Philadelphia Eagles will host another rugby player on a pre-draft visit

The Philadelphia Eagles looked at a rugby star to help bolster their roster in 2017, and it appears that history may be repeating itself.

Write the name Jordan Mailata down. You’ll want to remember that one if you’re a Philadelphia Eagles fan. Yes, he’s a rugby star, but don’t let that concern you. To some, there are some similarities between football and rugby, pads not being one of them.

Whether you’re a fan or not, you have to agree that rugby stars have to be seen as some of the toughest people on Planet Earth. With that being said, it should come as no surprise when Eagles head coach Doug Pederson, who stated he wanted his teams to be tough, decided to bring in Canadian star Adam Zaruba in last year’s off-season to see if he might have the skills to make him a difference maker in the NFL.

Well, here we are a year later, and according to a report by Gil Brandt, the Eagles may dig into the rugby bag once more, this time for a pre-draft interview with an Australian star, the aforementioned Jordan Mailata.

Here’s the tweet from Brandt:

What are the ramifications of this one?

This may not be exciting news to some seeing as how Zaruba wasn’t much of an on-field difference maker. Still, there has to be something said for the fact that Philly kept Zaruba around as a member of their practice squad. He’ll have another opportunity to make the Eagles’ active roster in 2018 as a tight end. There’s been no talk about where the Eagles are planning to use Mailata, but seeing as how he’s six-foot-eight and 346 pounds, there may be a genuine interest and some areas where he might come in handy.

Next: Eagles Draft Board: SMU WR Courtland Sutton draws interest

Defensive tackle or offensive guard perhaps. Mailata has several visits lined up this week, so this may be a name, again, that you may want to watch closely.