Philadelphia Eagles: What does Jordan Mailata’s promising start mean for Andre Dillard?

Jordan Mailata looked pretty solid as the Philadelphia Eagles LT on Sunday.

As Doug Pederson and the Philadelphia Eagles geared up for their Week 4 showdown with the San Francisco 49ers, they were thrown yet another curveball in terms of their active personnel. Not only would they be down all three of their starting wide receivers (along with their #2 tight end), but they would be without yet another offensive lineman in Jason Peters.

The team entered 2020 without starters Andre Dillard and Brandon Brooks, and then lost Isaac Seumalo just two weeks into the season. Signed to initially play right guard before sliding back over to left tackle (in light of Dillard’s training camp injury), Peters joined his fellow linemen on the IR with a reported toe injury.

The Eagles offensive line depth was now seriously thin, and Pederson was forced to start 2018 seventh-round pick Jordan Mailata. The former Australian rugby player had never started a physical football game before, and he had logged just 20 career snaps coming into Sunday’s game (all coming this season).

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Even with the 49ers not having their usual elite pass rush in action due to injuries, this was still a matchup that did not favor the Philadelphia Eagles on paper. Mailata simply hadn’t really played football before, and there was no telling just how bad he’d end up looking on national television.

However, Mailata did not look bad. In fact, he looked pretty darn good. One of just five Eagles who played all 62 offensive snaps, Mailata more than held his own on the left side of the line. He had one ugly false start on third-and-one, but other than that he was fairly effective against a Niners scheme that prioritizes getting after the quarterback.

Mailata allowed just one singular pressure in 38 pass blocking snaps (according to PFF), a really solid performance by any measurable standard.

Following his first career start, Mailata drew praise from the likes of Tra Thomas, Brian Baldinger, Fran Duffy, and Doug Pederson himself. All in all, it was a seriously promising debut for someone who has been under construction for the last two seasons.

Assuming Mailata can continue to play like this for the remainder of the 2020 season, the question now becomes, what happens to Andre Dillard?

The Philadelphia Eagles first-round pick in 2019, Dillard was the supposed heir apparent to Peters at left tackle. He had a rocky rookie season, forced to sub in at both tackle positions at times. However, the general consensus was that he would be handed the starting LT job in 2020, no questions asked.

Before his biceps injury even occurred, Dillard was having some serious troubles in training camp. It was commonly reported that he was getting abused in pass protection, with his lack of strength routinely being called into question. A year’s worth of sitting on IR likely only stunts his development even further.

Dillard has repeatedly stated that he doesn’t feel comfortable playing RT, and it’s hard to imagine him signing up to kick inside to guard anytime soon. Mailata has been cross-trained at both tackle positions in the past, but he noticeably looks more comfortable playing on the left side as well. While it’s likely too soon to call Dillard a “bust”, and way too soon to label Mailata a sure thing, it’s hard not to see the sheer physical differences between the two.

Mailata is 6-8 and 350lbs of muscle, whereas Dillard is just 6-3, 315lbs. At the bare minimum, Mailata dwarfs the former first-round pick in terms of size, strength, speed, and overall athleticism (former rugby player!).

With Peters sat on the short term IR, Mailata will have at minimum another two weeks to prove himself a worthy LT. If he plays the way he did against the 49ers, it’ll be really hard to justify returning him to the bench for a 38 year old Peters. When you expand that horizon even further, it would be even harder to justify benching Mailata for a rehabbing Dillard in 2021.

Dillard was reportedly made available in trade talks around the 2020 NFL draft. Those discussions could very well pop back up if Mailata steals the starting LT position this season.