Philadelphia Eagles: Move Jordan Mailata back to left tackle ASAP

When Derrick Gunn announced the Philadelphia Eagles‘ potential intentions to keep Andre Dillard on the left side and start Jordan Mailata at right tackle, it left many a fan scratching their heads (more on that here).

Sure, Dillard played well in his first two starts at left tackle – outside of the penalties, of course – but so did the team’s Week 4 right tackle Jack Driscoll. Was making Mailata and Driscoll play out of position really that much better than just keeping Nate Herbig at right guard and kicking Dillard to the bench?

That was what Philadelphia wanted to find out, and, largely, I think they did.

While the Philadelphia Eagles’ offensive line performed very well in Week 5, allowing only two sacks versus 37 passing attempts, Mailata turned in one of his worst performances as a pro in his return to right tackle. If Nick Sirianni and company are wise, they’ll make sure said performance was more of a cameo than a positional shift.

Jordan Mailata should remain the Philadelphia Eagles’ left tackle.

Through the first four weeks of the 2021 NFL season, Jordan Mailata was the second-highest graded player on the Philadelphia Eagles, according to Pro Football Focus (subscription required). He had a passing grade, a rushing grade, and an overall grade right around 85 and was only responsible for one penalty and zero sacks on 188 snaps at left tackle.

From a more macro perspective, these marks ranked third, third, and fourth overall league-wide, signifying that Howie Roseman was ultimately right to sign Mailata to his four-year, $64 million extension when he had an opportunity.

Needless to say, things were looking very good for Mailata and the Eagles’ left tackle spot in general… at least until a knee injury cost him Weeks 3 and 4.

In Mailata’s stead, the Eagles predictably gave the nod to Andre Dillard at the left tackle spot, and, maybe not so predictably, he played really well too.

Sidebar: What? The player Philly drafted to be their next left tackle played well at left tackle in his first regular season action since 2019? You don’t say.

Ranking 22nd among qualifying tackles according to PFF, Dillard similarly didn’t allow a sack over his 200ish snaps of action, but he was far more prone to getting his number called by the grazing zebras, as he was flagged a team-high six times in only two games of action.

So, with Lane Johnson once again out, the Eagles opted to try something creative to get their five best healthy linemen on the field together at the same time. Out went Nate Herbig, who started at right guard in Week 4, and in his place went Jack Driscoll at right guard and Mailata at right tackle.

Ultimately, it didn’t work.

Granted, Mailata wasn’t horrible. He didn’t get laughed off the field or brutalized by the Panthers’ defensive front, but Mailata did surrender two sacks on consecutive plays to ex-Temple hybrid rusher Haason Reddick and was flagged for being an ineligible player downfield on an RPO.

That, my friends, is not good.

Dillard, for his part, played well once again on the left side, extending his sack-less streak to three and avoiding the sort of drive-killing penalties that have plagued his abbreviated run in the starting lineup.

If Mailata was out for the entire season, I wouldn’t have a single worry about rolling with Dillard at left tackle for the remainder of the season, but fortunately, that isn’t the case.

Mailata is a better left tackle than Dillard, point blank period, and he should play the position he’s being paid to play.

Now sure, some will object to this assertion. Dillard was a horrid right tackle when he transitioned on the fly in 2019 and hasn’t played the position outside of practice since. If the decision is between playing Mailata or Dillard at right tackle, Mailata is the better option. But that isn’t really the decision at hand. No, if Mailata is locked in at left tackle, the decision really comes down to Dillard versus Driscoll on the right side.

Assuming Dillard hasn’t taken massive strides over the past two years, I’d probably have to go with Driscoll in that scenario, as he played very well in Week 4 versus Dallas and had the authentic profile to actually stick at the position long-term post-Johnson.

Frankly, I applaud the Philadelphia Eagles’ decision to play Jordan Mailata at right tackle this week. I thought it was a wicked creative idea and could have paid massive dividends moving forward if it went swimmingly against one of the better pass rushes in the NFL. Unfortunately, it didn’t happen. While Mailata could potentially learn to play right tackle over the forthcoming weeks – assuming Lane Johnson is out long-term – he won the left tackle position fair and square and was paid handsomely as a result. Better to do what’s best for his development than cater to a player who may soon find himself in a different jersey.