BC Draft Tradition Enters Unprecedented Unknowns
April 22, 2020 | Football, #ForBoston Files
This is a draft prep unlike anything anyone's ever seen.
The NFL Draft process is an exciting and anxious time for a football player. It represents the culmination of a career and links the transition from college to professional athlete. It's a long process littered with both stress and determination, a series of benchmarks designed to analyze statistics and film, individuality and intelligently into granular impressions.
It's an entrenched piece of Boston College's program fabric and athlete experience. The Eagles boast a long tradition of intelligent, malleable players for the next level, but find new ways to annually enhance their reputation. BC is one of less than two dozen programs with 10 first round selections over the past 20 years, and few schools match the Super Bowl champion numbers within their alumni ranks.
This year, the spotlight centered on AJ Dillon and John Phillips, intricate parts of BC's resurgent rushing attack over the past three years. They entered their offseason understanding what to expect from the cadre of teammates who exited before them. Unlike others, though, they were forced to enter the NFL Draft on the surreal, frightening and altogether intriguing backdrop of the coronavirus crisis still gripping the nation and world at large.
"(The process) is definitely a lot different," Dillon said. "I've been asked how it compares to what I thought (would happen), but this is my normal because it's my only draft. I've gone back to old school workouts, doing pushups or situps and running stairs. I've had friends throwing me footballs, which is a lot different than when you have trainers. We're all just making the most of it."
The NFL Draft's run-up and timeline are annual structures built by specific, important dates. Year-round scouting converges on senior-laden bowl games draws a direct line from the NFL Combine through individual workouts and a college's specific Pro Day. Meetings and interviews intertwine interactions between coaches, scouts and prospects, building constant drama until the first selection on the first day in a glittery location.
The coronavirus upended that entire process in mid-March when it forced nationwide shutdowns. It shuttered large gatherings, including all sporting events, and scattered prospects throughout the nation. Its path rippled Boston College's Pro Day on March 18 and left both Dillon and Phillips with tough decisions on how to handle their respective futures.
"It was disappointing but also a little confusing, to be honest," Phillips said. "At first, everything seemed like it was being pushed back. We were all very optimistic that it would be two or three weeks or a month (later), and we believed we would be able to do a Pro Day right around now. As (the process) kept getting postponed, the weeks went on, and we realized (the situation) was more serious than what we were all hoping for."
The abbreviated preparation period delivered draft radar space to both Dillon and Phillips, but both anticipated Pro Day's opportunity. They expected to stand out on home turf, and the cancellation forced them into different, creative situations to further their respective positions with individual franchises.
Dillon intended to establish a home base in New England after Pro Day, but he instead chose to remain in California after everything shut down. He transitioned from advanced gym workouts to "old school" training and formed an isolation around the game of football. He continued communications with his family through technologies but singularly honed his focus even deeper into his game.
"I wake up and eat breakfast, then just do body workouts all morning," he said. "I have weights and TRX to do some full-body (training), and I'll shadow run where I can. I stay pretty close to my mom throughout the whole process, and we've been FaceTiming a lot. (A couple of weeks ago) I had nothing else to do, so I rewatched our entire season. My last haircut was right before the Combine."
Phillips went the opposite direction and left his Florida-based training to return home to Upstate New York. The expansive area provided him enough wide open space to continue working with isolation being the operative word in the obscurity of his hometown.
"I was fortunate that my high school allowed me to take some equipment from its weight room," Phillips said. "I have a full squat rack and can do any power lift in my own garage. I'm extremely blessed because some guys are doing 'barn workouts.' I can go outside in my neighborhood because it's spread out."
Both mitigated the loss of Pro Day by relying on their individual production. Dillon previously rocked the NFL with an outstanding Combine performance, so his name already stood atop the workout list as one of the fastest and strongest commodities in the prospect pool. He knew it foundationalized his backbone because of the way it surprised scouts and analysts.
"The biggest difference is with the team visits," Dillon said. "I've done a bunch of Zoom meetings and Microsoft Teams meetings, but that's a really big change. The plan after the Combine was to train for a couple of more weeks before heading back to BC. I planned on being close to BC after Pro Day to do team workouts before flying out to team visits. But right now, I'm just staying in California."
Phillips likewise already accumulated data during his Senior Bowl and East-West Shrine Game participation. His agent further suggested a Pro Day workout replacement film before he returned home, and he jumped at the opportunity to finish abbreviated work and study with quarterbacks in Florida.
"I loved the idea," he said. "I was just happy to put up whatever I could do, and any type of Pro Day was going to be advantageous. So I just got moving to get things on tape. My trainer owned his own gym and was finding fields for us to run on. When the high school closed, he found us another one (to film at)."
It enabled the duo to adapt to the changing, unknown NFL Draft curve. Teams are restricted both in movement and in the number of available video conferences per week. Film and trusted, word-of-mouth scouting reports are more important than ever. The draft itself will be devoid of war rooms where general managers, coaches, and scouts crunch decision-making analytics.Â
Every team is scattered around the nation. Isolation is everywhere, and everyone is on equal footing with a forced lack of understanding. It's unlike anything in the history of sports, but both continue to harbor dreams and hopes for a day capable of shaping their individual futures alongside the NFL's years to come.
"My agents keep telling me how some people think they can be first round picks but go undrafted," Dillon said. "Others (are expected to) go late and wind up in the first or second round. So I just know that I did everything I could do. My tape speaks for itself. Whichever team believes in me is the team I'm going to go to work for, to continue to do what I can do."
"I'm going to be home in Syracuse," Phillips said. "My immediate family - my siblings and my parents - will be here to keep it small. I have a big family, and I know they'd love to come. But it's not the right time. If I have to go anywhere, I don't want to have anyone be sick or get sick. Staying healthy is our goal right now."
