Eagles 2019 first-round pick and starting left tackle Andre Dillard suffered a biceps injury in practice on Thursday that is going to require surgery, and he is going to miss the 2020 season. He’s already the second offensive lineman the Eagles have lost this offseason, joining guard Brandon Brooks, who suffered a torn Achilles in June.
Brutal.
According to many of the beat writers who have been in attendance for practices, the Eagles’ offensive line has struggled at times during training camp. Losing a projected starter probably isn’t going to improve those results.
But all is not lost. While this sucks for Dillard, the Eagles, and the fans, some good may come from this.
Let’s be clear: Andre Dillard getting injured and being lost for the season is not a good thing. Not for the short term, and definitely not for the long term. Everyone was pulling for him to step in and become the team’s starting left tackle for the next decade.
And while this news sucks, there are some positives here. I’ll explain.
More time for Andre Dillard to develop
When Andre Dillard saw the field as a rookie, the results were mixed. The consensus was that he needed to get bigger and stronger in the offseason and that a full NFL offseason would be huge for his development. He did manage to get bigger, but COVID-19 threw a wrench into everyone’s plans for a regular NFL offseason.
In training camp, Dillard was reportedly up-and-down. Jimmy Kempski talked about this at length a day before Dillard’s injury. For every positive rep, there was one where an undrafted free agent got the best of him and pushed him back into the team’s franchise quarterback. Not great.
While not ideal for a first-round pick that the team traded up to acquire in his second season in the league, it’s entirely possible that Dillard just wasn’t ready. And if he was going to be thrown into the fire as a starter because he’s a former first-round pick, that could have been disastrous for everyone involved.
It could have gotten Carson Wentz killed, it could have put Dillard in a tough hole to climb out of, and it could have ruined his confidence. Now, he’ll get another full year to learn and develop and, hopefully, add some functional strength once he is done rehabbing his injury.
Now, is it possible that Dillard is just a bust and this injury is just delaying the inevitable for a year? Sure, that’s possible. But it’s also possible that this redshirt year is exactly what he needs as he continues his development. We’ll find out next Summer.
Reps for Mailata and Pryor
Matt Pryor is being asked to fill some of the void left by Halapoulivaati Vaitai, the team’s swing tackle, backup to Jason Peters (which is itself sometimes a full-time job), and emergency guard over the last few seasons. Big V left in free agency, and Pryor was identified early on as a candidate for some of the work vacated by his departure. And after the Brooks injury but before Peters signed, he was penciled in as the starting right guard.
Jordan Mailata is a freak of an athlete who 1. Is still very new to football and 2. Just can’t seem to stay healthy. The Eagles have been able to stash him on injured reserve at different points in the past due to injuries, but it’s probably time for this experiment to start yielding some conclusions.
With the Andre Dillard injury, Mailata should see more reps with the first-team offense and could even be given the opportunity to prove he can start (not likely, but you never know) or at least fill-in at left tackle when needed. Mailata has some shortcomings, but functional strength isn’t one of them.
Pryor, on the other hand, could be headed back to the starting lineup just a few weeks after getting bumped in favor of Jason Peters. The assumption everywhere is that Peters is going to kick out to LT. If he does, Pryor should be back in at RG. And if that is the case, better for this injury to happen now than during the season so Pryor can get as many reps as possible.
The roster crunch
As Adam Caplan pointed out today on InsideTheBirds.com, the list of remaining free agent offensive linemen is uninspiring. This is fine. The Eagles should use the roster spot vacated by Dillard (once he is placed on injured reserve) to keep another one of their young lineman around.
Before Dillard’s injury, the team’s starting linemen from left-to-right was:
- LT – Andre Dillard
- LG – Isaac Seumalo
- C – Jason Kelce
- RG – Jason Peters
- RT – Lane Johnson
Way back in May, I published a way-too-early Eagles 53-man roster prediction. This was before Peters signing and before the Brooks injury. These are the 10 offensive linemen I had the team keeping:
Offensive Line (10)
- Lane Johnson
- Brandon Brooks
- Jason Kelce
- Isaac Seumalo
- Andre Dillard
- Jack Driscoll
- Matt Pryor
- Prince Tega Wanogho
- Jordan Mailata
- Luke Juriga
Here is what has happened and what we have learned since then:
- Obviously, Jason Peters is in and Andre Dillard and Brandon Brooks are out, as both will be on injured reserve (side note: there is a SMALL chance Brooks returns late in the season, but he will be on injured reserve to start the season nonetheless).
- Nate Herbig is making this roster. He has been the sixth offensive lineman in jumbo sets and has even rotated in at left guard with the first team when Seumalo has slid over to center in place of Kelce (when Kelce has been getting some rest).
- Jack Driscoll is drawing rave reviews from coaches, teammates, and reporters. It’s very early, but he looks like someone who could have value for years to come as a guard/swing tackle the way that Todd Herremans was.
- Marr Pryor has been getting reps at right guard and right tackle. The team likes him, and I like him, too. Before the team signed Peters, I thought he should be given a shot to start at right guard after Brooks went down. Now, maybe he will?
- Jordan Mailata has been the second-team left tackle, and the results have been mixed. Over the last week, some have speculated that the Eagles might end the Mailata experiment and that he might not make the final roster. Others have pushed back on that theory. Now, could Mailata be given a shot to win the starting left tackle job? It’s possible. We know this much: Jason Peters, approaching 40 years old, isn’t going to take every snap in practice, especially if he jumps back over to LT. Mailata will get reps. Can he make the most of them?
There is more, obviously, but those are some of the bigger developments. With Dillard out, there will be more practice reps for younger players, and there will be an extra roster spot. In my initial prediction, I had the Eagles keeping 10 offensive linemen. Maybe that drops to nine now, or maybe the team uses Dillard’s spot to keep someone like Juriga.
Here is who I have them keeping now, with Juriga as someone they try to get onto the practice squad if they only keep nine:
- Lane Johnson
- Jason Peters
- Jason Kelce
- Isaac Seumalo
- Jordan Mailata
- Matt Pryor
- Jack Driscoll
- Nate Herbig
- Prince Tega Wanogho
- Luke Juriga
Previously, it may have been a tough decision to keep Wanogho. He has a ton of potential but may have been battling with Mailata for a single roster spot. Now, the team might be more willing to keep both.
While the Andre Dillard injury isn’t ideal, it does give the Eagles an opportunity to get an extended look at some of their younger offensive linemen.
