft or develop Johnson's replacement at RT.  Dickerson has potential at C/G, but his health could be an issue.

 

With all due respect, this makes no sense to me. Competent LTs are gold. If Dillard shows positive you KEEP him. And why draft or develop Johnson's replacement when you have Mailata? 

1 hour ago, Penn7980 said:

I'd agree what you said.  In fact, if Dillard shows anything positive on the field, trading him may be the best option.  Keep Mailata at LT.  Draft or develop Johnson's replacement at RT.  Dickerson has potential at C/G, but his health could be an issue.

 

I don't understand the logic behind trading Dillard if he doesn't win out 

Especially if one Is looking to move on from Lane sooner than later.

No reason to take what is a strength at a premium position and make it a weakness by trading 2/3 of the position.

Now if Lane was going to be around for a while and was healthy then yeah I'd say trade Dillard but who knows if Lane will even make it through the season.

 

12 hours ago, 4for4EaglesNest said:

Dillard, Mailata and Dickerson all have big question marks.  With Mailata having the most upside.  I doubt very seriously that all 3 work out.  I’d be stunned if Dillard wins a starting spot.  

I think the LT job should be Mailata's.  He definitely has more upside. In an ideal world, Mailata, Dillard and Dickerson all move into starting positions with Mailata taking over for Lane.  I think that's a long shot.  I think what we know is that Mailata played like a starter with potential last season. He had some struggles but had some nice plays as well.  Mailata also seems to enjoy beating people up which tells me he enjoys doing the job. Dillard did not play well as a rookie.  He also has question marks about his desire to play.    Dickerson is coming off of another major knee injury.  Of the 3, I think Dillard is the longest shot at this point.  

It appears Caplan has said the Eagles will sign a 3rd QB soon.. Mullens, Mannion or another guy that he doesn't remember the name.  

2 minutes ago, NCiggles said:

I think the LT job should be Mailata's.  He definitely has more upside. In an ideal world, Mailata, Dillard and Dickerson all move into starting positions with Mailata taking over for Lane.  I think that's a long shot.  I think what we know is that Mailata played like a starter with potential last season. He had some struggles but had some nice plays as well.  Mailata also seems to enjoy beating people up which tells me he enjoys doing the job. Dillard did not play well as a rookie.  He also has question marks about his desire to play.    Dickerson is coming off of another major knee injury.  Of the 3, I think Dillard is the longest shot at this point.  

The biggest issue in a "dillard wins the competition" scenario is when does lane retire? If dillard does win the competition, mailata is up for a new contract. Who's to say he doesn't want to go somewhere and start now that he's proven himself capable of doing so? 

If dillard loses but plays well, flip him to a desperate team. If he loses and plays ok, try to trade him or keep him and make him learn RT and maybe he'll be ready by the time lane retires 

11 minutes ago, justrelax said:

With all due respect, this makes no sense to me. Competent LTs are gold. If Dillard shows positive you KEEP him. And why draft or develop Johnson's replacement when you have Mailata? 

Dillard is certain to make the roster.  I think after this year is the question.  The reality is that O-line is always a premium position so keeping Dillard based him playing better or Mailata developing doesn't obviate drafting a OT early next year.  If there is an elite prospect at the position drafting that player should always be considered.  I also think Mailata played well enough to show potential but not well enough to prove he's a perennial all-pro.  Again because of the salary cap, injury concerns and depth,  you still consider taking talent at the OT position if you have a chance to draft an elite player at the position.  

Eagles signed Nick Mullens

Mailata has played on the right side, it's actually easier for him to adjust b/c he doesn't have the muscle memory of Dillard, who has spent his whole college and pro career on the left side. Plus Mailata's skill package plays better on the right side, although the difference isn't as much as it used to be as teams put speedballs on the right side on pass downs, it's still the "power" side, and line up Brooks, Mailata and Goedert, and running to the strong side becomes "stop us if you dare."

I'd also like to see them give Mailata a little work at TE, with his rugby background, catching and running with the ball shouldn't be that alien, and image lining him up outside Lane.

 

6 minutes ago, austinfan said:

Mailata has played on the right side, it's actually easier for him to adjust b/c he doesn't have the muscle memory of Dillard, who has spent his whole college and pro career on the left side. Plus Mailata's skill package plays better on the right side, although the difference isn't as much as it used to be as teams put speedballs on the right side on pass downs, it's still the "power" side, and line up Brooks, Mailata and Goedert, and running to the strong side becomes "stop us if you dare."

I'd also like to see them give Mailata a little work at TE, with his rugby background, catching and running with the ball shouldn't be that alien, and image lining him up outside Lane.

Mailata was a forward in rugby at a low level league at that 

If he's catching a pass in rugby its a backward pass for about a yard 

In the NFL they throw forward passes

Taking a pitch on a run is about the closest to rugby, TE not so much as one isn't allowed to block in rugby either.

Mailatas rugby experience doesn't really translate to TE.

 

37 minutes ago, HazletonEagle said:

It appears Caplan has said the Eagles will sign a 3rd QB soon.. Mullens, Mannion or another guy that he doesn't remember the name.  

greend!!!!!

30 minutes ago, MillerTime said:

Eagles signed Nick Mullens

Damn it!!!!

1 hour ago, 4for4EaglesNest said:

So a guy who never played the game before we got him, trained and worked at playing the left side for the better part of the last 3 years.  Now you want to swing him to the right side and recalibrate his learning curve?  Bad Idea!  Really bad idea....

Meh, he learned the left side fairly quickly, I would expect the switch to be something he could learn as well. We'll see though either way we should be in a good place to either get a nice draft pick or bookends for a few years.

Nick "If you can't beat em, join em" Mullens

QB1

30 minutes ago, EaglePhan1986 said:

 

Mullens didn't look bad as a rookie then last year with 8 starts he had a tough go.

That whole team had alot of injuries and other guys had bad years, like kittle.

I'm not expecting much from him but hes no worse than most teams 3rd QBs.

11 minutes ago, greend said:

Meh, he learned the left side fairly quickly, I would expect the switch to be something he could learn as well. We'll see though either way we should be in a good place to either get a nice draft pick or bookends for a few years.

Seeing as he's already played RT in a few games and done well I'm not sure there is much to learn.thst he doesn't need to learn at LT( Started at RT vs Cowboys)

Mailata has more Value because can play both Tackle spots where as Dillard has shown he cannot even a little.