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The Eagles’ decision to trade up in the seventh round of the 2018 NFL Draft to select Mailata was originally met with some skepticism. But the 6-8, 350 pound 21-year-old has since proven that he at least has some NFL potential.
Mailata’s preseason performance earned rave reviews from former NFL offensive lineman. Brian Baldinger said Mailata showed “unbelievable development.” Ross Tucker had this to say the other night:
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I no longer think 21 year old Aussie LT Jordan Mailata is going to be a starting LT in the NFL.
I think he's going to be All-Pro.
Borderline obsessed with this dude at this point. This is crazy.
Eagles are going to go right from Peters to Peters Jr.
Tucker isn’t the only person to compare Mailata to Peters, who is a sure-fire future Hall of Fame. Football scout/writer Tommy Lawlor also made that comparison as well.
This dude looked completely lost against the Steelers. Two weeks later, he looks like a veteran OT. Watching him…the combination of size and athleticism…reminded me of Jason Peters. And I don’t say that lightly. Peters is a freak in his own right and has a shot to be in the Hall of Fame. Jordan Mailata has incredible potential. He just might be your starting LT in 2019. There won’t be any IR. The Eagles are going to have him on the roster this year. I will admit to wondering if the team was showing some hubris when they picked him. The Eagles just won the Super Bowl. Sometimes teams get arrogant and take chances on players in the draft that end up being a waste of time and resources. Well, there was no hubris. Mailata might not pan out, but his potential is so special that he was worth the risk. This was a calculated business decision, not a flyer on a big guy with some athleticism. I look forward to watching Mailata play a lot in the preseason finale.
It seems very unlikely that Mailata will see any kind of playing time during the 2018 regular season. Peters and Lane Johnson are the Eagles’ starting tackles. Halapoulivaati Vaitai struggled in the preseason but he’s still the main backup at both spots. Then the Eagles can always have Isaac Seumalo fill in at tackle in a pinch.
Maybe no sure thing LJ moves to LT.
I don't know why anyone would say that. Since Vaitai is not a starting caliber left OT, to keep LJ on the right they would have to find a left OT. That's back-azzwards. It's easier to find a right OT than a left OT, LJ has ALREADY played on the left before for the Eagles, and then you absolutely have to pay your left OT eventually so you face paying 2 OTs, which is not cap smart since it is so much easier to find ROTs.
The Eagles are just too smart an organization to do all that the hard way.
And none of it matters. The general point stands. It is just historically and factually and empirically true that it is far easier to find a starting caliber ROT than LOT, and in fact that's true of ROT v. most positions. There's just no gain in arguing against that, it has held up for years as a standard issue NFL piece of knowledge.
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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/15/2018 03:41AM by zn.
