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Looking at the Mailata-Dillard competition at left tackle




The Eagles have pretty much finished up their off season activities and will go on a two-month break until training camp begins at the end of July.

There wasn't a lot of new information to be gleaned from the practices and press conferences, but there were a few nuggets that have emerged that will most likely impact the upcoming season.

One of the most interesting was that Jordan Mailata was taking first-team reps at left tackle. Later on, both players said that they were taking first-team reps, and i do think there is an open competition at the spot. But I also don't see any way, barring injury, that Mailata doesn't win this job. And that's not saying that Andre Dillard can't be really good.

To illustrate this point, I watched three videos. The first is Jordan Mailata's highlights from last season.

Jordan Mailata 2020 highlights - YouTube

The second is David Bakhtiari's highlights from 2019 when he made the pro bowl.

David Bakhtiari 2019 Highlights (Coach's Film) - YouTube

The third is a breakdown of Andre Dillard against the Bears from 2019.

Andre Dillard vs Bears 2019 - YouTube

To me, if you showed all three videos to someone who didn't know much about football, and asked them to pick out the best player, they would say Mailata and it's not close. On every play he is either knocking someone five yards down the field or putting them on the ground. In Bakhtiari's video, he pancakes someone once, and the rest of the video is him being solid in pass protection. And Dillard appears to be just a poor man's version of Bakhtiari.

Obviously if you watch a lot of video of Mailata, it is pretty clear he is not anywhere near as good as Bakhtiari in pass protection, and I think it is unreasonable to ever expect him to be that good. You need flawless feet and technique to be a "shut down" tackle who gives up zero sacks over a season, and it seems unlikely he will ever get there.

In contrast, Dillard does give off a pro bowl tackle vibe to me. His footwork is just astounding. It's clear from the tape that his major issue is that he lacks core strength for the position, but technique wise he is close to perfect. So if Dillard comes into training camp stronger, do you keep a potential pro bowl tackle on the bench?

To me, the answer is yes.

In watching Mailata, he is doing things at the LT spot that no one else in the league is doing. And I have searched to see if i could finding anything close. The best comparison I could come up with is Orlando Brown, who is a mountain of a man and a pro bowler himself. Here's his highlight reel from last season.

Orlando Brown Jr - Left Tackle Highlights - Top 20 Blocks of 2020 - YouTube

The question I ask myself is this, how many of Brown's best plays from last year would make Mailata's highlight reel? Maybe two or three? The thing about Mailata is that he puts three or four plays on tape every week that would be the best plays of the season for every other tackle in the league. Obviously the flip side is that he also gives up some bad sacks that you don't see the top players giving up, but the difference between him and Brown is clear. Mailata is able to move people along the line of scrimmage that is just different than even his closest competition.

I don't think NFL teams are used to doing calculations like this at LT, which is the reason there's even a question about whether or not Mailata will start. It seems like teams are so used to looking only at sacks as the standard for for judging play at the LT position, that they don't see the added benefit that Mailata offers.

But that benefit is clearly there, both in the run game and the pass game. He is doling out a hefty amount of punishment every time he is on the field to opposing defensive linemen, both mentally and physically. These are guys who aren't used to being knocked to the ground, and he does it to them regularly. More importantly, he is the only one doing it regularly. To me, that is worth way more than the price of an extra sack that he might give up over the course of a game. He is essentially turning the tables on the defense by punishing them for rushing the qb.

With that unique skill set, I think it is impossible to keep him off the field.

The problem then becomes, what to do with Andre Dillard?

Dillard can't be the swing tackle since he struggled badly on the right side. And the team has already signed a swing tackle for this year in Le'Raven Clark. So all signs point to him possibly being traded. But the problem is that teams probably won't be willing to give up much for Dillard unless he shows he can play at a high level in the regular season, and that's unlikely to happen if he's on the bench.

A small part of me wants to try moving Dillard to guard. His biggest problem is a lack of strength, so on the face of it that would be a horrible idea, but at the same time he has said he has added strength. Plus, from a physics standpoint, it really isn't that much different. Sure, defensive tackles are bigger, but they are also slower and play in a more confined space. A 300 pound tackle standing one yard away from a guard who runs a 5.5 second 40 can't generate as much power as a 250 pound DE who runs a 4.7 who starts three yards away from the OT. So I don't think he would struggle in pass protection, but run blocking would be a concern as would asking him to change positions when it didn't go great the last time.

But we really don't need a guard, and it seems like a dumb idea to further wreck his trade value by cross training him.

My guess is that the team will keep him for this season unless someone blows them away with an offer, and then he will be the starting left tackle if Mailata misses time, or will play LT if Lane misses time, with Jordan switching sides.

One good thing is that there is no rush for them to do anything. Dillard is under contract for two more years, and they have a fifth year option. The team can also get out of Lane's contract after the 2022 season. So it sets up nicely for them to give Mailata an extension this year, and then move him to right tackle in 2023, with Dillard manning the left side.

Obviously, it isn't great not getting much value for Dillard until the fifth year of his contract. But if the reason he isn't getting on the field is because he is being blocked (literally and figuratively) by a generational talent, that is not a bad position for the team to be in.

Ultimately, I think it depends on how patient Dillard is willing to be, and what the team can get in a trade if he does get a chance to play and shows that he has, indeed, added the core strength he was lacking as a rookie.