Can Andre Dillard Handle the Pressure?
There are questions about Andre Dillard.
Will he return for his second year strong enough?
Is he good enough?
Was he worthy of being a first-round pick?
I have one more: Can he handle the pressure of replacing a potential Hall of Fame candidate in Jason Peters at left tackle?
Day Five of our Shoulda, Coulda, Woulda Eagles series dived back into the Peters vs. Dillard debate, and that is should Peters be brought back because of the coronavirus pandemic that has rendered an offseason of field time for Dillard nonexistent?
It’s a question that just won’t go away, nor will it until a few days after training camp opens, which, the hope for Eagles fans will happen at some point in late July.
If it does open, then it could very well be August before the answer arrives, and it may not be until after the preseason opener at the Indianapolis Colts on Aug. 13, if that game even takes place.
Peters may be in another camp by then, or he could be waiting for a call that may never come.
Forget Peters for a moment, though.
Is there any other player on the Eagles’ roster at the moment that has more pressure on him to succeed than Dillard?
J.J. Arcega-Whiteside comes to mind. Like Dillard, the receiver also arrived in the 2019 NFL Draft. Arcega-Whiteside had about as disappointing rookie season as any second-round pick in the league, but he wasn’t a first-round pick like Dillard.
Nor is Arcega-Whiteside tabbed to replace a probable Hall of Famer at left tackle.
Fair or not, expectations are going to be sky-high for Dillard. Any sack allowed or false start will open him up to criticism. Also, there seems to be a blossoming assumption that he is going to be the starting left tackle for the next decade.
That’s pressure.
At least Dillard can lean on some of the success he had last year, when he made three starts at left tackle and held up admirably against some experienced pass rushers in Everson Griffen, Robert Quinn, and Khalil Mack.
Throw the start at right tackle out the window. Dillard never played the position in his life, and it showed.
So what if he was asked to learn it in a week and didn’t exactly embrace it?
Dillard has been spoken highly of by various scouts around the league.
Sure, he needs to get stronger, and that has been well documented, with head coach Doug Pederson even mentioning that last month.
However, once criticism arrives – and it will because nobody is perfect in the NFL or even outside the NFL – will Dillard be able to handle it?
Unfortunately, Philadelphia has a way of eating its young, and we have already seen a sensitive side to Dillard when he appeared to get emotional over a scuffle that broke out during training camp last year.
The hope is he will be allowed to grow without boos filling his ears, that he will be able to block out the noise and will develop into an above-average player in 2020 and continue a trajectory upward in the ensuing years, until he, too, maybe constructs a Hall of Fame career.
Dillard, of course, cannot let himself look that far ahead, and needs to focus on each game, each snap, really.
Yes, it’s cliché, but if he wants to succeed and live up to the lofty expectations that will greet him when he returns to Philly, that is the only path to take.
