NFL Draft Opens With Dillon's Mystery and Intrigue
April 22, 2020 | Football, #ForBoston Files
The unknown only adds to the tantalizing discussion around a potential three-down back.
AJ Dillon knew he needed to squeeze juice out of his offseason draft process. The Boston College junior running back possessed acute awareness about his stock, and the voices echoed in his ears. He understood why people talked but harbored a burning fire to prove the doubters wrong. He wanted to achieve different heights, and the NFL Combine was the first step on that road.
On Thursday, the NFL Draft kicks off the climax of a unique and surreal process shunted by the ongoing coronavirus crisis. Over three days, AJ Dillon will sit a full country away in Los Angeles without the family that raised him and with hopes that the wait is shorter rather than later. His phone will ring and flash an announcement across his television screen. He won't cross the stage in Las Vegas, but neither will anyone else. It's just part of this year's draft and is, at heart, an opportunity to join the next link of the Boston College professional tradition.
"I feel more confident in how other people know what I can do, beyond even the BC community," Dillon said. "I had no doubt that I would go to the Combine and perform the way that I would, but it was still a shock to other people. It's one thing to say I'm athletic and can catch the ball, but it was another thing to show it. I feel more confident (now). I came in first in the jumps, and I had (less than eight) percent body fat. I didn't need to drink water to look bigger, and I didn't drop a pass. I think that answered a lot of questions."
Dillon's performance broke the football universe's neatly-kept box for the Boston College offense. It only knew highlights and statistics of a bulldozer running back plowing through stacked boxes. It saw power-style offense and yards after contact within a scheme designed to send him flying regularly between the tackles.
"During Combine prep, I caught balls from (top draft prospects) Jordan Love and Justin Herbert, and they're two of the best, if not the best, arms in the draft," he said. "They put me in positions that I was never in at BC, so I gained more confidence."
Dillon's measurables reinforced his power offense background and drew comparisons to the Tennessee Titans' Derrick Henry. The weight measures and bench press repetitions all fell in line with the former Alabama running back who rushed for more than 2,200 yards during a Heisman Trophy season in 2015. It opened eyes but largely moved Dillon into the boxed reputation built at Boston College.
He smashed that myth by dominating other physical areas more reliant on speed and hands. He didn't drop a pass and flashed speed out of the backfield. His 40-yard time raised eyebrows, and it generated conversation about a different brand of "big back" with a skillset rarely seen outside of Alumni Stadium.
"I never thought it was lack of ability but more of a lack of opportunity," Dillon said. "Being able to work on routes and things like that helped me understand spacing and how to read defenses from a receiving standpoint."
It's a scouting admission rarely seen in football but forced by performance over numbers. Statistical analysis surrounded Dillon as a dominant, one-dimensional player. He cruised through the Boston College record book as the only player with 4,000 career yards, and he narrowly missed becoming the first Eagle with 40 career rushing touchdowns. He is the only player to record two seasons with 1,500 yards and 300 carries, both individually and collectively, and he easily reset the program mark for 100-yard games.
His situational stats further staggered the numbers because BC opted to use him to set its pace. He rushed 164 times on first down and 117 carries on second down but increased his production from five yards per carry to 6.4 between the two situations. He gained more than seven yards per carry on intermediate third downs and increased that to eight yards per carry on third-and-long.Â
It guaranteed contact against stacked boxes, but Dillon stayed remarkably healthy. He suffered one sprained ankle against Temple during his sophomore season but returned after a two-game absence to gain 149 yards on 32 carries against Miami, later going well over the century mark again on 37 carries against Florida State. It was the centerpiece of the team's complex approach to a simplistic, run-first attitude.
"Everyone knows I ran against a lot of stacked boxes," Dillon said. "I feel like a big selling point is that I've gone against the most adverse situations as (any other) college running back. I think 75 percent of my carries against loaded boxes, and I did it for three years with only one injury. I only missed two games, so I have durability and an ability to produce in adverse situations. (BC) definitely gave me that platform to last a long season and consistently perform."
It places Dillon among the biggest wild cards of this year's NFL Draft class. His NFL Combine breakthrough rocketed him up draft boards, but the process's immediate cessation robbed him of an ability to continue jumping. His scouting reports and film are dictating two-way capability as a potential three-down back, but pure analytics and statistics only show one dimension. The game is pass-happy with spread offenses, but Henry, the comparable back to Dillon, just gashed three rounds of the NFL postseason.
Almost nobody knows what to predict this week, and the added scarcity of collectivity only adds to the intrigue. It'll maybe reflect greatest on AJ Dillon, who is arguably one of the draft's most intriguing names and prospects at a time when mystery and intrigue will very well reign supreme.
