C Mart Posted March 12, 2018 Share Posted March 12, 2018 Published: March 12, 2018 With the NFL Combine in the rearview mirror, NFL scouts' next assignment will be attending pro days at colleges across the nation. One that will draw the interest of many of those scouts will take place in Tampa on Saturday, March 24, when Australian-born Jordan Mailata -- a recent rugby convert who moved from Sydney to the U.S. in January -- gets his chance to strut his stuff. Mailata, a 20-year-old of Samoan origin who played professional rugby for the South Sydney Rabbitohs, is working on making the conversion to offensive tackle in the NFL. At 6-foot-8 and 345 pounds, he has the size to make that conversion, and his recently timed 5.00-second 40-yard dash would have ranked among the top five at his position at the NFL Combine, a hair better than potential first-round OT Connor Williams did it at 50 pounds lighter. Mailata is working to hone his game at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla., under the watchful eye of Aden Durde, the coach responsible for Moritz Bohringer's meteoric draft rise in 2016. Durde's attention was drawn to Mailata's skills after watching a YouTube video (see video above) sent to him by Mailata's agent, Chris Orr, that showed his incredible combination of size and athleticism. After a team of coaches worked Mailata out in Los Angeles in December, they brought him to IMG with the goal of preparing the draft-eligible player to showcase his skills at a pro day three months later. It has not all been plain sailing for the recent convert to football. "I went there not really understanding the level of athleticism and skill the guys up front at the line of scrimmage had," Mailata said after spending a few weeks learning an entirely new sport. "But now having been put through the many drills and testing, it certainly opened my eyes to how good the NFL athlete is. I am looking forward to the challenge and feel confident I can succeed, but I now have a lot of hard work in front of me before I can start thinking of wearing an NFL jersey. This is just the start of my NFL journey." Despite the early setbacks, Durde has been impressed with his student's application to learning the sport and progress toward his goal. "Jordan has worked really hard to pick up a sport that he knew nothing about when he arrived in Florida at the start of the year," said Durde. "His physical talents are overwhelming and stand him in good stead for success in whatever sport he wants to participate in. But so much of football is technique, and he has been really focused on getting that part of his game right." While Mailata is far from a finished product, coaches and scouts who subscribe to Bill Parcells' "Planet Theory" -- that there are only a finite number of men on Earth that have the size and athleticism to play pro football -- could be intrigued enough to spend a late-round draft pick on this freakishly talented international athlete. http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000920719/article/giant-rugby-player-jordan-mailata-68-345-pounds-giving-nfl-a-shot?campaign=tw-cf-sf184325675-sf184325675&sf184325675=1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C Mart Posted March 29, 2018 Author Share Posted March 29, 2018 Gil Brandt @Gil_Brandt 6-8, 346 35.5 arms 5.12 40 4.67 shuttle 22 lifts Sign me up Massive rugby player/NFL draft hopeful Jordan Mailata impresses scouts at pro day with reps from all 32 @NFL teams in attendance. Australian NFL draft hopeful Jordan Mailata impressed scouts at a pro day in Tampa, Fla. last weekend. Mailata, a 20-year-old of Samoan origin who played professional rugby for the South Sydney Rabbitohs, got the chance to show representatives from all 32 teams how he is faring in his conversion to offensive tackle for the NFL. In attendance at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers practice facility last Saturday were NFL general managers Jason Licht of the Buccaneers and Rick Spielman of the Vikings. Mailata measured just shy of 6-foot-8 and weighed 346 pounds. His arms measured a massive 35.5 inches. He was timed at 5.12 seconds in the 40-yard dash, which would have been good for seventh among tackle participants at the NFL Combine in February. He also excelled in the short shuttle with a time (4.67 seconds) that would have been among the top 10 at his position. Mailata put up 22 reps on the bench press. "I felt today went well," Mailata said after completing his workout. "This was my first chance to go through the positional drills in front of teams and I hope they got a chance to see the progress I have made as I try to master the position." Mailata has been working to hone his game at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla., under the watchful eye of Aden Durde, the coach responsible for Moritz Bohringer's meteoric draft rise in 2016. Bohringer himself was among five international-born football players working out for scouts during the same event in Tampa, which also included the top college players not invited to the NFL Combine. http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000923837/article/massive-rugby-player-jordan-mailata-impresses-scouts-at-pro-day?campaign=tw-cf-sf185817740-sf185817740&sf185817740=1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grandy Posted March 30, 2018 Share Posted March 30, 2018 On 3/12/2018 at 5:21 PM, C Mart said: Mailata is working to hone his game at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla., Unrelated but I live like 15 minutes from IMG, and I realised yesterday that I've met a sh*tton of top athletes without knowing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C Mart Posted August 31, 2018 Author Share Posted August 31, 2018 Ross Tucker (@RossTuckerNFL) 8/30/18, 8:44 PM I no longer think 21 year old Aussie LT Jordan Mailata is going to be a starting LT in the NFL. I think he's going to be All-Pro. Borderline obsessed with this dude at this point. This is crazy. Eagles are going to go right from Peters to Peters Jr. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C Mart Posted August 31, 2018 Author Share Posted August 31, 2018 Tucker’s comments come on the heels of former Eagles offensive lineman Brian Baldinger, a respected analyst, saying Mailata “has improved more than any football player I have ever watched in four months.” “He has everything it takes to be a dominant player, except experience. Amazing transformation,” Baldinger said. Geoff Mosher @GeoffMosherNFL Lane Johnson is amazed by Jordan Mailata and now far the Aussie rookie former rugby player has come in 4 weeks. “He’s a freak of nature. He’s just a baby. It’s gonna be scary what he’s gonna be able to do in the next few years.” Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C Mart Posted September 1, 2018 Author Share Posted September 1, 2018 Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) 9/1/18, 4:30 PM Jordan Mailata made the Eagles' 53-man roster today. He has the chance to become a standout left tackle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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