Seems Like Jordan Mailata is Currently Winning the Left Tackle Battle
The assembled scribes are doing the Lord’s work down at NovaCare, providing us with training camp updates and play-by-play where necessary.
There’s not a lot to glean from one week of practice, and personnel opinions are, of course, arbitrary, but the one thing the beats seem to agree on is that there’s a clear-cut frontrunner for the left tackle job. It’s the 7th round draft pick, not the 1st round draft pick.
They haven’t even put the pads on yet, and I’m just about ready to call the LT competition for Jordan Mailata. It really hasn’t been close, as Mailata has definitively outplayed Andre Dillard every single day, and he is also having the best camp of his career, by far.
In 1-on-1’s today, Dillard had two reps. He held Josh Sweat on one, and Brandon Graham beat him on a push-pull move on the other. Meanwhile, Mailata won his matchups against Sweat and Derek Barnett.
The team won’t call it anytime soon, and certainly not before they put the pads on (which should be tomorrow, by the way), but it’s already crystal clear who the better football player is.
From Roob at NBC Sports Philadelphia:
OK, I know it’s only four days without pads, but I’ve seen enough. No way Andre Dillard is winning the left tackle job. OK, it’s possible Dillard will bounce back from his slow start, and maybe once the pads go on starting Tuesday morning he’ll acquit himself better. Some guys get the competitive juice going when padded practices begin. But I’m just not seeing it. It’s only a few days, but Mailata has really taken ownership of this competition. He’s just better than Dillard. And it’s not even that close.
From BLG:
Josh Sweat beats Andre Dillard for a “sack” on Joe Flacco. Dillard clearly behind Jordan Mailata in the left tackle battle so far. #Eagles
— Brandon Lee Gowton (@BrandonGowton) July 31, 2021
Assuming Mailata wins the left tackle job, what happens to Dillard? Is he a backup this season? Does he fill another role on the line? Is he trade bait?
It’s weird to think that the Eagles probably whiffed on a 1st round draft pick but absolutely nailed a 7th round pick and properly developed that player. Which one holds more weight, the failure or the success? Is it a wash?
We’ll see. It’s fascinating to think that a converted rugby player is going to be Jason Peters’ replacement after all of these years. Mailata looked pretty damn good at times last year and if he continues to play well this season, then you feel like you’ve a legit LT of the future. He’s only 24 years old.