Andre Dillard is the Eagles’ touted first-round rookie, but that might not earn him a big role this year

The last Eagles top pick who didn’t play much as a rookie was edge rusher Marcus Smith in 2014.

That did not turn out well, in the long run.

Yet, if all goes as planned, Andre Dillard will spend the 2019 season watching Jason Peters play left tackle.

Unlike Smith, drafted 26th overall after the Eagles traded back once, then tried and failed to trade out of the first round entirely, Dillard was not a reach. NFL.com gave him a 6.20 draft rating, translating to “should become an instant starter.” The team traded up from 25th to 22nd to get him, foiling the plans of the Houston Texans, who were picking 23rd. The Texans ultimately fired general manager Brian Gaine, apparently for a number of reasons.

Given that Peters is 37 and has played as many as 80 percent of the offensive snaps only once in the last four years, Dillard stands a decent chance of getting more than the 74 snaps Smith recorded in the Eagles’ 2014 defense, especially since the former Peters backup, Halapoulivaati Vaitai, has been moved to guard. And it might be relevant to note that three years ago at this time, the plan was for top pick Carson Wentz not to play much as a rookie. That plan changed.

Apparently, though, Peters is set to report to training camp Wednesday for his 16th NFL season refreshed by a healthy offseason. And, regardless of the fact that Dillard was widely projected as a top-15 pick, starting a rookie at left tackle isn’t viewed as a great way to win a Super Bowl.

Last month, offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland indicated that as much as he likes Dillard’s potential, there is a lot of work to be done before Peters’ designated replacement is ready to ascend to the throne now occupied by a nine-time Pro Bowl performer.

“The players that come out of college, none of them, in my opinion, are ready to play. There’s work to do. That’s the process we’re in right now — to make sure he understands the offensive system, to make sure he’s utilizing the proper techniques we’re teaching. That’s what we’re focusing on,” Stoutland said.

“I think the expectations are, ‘we drafted you in, so you go and play.’ But you can look around the league ... at some guys who were drafted in the first round, look where they are today.

“There’s so much to teach these guys. There’s so much at this level to have to teach ’em and for them to understand and experience the speed of the game at this level. When you run a stunt in college compared to like a stunt in the National Football League, it is so much quicker, so much faster.”

Stoutland was asked if he has a plan tailored to keeping Dillard engaged if he isn’t active for games, or is active and isn’t getting on the field.

“I’m not ready to do that,” Stoutland said. “I want to focus on exactly what this individual needs to do on this play, with this technique, with this type of effort. You make your hay by focusing, by detailing everything out. Then the rest of it will take care of itself.”

Dillard, who is listed at 6-foot-5, 315, indicated this spring that he is up for whatever the coaching staff plans.

“They’re a great, veteran group of players. … Whatever the team needs me to do, I’m going to do,” Dillard said. “Starting would be cool, but being drafted is cool. I’m going to do whatever they want me to do. I’m ready to roll.”

Dillard was surprised to be drafted by the Eagles, who were at least a little surprised to end up drafting him. A bumper crop of defensive linemen bumped the draft’s offensive line talent down a bit, and when general manager Howie Roseman saw the chance to get from 25th to 22nd for a fourth- and sixth-round pick, with Dillard on the board, he took it.

The process that led to Dillard was not what Stoutland would have preferred in acquiring a first-round O-lineman for just the second time in his tenure, after Lane Johnson, who went fourth overall in 2013.

“I like when you go out to the school, you get a chance to spend the night before, you go sit down with him, you sit in the classroom, the next morning you wake up, you do the workout,” Stoutland said. “If there’s anything else you need to do, you hang around a little longer. I didn’t have that chance to do that with him.”

The Eagles touched base with Dillard at the Senior Bowl but did not use one of their 30 predraft visits on him, and didn’t send Stoutland to Washington State’s pro day. In fact, the weekend before the draft, Stoutland ran down his list of O-linemen and decided he wasn’t happy with what he knew about Dillard.

“When Mr. Lurie or Howie asks me a question about a particular player, I’d better have an answer,” Stoutland said. “That’s my job.”

It was the Saturday morning before the draft. Stoutland went into a room at his home where he could call Dillard, telling his wife he just needed to do this one thing and then he’d be free the rest of the day.

What did Stoutland feel he needed to know?

“Just the football intelligence part of it. How important is the game? The whole makeup. I wanted to just double back on it all. Felt very very comfortable and very good about that conversation. Never thought anything would come of it, to be quite honest with you.”

Stoutland did come away from the Face-Timed conversation feeling a solid connection.

“I like the fact that he’s looking for somebody that can challenge him,” Stoutland said.

Stoutland does that. He noticed that in all the draft write-ups, analysts questioned Dillard’s ability to run-block, since he seldom needed to in Washington State coach Mike Leach’s pass-happy offense, and never assumed a three-point stance.

“I kind of needle him with that a little bit,” Stoutland said. "I don’t necessarily believe that — just because a player wasn’t asked to do that in college doesn’t mean that he’s deficient in that area. We do a lot of things here where we combination block. So, if we’re going to combination block, one of the important factors is for the trail player to get into the hip, get hip-to-hip, shoulder-to-shoulder. To be able to do that, you have to be able to close the distance. Man, can he close the distance.”

Dillard said he understands what Stoutland is doing, when he mockingly brings up the run-block analysis.

“It’s not really, like, something that gets me angry. It’s just kind of a joke,” he said.

Jordan Mailata, the rugby player the Eagles are trying to turn into an offensive tackle, has moved to the right side, where he backs up Johnson. Mailata was in a different spot than Dillard a year ago, with Mailata never having played a down of American football, but he had a similar experience in getting used to Stoutland’s methods.

“I think ‘Dre’s doing really well,” Mailata said last month. “Him and Stout get on really well. … He doesn’t baby him, Stout does get up on him when he does something wrong. He’s quick, he’s fast, and he’s doing really well, I think. He’s pretty funny. Very confident … always willing to learn from everyone.”

Dillard said he was appreciative of the way Peters watched each of his reps during spring drills, and offered instruction afterward. Training camp will offer much more of that sort of thing, sometimes in pads. Dillard was asked if he was eager to get to that step.

“Extremely. That’s what I’ve been waiting for this whole time,” he said. “It should be a lot of fun, a good learning experience. I’m ready to get after it. … I’m nowhere near where I want to be, but with every day comes more improvement.”

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