Aussie NFL prospect Jordan Mailata ready for jump to NFL

Aussie NFL fans have been waiting to see Jordan Mailata unleashed — but his cruel setbacks may actually be the best thing for him.

Australian NFL prospect Jordan Mailata has dealt with his fair share of disappointment in his short career so far.

He ended his first season on the injury reserve list before his second was derailed from the outset with a lower back issue.

Watch the 2020 XFL Season LIVE & On-Demand with ESPN on KAYO plus over 50 other sports. New to Kayo? Get your 14-day free trial & start streaming instantly >

His team the Philadelphia Eagles were in no rush to get the 22-year-old 203cm, 163kg giant back into the squad, instead keen for him to continue his education of the sport after making the jump from rugby league.

When Mailata was taken with the 233rd pick of the 2018 NFL Draft, he was always going to be a project player, having not played a snap of gridiron before he arrived in the US.

From the outset, Mailata was seen as a three-year prospect and while injury has kept him off the park, the giant from Sydney’s west has been quietly learning the game.

After his first pre-season, he was tipped for huge things.

“Borderline obsessed with this dude at this point. This is crazy,” Ross Tucker, a former NFL lineman turned broadcaster, tweeted before touting Mailata as a future All-Pro.

Originally seen as a left tackle, the drafting of star college left tackle Andre Dillard to the Eagles meant Mailata’s future felt somewhat clouded, but the message was soon loud and clear — he had to move to the right.

And it could be the perfect lesson for the Aussie with the path still alive for a stunning NFL debut.

Nick Fierro, the Philadelphia Eagles beat writer for the Allentown Morning Call believes Mailata could take the position of the team’s top swing tackle Halapoulivaati Vaitai, who appears to be headed for free agency.

Mailata said he was ready to go three weeks after being placed on the injured reserve but used his time out of the squad to learn his new role — something he said was a “blessing in disguise”.

Jordan Mailata is tipped to be a future starter.

While it may sound simple to switch from the left to the right, the minutiae of the sport made Mailata feel like he was starting over. It was challenging but the former South Sydney junior believes he’s found his groove on the right — something he says is “crazy” considering how big a shift it is.

“Initially in the spring when we came back, I was taking left tackle reps and then by the end of the draft, they told me they wanted me to start training me at right tackle,” Mailata told news.com.au.

“Initially I thought, ‘Bloody hell, I haven’t taken a right tackle set ever in my life’. I said to my coach, ‘Ever since I’ve been here, I’ve been left’. And he said to me, ‘You’ve got to start learning one day right’.

“I thought, ‘You know what, you’re an athlete so I’m pretty sure you handle yourself’.

“And Jesus it was rough learning a new side. I told the American media when they come into the locker room, it’s like wiping your behind with your non-dominant hand — it’ll get the job done but it’s not going to be clean.

“It’s basically how it is though, it was ridiculous trying to master because my dominant foot wasn’t the foot I was kicking off, and it just felt like I was playing a whole other game.

“I think the best thing for me was to keep getting reps but because I was familiar with playing on the left the transition from going from left to right wasn’t as bad and it came quicker to me than I thought just because of the repetitions.

“By pre-season week one, I had established a good sense of how to play right tackle, which was crazy, because it went from April to August and in that time, I was able to transition from left to right so I was really happy with that.

“It was a big learning curve this year but in terms of learning it, I’m getting the job done now, especially in rehab. It’s one thing we were focused on this year was getting comfortable on that side and learning the manipulation of the body.”

Jordan Mailata rang the Philadelphia 76ers bell ahead of Heritage night last week.

While being stuck on the injured reserve for most of the season wasn’t the ideal situation for Mailata, the time on the sidelines helped him to develop as a player.

He trained with his strength coach and, as he puts it, took time to “peel the onion and study each layer of the game”.

From a player who had never played American football before, Mailata was now getting into the nitty gritty aspects of the game and training his mind to be ready snap after snap.

“This year was more about the mental side and figuring out the ins and outs of the NFL and the ins and outs of the playbook as well mastering ‘body manipulation’, is what my strength trainer calls it,” he said.

“I worked with my gym trainers a lot this year in that process of not being able to train with my coaches and team so I was able to lean on my strength coaches experience and all his knowledge of football.

“I would say my growth hasn’t stunted at all, in fact I feel as if I have grown into a 10 times better player than I would have been if I didn’t have another year to sit back and examine where I would be at.

“I always say everything happens for a reason and I think it’s just one of those things this year happened and I had to make use of it and I feel like I capitalised on every inch of it.”

Jordan Mailata is firming as a big part of the Philadelphia Eagles’ future.

Mailata was still heavily involved with team meetings and watched practices to learn what his more experienced teammates were doing.

But after two seasons on the sidelines, Mailata is ready to get out onto the field and put what he’s learned into action.

“If you want me to be really honest, I think I could play tomorrow,” Mailata said. “I just want to play man, I just really want to play. I just want to see where I’m at because I’ve learned so much over the past two years.

“I need to be tested and unfortunately we have to wait until April until we can start going back for the off-season voluntary programs. It’s not long at all so it’s coming, next season’s coming.

“I’m really excited, but if you ask me, I’ll be ready to play this year, just based off what I’ve learned from the past two years, it’s made my growth mindset even better. I’m really excited for this year.”