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Philadelphia Eagles: Grading the Jordan Mailata selection from 2018 NFL Draft

By Dan Parzych

MINNEAPOLIS, MN - FEBRUARY 04: Head coach Doug Pederson of the Philadelphia Eagles celebrates with the Vince Lombardi Trophy as he is interviewed by NBC personality Dan Patrick after defeating the New England Patriots 41-33 in Super Bowl LII at U.S. Bank Stadium on February 4, 2018 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)
MINNEAPOLIS, MN - FEBRUARY 04: Head coach Doug Pederson of the Philadelphia Eagles celebrates with the Vince Lombardi Trophy as he is interviewed by NBC personality Dan Patrick after defeating the New England Patriots 41-33 in Super Bowl LII at U.S. Bank Stadium on February 4, 2018 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images) /
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For their final selection of the 2018 NFL Draft, the Philadelphia Eagles decided to take a risk on a offensive tackle with a ton of potential in Australia’s Jordan Mailata.

Heading into the 2018 NFL Draft, the Philadelphia Eagles had the intention of adding depth to the offensive line when looking at how successful the team was this past season on their way to winning a Super Bowl title. After six rounds filled with plenty of excitement, the Eagles decided to focus on the unit during their final selection in the seventh round, but it’s safe to say the selection of Australia’s Jordan Mailata came as a little bit of a surprise.

In fact, the main reason why this selection by Philadelphia was such a shock was due to the fact that Mailata, a professional rugby player, has never played a down of football. However, with his massive size (6-foot-8, 346 pounds), and strength, the Eagles had nothing to lose with a selection like this since Mailata looks like he’s going to be an absolute beast at the NFL level.

While some scouts will look at Mailata’s inexperience as a huge disadvantage over the next couple of months, this Philadelphia staff is loaded with the proper coaches that should be able to work with him to make the adjustment much easier. Plus, when looking at some of the footage from Mailata’s rugby days, muscling around opponents in the NFL shouldn’t be an issue for the 20-year-old prospect.

As mentioned before, one of the main reasons why the Eagles were able to pull off a Super Bowl run the way they did last season was due to all of the depth on the offensive line when key players like Jason Peters went down with injuries. Even with Carson Wentz expected to fully recovery from a torn ACL, making sure their quarterback is well protected has become a higher priority more than ever for Philadelphia.

Next: Grading Day 2 picks for the NFC East

If things don’t work out the way the Eagles hope when it comes to Mailata, this really won’t be that big of a deal for Philadelphia since this was a seventh-round pick. For now, the selection of Mailata earns a grade of B- since the potential for this pick could be a low risk that results in a high reward for the Super Bowl champions.

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