In April when the Eagles drafted Jordan Mailata with the 233rd pick in the 7th round of the 2018 NFL Draft, very few people believed that he’d actually make the 53 man roster, some September 1st. But that’s exactly what Jordan did. His size, athleticism and the speed with which he picked up American Football dictated that the Eagles make room on the roster for him.
Jordan’s first ever football game (at any level), came in early August, in a pre-season game vs. the Steelers. He finished off the pre-season by playing 3 quarters in a winning effort against the New York Jets.
Jordan has shown great promise in the short time that he’s been in the NFL and because of that, the Eagles had to change their plans. Presumably, the plan was to give him some experience and some coaching, then release him on cutdown day and re-sign him to the 10 man practice squad. But that would have lefte him available to all other 31 teams to claim off the waiver wire. That means that starting with the Browns, any team that saw the potential in Jordan, could have stolen him away from the Eagles and both the Eagles, nor Jordan could have done anything about it. That team would have owned his rights. To avoid that possibility though, the only thing the Eagles could do, was make room on the 53 man roster for him and that’s exactly what they did.
Mailata isn’t expected to be on the active 46 man roster on gameday, at least not early in the season. This will give him more time to progress and see the game at full speed. Injuries to the offensive line could change that though.