Philadelphia Eagles: Can Andre Dillard and Jordan Mailata bookend the line?

Jordan Mailata‘s path from rugby player to Philadelphia Eagles left tackle is a pretty remarkable one few could even imagine.

From early injury issues to a tryout for the International Player Pathway Program and an eventual one-way plane ticket to study at IMG Academy in Florida, Mailata bet on himself and his 6-foot-8, 365-pound body to learn a sport many had been playing for a decade-plus in a matter of years to eventually become a player at the game’s highest level.

And it worked.

After effectively redshirting over the first two years of his career, Mailata finally received a chance to test his mettle against some of the best edge rushers the NFL had to offer and ultimately succeeded. He won a not quite position battle with Andre Dillard in training camp and was rewarded for his efforts with a four-year, $64 million contract to remain with the team through the 2025 season.

All in all, things are looking pretty darn nice for Mailata moving forward. He has a nice contract, a long-term home in a very fine football city, and doesn’t have to play with Jaylon Smith moving forward.

But in Week 5, the Philadelphia Eagles have a new challenge to place on Jordan Mailata’s shoulders, one that could either be a revelation moving forward or go horribly.

Buckle up, this might be fun.

The Philadelphia Eagles are creating a unique evaluation opportunity in Week 5.

With Lane Johnson still out with personal matters, the Philadelphia Eagles have a decision to make at right tackle.

They could roll with 2020 fourth-round pick Jack Driscoll, who played fairly well versus the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 4. On paper, that’s the path of least resistance, as Driscoll is obviously a right tackle with hundreds of snaps worth of experience playing right tackle, but going that route would leave the team very light in terms of depth both at guard and tackle, where he is the primary backup at three positions.

And then there’s Brett Toth, the former Armyman who surprisingly made the team out of camp this fall. While Toth has a pretty good athletic profile to be a developmental tackle and clearly inspired enough faith in Jeff Stoutland and company to earn a spot on the 53 man roster, putting him on the field now would be akin to playing Jordan Mailata back in 2019.

Sua Opeta? Covid list. Jack Anderson? Sure he played tackle in college, but he’s unquestionably a guard in the NFL. What about Le’Raven Clark and Kayode Awosika from the practice squad? While that duo both played tackle in college, neither are better than Driscoll.

*sigh* If only the was another option to get the Eagles’ five best linemen on the field together and hope to secure a W against the surprisingly hard-hitting Carolina Panthers.

With Mailata out, the Philadelphia Eagles made the obvious decision to insert 2019 first-round pick, Andre Dillard, at left tackle versus the Dallas Cowboys and Kansas City Chiefs.

*spoiler alert* It went very well.

Dillard held up well against the pass – his calling card coming out of college – performed admirably as a run blocker for like 20 snaps of action, and didn’t give up a sack over 132 offensive snaps.

Outside of being flagged for six(!) penalties in two games of action, Dillard has played about as well as any team could hope for from their backup tackle.

While Mailata is still better than Dillard, it’s clear the former Washington State Cougar is among the Eagles’ best five offensive linemen healthy right now, even if he can really only play left tackle at this point in his career.

… let’s get wild.

According to Derrick Gunn, formerly of NBC Sports Philadelphia, the Eagles are considering playing Mailata on the right side in Week 5 with Dillard sticking on the left side for his third straight start. While this wouldn’t be the first time Mailata played on the right side, as, according to Brandon Lee Gowton of Bleeding Green Nation, he played 264 snaps at right tackle over his tenure with the Eagles, 177 in the 2019 preseason, and 87 in the 2020 regular season, this would be his first time doing so since midway through last season, as he exclusively played on the left side in 2021.

Will it work? For the sake of argument, let’s say it does. Let’s say both Mailata and Dillard hold up well against the bevy of rushers Temple legend Matt Rhule has at his disposal, and they bookend a makeshift line with only one Week 1 starter at his usual position, what happens then? Well, considering the nature of Johnson’s long-term status and the fact that Dillard and Mailata are 26 and 24 respectively, the Eagles could shockingly find themselves with a wonderful pair of high-end tackles moving forward, even if they’re paying a right tackle left tackle money.

If Dillard also performs well but its clear Mailata isn’t meant to be a right tackle moving forward, it could similarly put another 60 or so snaps on his highlight reel moving forward, which could boost his already respectable trade value.

But if things go really, really bad and it adversely affects Mailata’s development moving forward, well, I can’t really think of a worse outcome in a game many expect to be a loss anyway.

As tough as it is to admit, the Philadelphia Eagles probably aren’t going to win in Week 5 or very much in the not-too-distant future, considering their strength of schedule. With that in mind, these games are still valuable evaluation tools for the team moving forward, as it can be a good barometer for who is a certified building block, who deserves a longer look, and who will have to find their next NFL opportunity elsewhere. While I’m all for giving Andre Dillard a longer look at left tackle, it shouldn’t come at the expense of Jordan Mailata’s present. If the team’s $64 million man struggles on the right side, it might just be better to nix this experiment and roll with Jack Driscoll on the right side until Lane Johnson returns to the team.