Jeff Stoutland Names Landon Dickerson Most Improved O-Lineman
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PHILADELPHIA - The standard is pretty high on Jeff Stoutland’s offensive line with the current incarnation led by Pro Bowl standouts in center Jason Kelce and right tackle Lane Johnson.
From there you have the unicorn-like ability of left tackle Jordan Mailata, the criminally underrated Isaac Seumalo at right guard, and the runt of this litter in second-year left guard Landon Dickerson.
The term runt in this instance is used as a literary device to describe reputation because at 6-foot-6 and 333 pounds, the Alabama product via Florida State is typically never going to be described as the smallest in any litter.
At this time last year, Dickerson, 23, was just ramping back up from an ACL injury that essentially ended his college career besides a quick feel-good cameo in the national championship game.
A first-round talent, Dickerson’s injury pushed him down the draft board a bit to the Eagles at No. 37 overall where he was called a luxury pick by many, the latest heir apparent to Kelce at center, the position Dickerson dominated at with the Crimson Tide.
Luxury turned to necessity early in the 2021 season when Brandon Brooks suffered a pec injury and Seumalo quickly followed with a Lisfranc foot injury, forcing the Eagles to throw Dickerson into the deep end of the pool, first at RG and then at LG.
Dickerson found his footing on the left side and by the end of the season, he and Mailata proved so dominant that the Eagles moved Seumalo to the RG position as the replacement for Brooks, who retired back in January.
Offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland was asked to compare where Dickerson is as a player this September vs. 12 months ago.
“Light years [ahead], not even close, not even the same player,” Stoutland said. “... I see a guy playing with low hips. I see a guy who struggled a little bit to change direction coming off the injury. But now I see a guy, you watch the Miami stuff, you could see how quickly he was bumping off the twist stunts and how he was redirecting his feet. To me, that’s a different type of player.”
Stoutland wasn’t even prompted but decided to dub the LG with a mythical title.
“I’m really excited," he said. "I would say, and you didn’t ask me this, but if you said to me, ‘who’s the most improved player?’ I would say it was him.”
Dickerson is often his own harshest critic and that doesn’t surprise Stoutland in the least.
“There’s a whole list of things that come to mind,” Dickerson said after his rookie season when asked what he needs to work on. “Whether it’s footwork, changing direction, flexibility, explosiveness, speed, power, strength, vision, reading defenses.
“There’s a lot of things I’d like to improve on.”
“All the great players I’ve ever coached feel that way,” said Stoutland. “If you see (cut-ups) of every guy I’m coaching right now that have done something...one thing happened (Wednesday), and the guy was pissed, but that’s how good players are. They want it to be perfect. They want to be the very best.”
Maybe the best indication of how talented Dickerson is, though, is Seumalo, a veteran player that Stoutlad reveres.
“I’ve said this for a long, long time, Isaac is a tremendous player,” the OL coach said. “He’s such an underrated player because of his demeanor. He’s quiet, he doesn’t say much, but when he speaks in our meeting, and he doesn’t speak in our meeting, that’s his comfort zone. When he talks about technique and he gets up, and he does, players listen.
“On film, guys are amazed at what he can do. The screen games, the perimeter game, the guy’s unbelievable.”
Not unbelievable enough to upset the apple cart when it comes to Dickerson staying put at left guard, though.
-John McMullen contributes Eagles coverage for SI.com's Eagles Today and is the NFL Insider for JAKIB Sports. You can listen to John, alongside legendary sports-talker Jody McDonald, every morning from 8-10 on ‘Birds 365,” streaming live on YouTube.com and JAKIBSports.com. You can reach John at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen
