Philadelphia Eagles: Don’t forget about Jordan Mailata

[UK_EaglesFan89]

Philadelphia Eagles: Don’t forget about Jordan Mailata

 

Fans of the Philadelphia Eagles shouldn’t forget about Jordan Mailata

For the last few seasons, the offensive line was seen as a major strength for the Philadelphia Eagles. Now, with future Pro Football Hall of Fame tackle Jason Peters moving on (for now) and all world guard Brandon Brooks tearing his second Achilles, all of a sudden the notion is the Eagles need to address the line.

 

As far as guards go, while the Eagles being linked to New England Patriots Pro Bowl guard Joe Thuney is certainly an enticing option, it isn’t a cheap one. With Isaac Seumalo improving every year and Matt Pryor looking decent in a reserve role, it may not be time to hit the panic button.

At tackle, last seasons first-round pick Andre Dillard is expected to take over for Peters after essentially redshirting his rookie season save for sporadic appearances. Dillard learned from Peters and the other veterans, and the Eagles are counting on him to help the offense move forward. For insurance, the Eagles also drafted both starting Auburn tackles in Jack Driscoll and Prince Tega Wanogho.

Philadelphia Eagles fans may have forgotten about Jordan Mailata but need to remember

Tackle Jordan Mailata was a product of the International Player Pathway Program and was drafted in the seventh round in the 2017 draft after playing rugby in the National Rugby League in his native home of Australia.

A preseason fan favorite and vastly improving, Mailata turned the heads of everyone this past preseason from fans to coaches with impressive performances.

 

 

Now obviously that was preseason, and Mailata still needs to cut his teeth with legitimate NFL competition, but it’s certainly nothing to sneeze at, especially when one considers he was playing both left and right tackle. At 6 feet 8 inches and 346 pounds, Mailata is certainly a unit, and it’s all the more impressive by his natural athleticism.

 

After spending 2019 on the injured reserve, it will be interesting to see if Mailata finds his way on the roster again since the Eagles recently drafted the aforementioned two Auburn offensive linemen.

 

As previously noted, one advantage he does have was learning left tackle under Jason Peters, as well as right tackle under Lane Johnson, all under the watchful eye of fantastic offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland.

Mailata can maybe take over for the role Halapoulivaati Vaitai once had, being able to fill in at both tackle spots if need be.

 

While Mailata once again making the roster is up in the air, as is a lot with the 2020 NFL season in general, it’s important for the Philly faithful not to forget about him when it comes to the state of the Eagles offensive line.

https://insidetheiggles.com/2020/06/24/philadelphia-eagles-forget-jordan-mailata/

So what do we think? I think Mailata is a goner.

[matchew88]

Can he play guard?

[VaBeach_Eagle]

3 hours ago, matchew88 said:

Can he play guard?

Not sure I'd want him to play guard (for now), since he's still basically brand new to the game. Of course, if he can, then that would be a solution. 

[jsb235]

The funny thing about the Mailata highlights in that article is that, if you watch closely, you can see at least two instances of Pryor getting badly beaten. And he will likely be our starting guard for the season. So the idea that they won't keep Mailata on the roster for this year and put him in as the first option at either tackle spot is ridiculous unless he completely falls apart in the preseason.   

[brkmsn]

14 hours ago, UK_EaglesFan89 said:

So what do we think? I think Mailata is a goner.

It wouldn't make much sense to not keep Vaitai if they had no confidence in Mailata. On top of that, we drafted our next long term project in Prince Tega Wanogho. It's time for Mailata to be active on gamedays.

[weko]

13 hours ago, matchew88 said:

Can he play guard?

I've been asking for that from day one with him.  Out on an island he'd get Wentz killed.  You have to have a 98 percent success rate pass blocking to start in this league.  Having never played at any level I can't even imagine him being remotely able to block the many freakly athletic small forward NBA types that play DE in this league.  Now inside where he'd be protected against smaller and weaker DTs without anywhere near the movement skills of the DEs, he could and should be physically dominant.  I agree he should have started at OT to learn pass blocking skills but that experiment should have ended after year one.  He's an OG, maybe a DT but I wouldn't trust him to block outside one on one and protect the franchise.  The two Auburn OTs can both do that now as rookies better than he ever will.

[UK_EaglesFan89]

4 hours ago, brkmsn said:

It wouldn't make much sense to not keep Vaitai if they had no confidence in Mailata. On top of that, we drafted our next long term project in Prince Tega Wanogho. It's time for Mailata to be active on gamedays.

Yeah perhaps... Though I think with Pryor, Wanogho and Driscoll plus guys like Oepta I'm not sure there's room for Mailata.