Philadelphia Eagles: Jordan Mailata is the future, Jason Peters is the past
The Philadelphia Eagles’ present shouldn’t cost their future.
When the Philadelphia Eagles were somehow, miraculously, able to convince Jason Peters to return for the 2020 NFL season, it was almost too good to believe.
Down arguably the best guard in the NFL, Howie Roseman was not only able to secure Peters’ services over more needy teams like the Browns, the Buccaneers, and the Washington Football Team, and didn’t even have to pay him an arm and a leg for the honor.
And guess what? The move looked even better when 2019 first-round pick Andre Dillard suffered a season-ending biceps injury that landed the 25-year-old on pre-season IR; which, as you may or may not know, is the IR you can’t return from at any point during the regular or postseason.
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Surely so the Eagles had it made. Was Peters 38 years old? Yup. Had he only played an average of 12 games over the previous season? *nods*. Had Peters put on extra weight to play guard? You’d better believe it. And did Peters finally start to look his age against speedy edge rushers who were in elementary school when he converted from a college tight end to an NFL tackle with the Buffalo Bills back in 2004? Woah, woah,woah, what’s with the ’20 questions’? Peters was back; why be so negative?
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Fast forward to Week 4 of the 2020 NFL season, and all of the fanbase’s fears had come true. Peters was on IR with a toe injury and hadn’t looked particularly good when he was actually on the field – surrendering three sacks on 229 offensive snaps while looking consistently human for the first time in a midnight green uniform.
But hey, it wasn’t all bad. With Peters gone, the Eagles finally gave 2018 seventh-round pick Jordan Mailata a chance to play, and you know what? He really didn’t look all that bad.
Mind you, Mailata didn’t flash vintage ‘The Bodyguard’ Jason Peters down and down, but for a player who’d only really started pursuing football because he’d (literally) grown out of playing rugby for the Russell Crowe-owned South Sydney Rabbitohs, the results were incredibly encouraging.
Sidebar: I’m not one of those ‘Boy, that story should be a movie’-types, because, in actuality, it’s really hard to find enough material to fill a 90-page screenplay with any story, but someone should maybe introduce Mailata to his fellow Australasia-ian Taika Waititi.
Was Mailata perfect? No way, he too had some issues with speedy rushers and surrendered three sacks plus a penalty over his four games in the starting lineup, but honestly, what do you really expect from a 23-year-old playing his first football ever?
Which is why, my friends, the Philadelphia Eagles’ decision to kick Jordan Mailata to right tackle in favor of a returning Jason Peters is so gosh darn maddening.
For those out of the know, the Eagles officially activated Peters’ 21-day window to return from IR alongside Jalen Reagor, Dallas Goedert, and Rudy Ford. This allows the players to return to practice and, assuming they look ready to play, to make their way back onto the active roster. If Peters’ return to the starting lineup – alongside Reagor – is of any indication, it would appear he could be back in time for Dallas Week, at his old position no less.
In theory, it’s not the worst idea. Lane Johnson did not participate in the team’s Wednesday practice with that pesky Grade 1 MCL sprain and is already out for the team’s Week 8 bout against Dallas. While the idea of kicking Mailata to a brand new position a month into playing his current one isn’t one of my favorites, especially when you consider Doug Pederson explicitly stated that Peters would ‘willingly play‘ wherever he was most needed.
Once Johnson is fully healthy, let’s hope Peters holds true to his words.
As tough as it is to admit, the Eagles no longer rely on Peters to be their full-time left tackle. He’s just too inconsistently available and negligently better than Mailata when actually on the field. However, at guard, the Eagles have basically nothing, with such woefully unfortunate souls as Matt Pryor, Sua Opeta, and Jamon Brow… other players who shall not be named biding time across from the surprisingly decent Nate Herbig. Outside of Isaac Seumalo somehow being able to come back from an IR’d knee injury – which won’t be happening any time soon – Peters is the team’s best interior option opposite Herbig based on name value alone.
Whether lined up on the left side or right, a question worth re-evaluating a bit down the line, Peters’ best chance to continue on his career as a starter and maintain some semblance of fan favor is on the interior – playing what might be his final games as a pro regardless of jersey color.
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Or hey, maybe I’m wrong. Maybe the Philadelphia Eagles will just hand Jason Peters back the spot that made him a borderline guaranteed Hall of Famer, kick Jordan Mailata’s on-field development down the line a few more months, and have to reevaluate their ‘left tackle of the future’ spot next spring once more. To me, the choice is pretty darn obvious.