5 Philadelphia Eagles who have been wonderful surprises in 2020

Things are going well for the Philadelphia Eagles and that project tackle.

Many were concerned about Jordan Mailata, and rightfully so. The six-foot-eight, 350-pound Australian was a former rugby player that had never played football before, but he’s turned out to be a nice surprise for the Philadelphia Eagles during 2020’s season.

The former seventh-round draft pick had never played a single down of football before being brought in by the Eagles in 2018. He’s had some injuries issues that have kept him off of the field or on the bench, so when the big man got called up to play after a few injuries to several starters, there were fans (and maybe a quarterback) who were concerned.

From his first real in-game snap until now, he’s been impressive. He’s made mistakes, but he’s corrected them. That hasn’t gone unnoticed. Mailata has only given up four sacks on the season, and he’s shown great ability at both the left and right tackle positions.

With the nine-time Pro Bowler Jason Peters likely on his last season (seven of those came in an Eagles jersey), the battle for the starting left tackle position should be interesting. Andre Dillard has some competition, and if Mailata continues to improve and impress, Dillard may be in a fight for his job.