Philadelphia Eagles: 3 players who desperately need to have a good year
By David Esser
Andre Dillard, LT
Similar to that of Arcega-Whiteside, Andre Dillard‘s first year in the National Football League was anything but sunshine and rainbows. He spent a majority of his rookie season backing up future Hall of Famer Jason Peters, and when called upon to fill in, he struggled for the most part.
Drafted out of Washington University, the decision to leap-frog the Houston Texans in the draft seemed like a genius move by Roseman at the time. Dillard was a multiple-year starter in college, and many scouts actually had him graded as the best overall LT coming out of the 2019 draft.
Obviously Peters was going to be the regular season starter at the time, but having Dillard behind him to mold and grow seemed like a dream decision to be in for the Eagles. It’s not often that a team has two starter quality left tackles on their roster (most teams don’t even have one!).
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However, Dillard’s rookie year had some major setbacks to it. He came into training camp noticeably undersized and was pretty routinely thrown around during practices. He actually got into a physical altercation with Barnett at one point, which resulted in the rookie resorting to tears. This added some serious concerns regarding Dillard’s “toughness” into the mix.
While it was likely a terrible decision in hindsight, Dillard was also forced into action during the team’s regular season matchup with the Seattle Seahawks, but at right tackle. Dillard had never played on the right side before and was absolutely torn to shreds by Seattle’s defense.
Dillard’s rookie season concluded with his name reportedly being ”dangled” in trade offers during the 2020 draft, followed by the Eagles opting to bring back Peters on the offensive line. While Peters is set to be the team’s starting right guard, he would undoubtedly move back to left tackle if Dillard struggles early on.
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Feeling uncertain about one of your first-round picks is always an awful spot to be in, but the Eagles are going to prioritize Wentz’s health over Dillard’s development when it’s all said and done. The former Washington LT needs to silence all of his critics in 2020, or the Philadelphia Eagles will simply be back in the market for a left tackle by 2021.