It’s been two weeks since we broke down Jordan Mailata’s first taste of NFL action and surely there can’t be much change in that timespan…can there? A closer look at the tape says otherwise.
“We’re pleased with his progress.” Said Eagles offensive coordinator, Mike Groh, last week. “Two weeks ago he played his first football game. We’re really pleased with his progress. He’s doing everything that [Eagles offensive line coach/run game coordinator Jeff Stoutland] has asked him to do. Some of these things, the first time. This is the first time for him, and he’s got to learn from those experiences and just continue to bank them and continue to get better each and every day. But his technique has gotten better. It’s not for lack of want to or trying. He really is attentive to every detail, and it’s just trying to catch up to the game.”
What you’ll notice on the film straight away are the improvements in the fundamentals. His kickback, the ability to sustain a block and leveraging his huge size as opposed to letting it overpower him. There is a long way to go until we see Mailata competing for starting roles, but all it takes is a quick comparison between the tape from his NFL debut and what we saw against the Browns, to see why Jeff Stoutland and the Eagles coaching staff were willing to take the plunge on a player who had never played the sport of Football before.
Mailata has since drawn praise from the likes of Brian Baldinger, Fran Duffy and of course, our Eagles Film Room series. It’s apparent that the ceiling is sky-high for the former Rugby star and watching his development from year one to year two is going to be incredibly exciting.
