An Offseason of Change for Andre Dillard

The Eagles left tackle, now a starter, is also much bigger and stronger, and doesn't mind having the man he replaced, Jason Peters, still around as the right guard

PHILADELPHIA – It’s been an offseason of change for Andre Dillard.

Yep, the Eagles left tackle is bigger and stronger, just like everyone from center Jason Kelce and offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland to head coach Doug Pederson have said all offseason on Zoom.

Dillard is something else, too.

He’s more confident, for one, and his relationship with Stoutland has grown, for another thing.

The new left tackle spoke via a videoconference call after Wednesday’s no helmet, no pads training camp practice.

“This time around it’s basically night and day in terms of my confidence in myself and my strength,” said Dillard the second-year former first-round pick. “The game has slowed down a lot for me this time around compared to last year.

“As (last season) went on basically, as it got toward the end, I started to understand a lot more about the game, the guys we face throughout the year. I just kept studying, taking coaching, and working out a lot.”

Dillard said he gained 20 pounds. He was listed at 315 as a rookie, so that puts him at 335.

It was an offseason of eating more nutritiously and digesting plenty of weights.

“That definitely was a big goal of mine, to bulk up, get more strength and all that during the offseason,” he said. “Kept my body fat percentage the same, maybe a little bit lower than it was last year. That’s pretty good. I’ve been pushing a lot more weight, and the results, I have been feeling them. So far in training camp, I feel a lot more solid out there, stronger.”

The diet required some adjustment from his time at Washington State and Woodinville High School.

“During high school and college, I didn’t really know how to do it,” said Dillard. “I just kind of ate late at night and woke up in the middle of the night and drank shakes and stuff like that. Last year, going about it, I was in contact with our strength coaches a lot.

“I was always on the phone with them. I’m starting to pay more attention to nutritional things, just taking in a lot more calories, pushing the weight, just really a lot of hard work.”

As for his relationship with Stoutland, Dillard said: “This year, we’re a lot more familiar with each other. Just our personalities. In terms of how he coaches me stuff, that probably won’t change because he has his coaching methods. I feel a lot closer to him.”

What hasn’t changed: Jason Peters is still around.

Dillard of course took Peters’ job at left tackle and Peters is only back with the team he spent the past 11 years with wanted an experienced veteran to replace Brandon Brooks at right guard after Brooks tore his Achilles in early June.

It didn’t matter that Peters never played guard in his life. The Eagles were high on his leadership.

“I’m happy that he’s back,” said Dillard. “It’s unfortunate that Brandon Brooks went down. Having a familiar face back, a guy that’s legendary, has a lot of knowledge, it’s good to have. He’s one of the greatest linemen ever. It just bolsters our group. I’m excited to keep learning from him this year.”

What Dillard wouldn’t mind seeing change, though he wouldn’t admit it on Wednesday, and that is his relationship with the fans, who, for some reason, don’t seem very confident Dillard can get the job done at left tackle, even though he played well in three starts there as a rookie.

“From my perspective, I don’t really take to heart what fans say, they’re not on our practice or in our meeting rooms,” he said. “The only opinion that matters is coaches and players, so I just keep my head down. Every day my goal is to just keep improving.”

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