The Philadelphia Eagles lastly made an exterior free agent addition by signing former Inexperienced Bay Packers operating again AJ Dillon to a one-year contract on Wednesday night.
Let’s study extra concerning the latest member of Philly’s backfield by getting a Packers perspective on him. Right here’s what Justis Mosqueda of Acme Packing Firm needed to say about Dillon by way of solutions to my questions.
1 – Are you able to recap his time with the Packers?
When he was drafted to the Packers, Professional Soccer Focus’ stay stream of the draft went loopy calling him a fullback, so Packers followers actually rallied round Dillon for some time. Early on in his profession, he had a standout recreation in primetime towards the Tennessee Titans within the snow and from there on out a meme about “Dillon climate” type of began. Sadly, he was by no means actually capable of catch that very same magic once more. He was a stable RB2 for Aaron Jones, however he principally was put into the sport to do the soiled work. I’ll get into a number of the positives of his recreation in a sec.
2 – The Eagles clearly have the most effective run blocking offensive traces within the NFL. Do you suppose Dillon might have success as a backup RB in Philly?
Certain! Brandon, I feel you could be an honest operating again behind that line. I’m very jealous. In seriousness, he’s already been uncovered to an analogous run system with the Packers. They had been extra of a zone/duo crew than a two-back or energy crew when Dillon was wholesome. We haven’t seen him in over a yr, although.
3 – What are his strengths?
Initially, he’s a really massive man. For an enormous man, he’s fairly athletic. He doesn’t have the coordination you’d need from an NFL again, however he can stride when he’s within the open area for a dude who’s 240 kilos. That can catch your eye shortly. He is also a reasonably good pass-catcher. You wouldn’t suppose it, however there’s loads of tape on the market of him catching wheel routes and stuff alongside the sideline. One among his finest traits although is his go blocking capacity. I’m certain dimension helps there. Inexperienced Bay would steadily run an empty set the place he was principally in a good finish place so they might max shield out of 11 personnel and let their three receivers get downfield whereas Dillon and a TE chipped after which launched.
4 – What are his weaknesses?
The coordination factor, man. His toes go loopy generally and also you bear in mind why guys that massive don’t play within the NFL fairly often. It wouldn’t be surprising if out of each 30 carries, he slipped or tripped over his personal toes at the least as soon as. The opposite factor is the medical. He had a stinger late in 2023 and ended up being shutdown with a neck harm in 2024 earlier than the common season even started.
5 – Something to find out about him off the sector?
He has a podcast that doesn’t get many views if you happen to guys wanna juice that factor up. He’s additionally Jewish and a sports activities card collector. I feel he hunts his personal 1 of 1 playing cards. I’m fairly certain he streams himself taking part in a recreation the place you mow lawns on a tractor or one thing on Twitch. He’s an excellent dude. You guys will like his character.
BLG’s take: The Eagles misplaced Kenny Gainwell, a operating again who can catch and go block. The Eagles added Dillon, a operating again who can catch and go block. It’s clearly not a one-for-one substitute with Dillon (6’0”, 247) being a lot larger than Gainwell (5’9”, 200). There’s additionally no actual assure Dillon even makes the roster; I’ve seen some examine this to the Eagles’ Rashaad Penny signing from two years in the past and that’s not completely unfair. However there’s an opportunity that Dillon might pair with Will Shipley to be high quality backup operating again choices behind Saquon Barkley. In fact, we’ll want see if Dillon is really wholesome and if he can keep that means.