The NFL Draft kicks off on Thursday night with its first round. Second and third round coverage is on Friday night with all remaining picks of the seven-round event concluding during the day on Saturday.
It's an entrenched piece of Boston College's program fabric and athlete experience. The Eagles boast a long tradition of intelligent, malleable players for the next level, but find new ways to annually enhance their reputation. BC is one of less than two dozen programs with 10 first round selections over the past 20 years, and few schools match the Super Bowl champion numbers within their alumni ranks.
This year, the spotlight centered on AJ Dillon and John Phillips, intricate parts of BC's resurgent rushing attack over the past three years. They entered their offseason understanding what to expect from the cadre of teammates who exited before them. Unlike others, though, they were forced to enter the NFL Draft on the surreal, frightening and altogether intriguing backdrop of the coronavirus crisis still gripping the nation and world at large.
"(The process) is definitely a lot different," Dillon said. "I've been asked how it compares to what I thought (would happen), but this is my normal because it's my only draft. I've gone back to old school workouts, doing pushups or situps and running stairs. I've had friends throwing me footballs, which is a lot different than when you have trainers. We're all just making the most of it."
The NFL Draft's run-up and timeline are annual structures built by specific, important dates. Year-round scouting converges on senior-laden bowl games draws a direct line from the NFL Combine through individual workouts and a college's specific Pro Day. Meetings and interviews intertwine interactions between coaches, scouts and prospects, building constant drama until the first selection on the first day in a glittery location.
The coronavirus upended that entire process in mid-March when it forced nationwide shutdowns. It shuttered large gatherings, including all sporting events, and scattered prospects throughout the nation. Its path rippled Boston College's Pro Day on March 18 and left both Dillon and Phillips with tough decisions on how to handle their respective futures.
"It was disappointing but also a little confusing, to be honest," Phillips said. "At first, everything seemed like it was being pushed back. We were all very optimistic that it would be two or three weeks or a month (later), and we believed we would be able to do a Pro Day right around now. As (the process) kept getting postponed, the weeks went on, and we realized (the situation) was more serious than what we were all hoping for."
The abbreviated preparation period delivered draft radar space to both Dillon and Phillips, but both anticipated Pro Day's opportunity. They expected to stand out on home turf, and the cancellation forced them into different, creative situations to further their respective positions with individual franchises.
Dillon intended to establish a home base in New England after Pro Day, but he instead chose to remain in California after everything shut down. He transitioned from advanced gym workouts to "old school" training and formed an isolation around the game of football. He continued communications with his family through technologies but singularly honed his focus even deeper into his game.
"I wake up and eat breakfast, then just do body workouts all morning," he said. "I have weights and TRX to do some full-body (training), and I'll shadow run where I can. I stay pretty close to my mom throughout the whole process, and we've been FaceTiming a lot. (A couple of weeks ago) I had nothing else to do, so I rewatched our entire season. My last haircut was right before the Combine."
Phillips went the opposite direction and left his Florida-based training to return home to Upstate New York. The expansive area provided him enough wide open space to continue working with isolation being the operative word in the obscurity of his hometown.
"I was fortunate that my high school allowed me to take some equipment from its weight room," Phillips said. "I have a full squat rack and can do any power lift in my own garage. I'm extremely blessed because some guys are doing 'barn workouts.' I can go outside in my neighborhood because it's spread out."
Both mitigated the loss of Pro Day by relying on their individual production. Dillon previously rocked the NFL with an outstanding Combine performance, so his name already stood atop the workout list as one of the fastest and strongest commodities in the prospect pool. He knew it foundationalized his backbone because of the way it surprised scouts and analysts.
"The biggest difference is with the team visits," Dillon said. "I've done a bunch of Zoom meetings and Microsoft Teams meetings, but that's a really big change. The plan after the Combine was to train for a couple of more weeks before heading back to BC. I planned on being close to BC after Pro Day to do team workouts before flying out to team visits. But right now, I'm just staying in California."
Phillips likewise already accumulated data during his Senior Bowl and East-West Shrine Game participation. His agent further suggested a Pro Day workout replacement film before he returned home, and he jumped at the opportunity to finish abbreviated work and study with quarterbacks in Florida.
"I loved the idea," he said. "I was just happy to put up whatever I could do, and any type of Pro Day was going to be advantageous. So I just got moving to get things on tape. My trainer owned his own gym and was finding fields for us to run on. When the high school closed, he found us another one (to film at)."
It enabled the duo to adapt to the changing, unknown NFL Draft curve. Teams are restricted both in movement and in the number of available video conferences per week. Film and trusted, word-of-mouth scouting reports are more important than ever. The draft itself will be devoid of war rooms where general managers, coaches, and scouts crunch decision-making analytics.Â
Every team is scattered around the nation. Isolation is everywhere, and everyone is on equal footing with a forced lack of understanding. It's unlike anything in the history of sports, but both continue to harbor dreams and hopes for a day capable of shaping their individual futures alongside the NFL's years to come.
"My agents keep telling me how some people think they can be first round picks but go undrafted," Dillon said. "Others (are expected to) go late and wind up in the first or second round. So I just know that I did everything I could do. My tape speaks for itself. Whichever team believes in me is the team I'm going to go to work for, to continue to do what I can do."
"I'm going to be home in Syracuse," Phillips said. "My immediate family - my siblings and my parents - will be here to keep it small. I have a big family, and I know they'd love to come. But it's not the right time. If I have to go anywhere, I don't want to have anyone be sick or get sick. Staying healthy is our goal right now."
The NFL Draft kicks off on Thursday night with its first round. Second and third round coverage is on Friday night with all remaining picks of the seven-round event concluding during the day on Saturday.
Players Mentioned
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