Checking in on Andre Dillard in the NFL

It is almost football training camp season. Which for Andre Dillard means it’s almost time for his first NFL training camp. It’s been two months since Dillard was drafted in the first round by the Philadelphia Eagles, and it appears he’s adjusting well.

“He improves every day,” Eagles offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland said via PhillyVoice.com. “He’s exactly what he was when we evaluated him. He’s just smooth, a great athlete.”

Stoutland said Dillard has also showed well as a run blocker, noting that just because he didn’t do it a lot in college, doesn’t mean he is lacking.

It doesn’t sound like Dillard will play much right away. The Eagles have entrenched tackles at both spots and Stoutland’s belief is all incoming offensive linemen need time to develop and adjust to the speed of the NFL.

Dillard famously got a lot bigger and a lot stronger during his time at WSU, and it sounds like that process hasn’t stopped.

“He has already developed since he has been here, in terms of physicality, in terms of weight,” Stoutland said. “To me he’s already on that track.”

Dillard left WSU at 315 pounds, so if he gets even bigger and stronger, he may never allow a single sack in his career.

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Football:

One last phone call from Jeff Stoutland helped connect Andre Dillard, Philadelphia Eagles - pennlive.com
The Saturday before the 2019 NFL Draft, Jeff Stoutland felt like he needed to make one more call. So the Philadelphia Eagles offensive line coach asked his wife to leave him alone for a little bit, and he went into another room of his house. After one call, he would be good for the rest of the day.