When the Eagles drafted Jordan Mailata four months ago, he was an Australian who had never played a game of American football in his life, and he seemed like a long-term project who was destined to spend time on a practice squad before making a 53-man roster. That no longer appears to be the case.
Mailata got plenty of playing time in Thursday night’s preseason finale and played well enough that the consensus out of Philadelphia seems to be that he’s going to make the team from Day One.
“He’s a freak of nature,” teammate Lane Johnson said. He’s just a baby. It’s gonna be scary what he’s gonna be able to do in the next few years.”
Former NFL lineman Ross Tucker predicted during the game that Mailata will be an All-Pro some day. But for his part, Mailata is still viewing it like he’s just fighting to make the team.
“My job was to try to make it hard for the coaches. I gave it everything tonight. So if they’re happy with what I put in, we’ll see what happens. I’m not settled in here, still got a lot to work on,” Mailata said.
