Philadelphia Eagles: Is playing Andre Dillard at right tackle a mistake?

With Lane Johnson out for Week 12, should the Philadelphia Eagles move Andre Dillard to right tackle, or keep him on the left side?

For a hot minute, fans of the Philadelphia Eagles audibly wondered whether trading up for Andre Dillard was a mistake.

With a more immediate need at defensive end and uber-athletic Old Spice Man Montez Sweat still on the board, adding a pass-blocking specialist felt like an unnecessary luxury for a team in win-now mode.

I mean think about it, the Eagles already had one of the top-2 right tackles in the game in Lane Johnson, a Super Bowl-winning reserve in Halapoulivaati Vaitai, and Jason Peters, who will probably play forever, why waste a pick on a then-23-year-old tackle who gave up one sack as a senior when you could have a speedy college outside linebacker with a litany of off-the-field issues?

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Clearly, that line of thinking is no longer germane – if it ever was at all.

Despite a less than encouraging first defacto start in place of Peters against the Minnesota Vikings, Dillard has held up about as well as any rookie left tackle selected in the 20s could hope to – leading some to question whether Peters’ spot was safe in the starting lineup.

While that initial speculation was short-lived, as Peters returned to the left side against the New England Patriots after the bye week, a new predicament arose when Johnson suffered a concussion that prematurely ended his afternoon after only 24 snaps.

And after Big V’s disastrous outing against a not-even-prolific Patriots’ pass rush, it’s clear he wasn’t going to be the answer in a basically must-win bout against the Seattle Seahawks. No, if the Eagles are going to keep their divisional dreams alive, they’ll need to have their best five guys on the field to protect Carson Wentz, but who should play where?

Fortunately, we have the team’s answer.

According to the Eagles’ official website (alternatively ‘Straight from the Bird’s beak), Peters will remain on the left side, and Dillard will start on the right, with Vaitai presumably filling the sixth lineman off the bench role. While on paper this move makes the most sense, as Peters is still the better player, and therefore the better option at left tackle, is it really wise to change things up so drastically for the 24-year-old rookie?

By Dillard’s own admission, he’s exclusively played on the left side for his entire life, from age 14 all the way to 24. When asked about the transition, Dillard had this to say:

A reporter asked Andre Dillard about the transition from LT to RT.

Dillard: “which hand do your write with?”

Reporter: “Right”

Dillard: “Write with your left.”

Does Dillard’s lack of confidence worry you headed into Sunday’s matchup with Clowney? #Eagles
— Eagles Nation (@PHLEaglesNation) November 22, 2019

That’s not particularly encouraging.

But why does this have to be the case? After all, wouldn’t it make more sense for Peters, not Dillard, to take one for the team and switch sides? I mean, he’s been playing tackle in the NFL longer than Dillard has been playing football period; clearly he understands the responsibilities of each position across the line.

Dilliard, on the other hand, is just getting used to playing tackle with both hands on the ground after playing his college ball in Mike Leach‘s air raid offense – give the kid a break.

Ultimately, this decision probably makes the most sense if Lane Johnson is only going to miss a week or so, as Peters may no longer be in the Eagles’ plans once his current contract comes to an end, but after showing out impressively over the past few weeks, it feels less than ideal to ask Dillard to switch sides and compromise his continued development even a little bit.

Passing on Marcus Peters was a grave mistake. dark. Next

To put it simply: Jason Peters is the present, but Andre Dillard is the future, which is more important for the Philadelphia Eagles at this point?

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