The 2020 NFL Draft's first round kicks off at 8 p.m. on Thursday with second and third round coverage at 7 p.m. on Friday. All remaining picks are made on Saturday, starting at 12 p.m. Coverage is on both ESPN and ABC, as well as NFL Network.
On Thursday, the NFL Draft kicks off the climax of a unique and surreal process shunted by the ongoing coronavirus crisis. Over three days, AJ Dillon will sit a full country away in Los Angeles without the family that raised him and with hopes that the wait is shorter rather than later. His phone will ring and flash an announcement across his television screen. He won't cross the stage in Las Vegas, but neither will anyone else. It's just part of this year's draft and is, at heart, an opportunity to join the next link of the Boston College professional tradition.
"I feel more confident in how other people know what I can do, beyond even the BC community," Dillon said. "I had no doubt that I would go to the Combine and perform the way that I would, but it was still a shock to other people. It's one thing to say I'm athletic and can catch the ball, but it was another thing to show it. I feel more confident (now). I came in first in the jumps, and I had (less than eight) percent body fat. I didn't need to drink water to look bigger, and I didn't drop a pass. I think that answered a lot of questions."
Dillon's performance broke the football universe's neatly-kept box for the Boston College offense. It only knew highlights and statistics of a bulldozer running back plowing through stacked boxes. It saw power-style offense and yards after contact within a scheme designed to send him flying regularly between the tackles.
"During Combine prep, I caught balls from (top draft prospects) Jordan Love and Justin Herbert, and they're two of the best, if not the best, arms in the draft," he said. "They put me in positions that I was never in at BC, so I gained more confidence."
Dillon's measurables reinforced his power offense background and drew comparisons to the Tennessee Titans' Derrick Henry. The weight measures and bench press repetitions all fell in line with the former Alabama running back who rushed for more than 2,200 yards during a Heisman Trophy season in 2015. It opened eyes but largely moved Dillon into the boxed reputation built at Boston College.
He smashed that myth by dominating other physical areas more reliant on speed and hands. He didn't drop a pass and flashed speed out of the backfield. His 40-yard time raised eyebrows, and it generated conversation about a different brand of "big back" with a skillset rarely seen outside of Alumni Stadium.
"I never thought it was lack of ability but more of a lack of opportunity," Dillon said. "Being able to work on routes and things like that helped me understand spacing and how to read defenses from a receiving standpoint."
It's a scouting admission rarely seen in football but forced by performance over numbers. Statistical analysis surrounded Dillon as a dominant, one-dimensional player. He cruised through the Boston College record book as the only player with 4,000 career yards, and he narrowly missed becoming the first Eagle with 40 career rushing touchdowns. He is the only player to record two seasons with 1,500 yards and 300 carries, both individually and collectively, and he easily reset the program mark for 100-yard games.
His situational stats further staggered the numbers because BC opted to use him to set its pace. He rushed 164 times on first down and 117 carries on second down but increased his production from five yards per carry to 6.4 between the two situations. He gained more than seven yards per carry on intermediate third downs and increased that to eight yards per carry on third-and-long.Â
It guaranteed contact against stacked boxes, but Dillon stayed remarkably healthy. He suffered one sprained ankle against Temple during his sophomore season but returned after a two-game absence to gain 149 yards on 32 carries against Miami, later going well over the century mark again on 37 carries against Florida State. It was the centerpiece of the team's complex approach to a simplistic, run-first attitude.
"Everyone knows I ran against a lot of stacked boxes," Dillon said. "I feel like a big selling point is that I've gone against the most adverse situations as (any other) college running back. I think 75 percent of my carries against loaded boxes, and I did it for three years with only one injury. I only missed two games, so I have durability and an ability to produce in adverse situations. (BC) definitely gave me that platform to last a long season and consistently perform."
It places Dillon among the biggest wild cards of this year's NFL Draft class. His NFL Combine breakthrough rocketed him up draft boards, but the process's immediate cessation robbed him of an ability to continue jumping. His scouting reports and film are dictating two-way capability as a potential three-down back, but pure analytics and statistics only show one dimension. The game is pass-happy with spread offenses, but Henry, the comparable back to Dillon, just gashed three rounds of the NFL postseason.
Almost nobody knows what to predict this week, and the added scarcity of collectivity only adds to the intrigue. It'll maybe reflect greatest on AJ Dillon, who is arguably one of the draft's most intriguing names and prospects at a time when mystery and intrigue will very well reign supreme.
The 2020 NFL Draft's first round kicks off at 8 p.m. on Thursday with second and third round coverage at 7 p.m. on Friday. All remaining picks are made on Saturday, starting at 12 p.m. Coverage is on both ESPN and ABC, as well as NFL Network.
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