Round 2 (62) - A.J. Dillon, RB Boston College

[Drj820]

interesting he never caught passes in college much, but the packers seem very sure that can be a strength of his. Also interesting how much the packers have mentioned him being a pass catcher...along with Jones it is almost as if a requirement to play qb for matt lafleur is to be able to hit open RBs. Something Rodgers doesnt seem naturally wired to do as he wants to look deep. He will need to learn to love that style quick it seems. As for me, I love nickel and diming defenses and then strategically setting up something explosive, so i am all for it.

[Madcity_matt]

interesting he never caught passes in college much, but the packers seem very sure that can be a strength of his. Also interesting how much the packers have mentioned him being a pass catcher...along with Jones it is almost as if a requirement to play qb for matt lafleur is to be able to hit open RBs. Something Rodgers doesnt seem naturally wired to do as he wants to look deep. He will need to learn to love that style quick it seems. As for me, I love nickel and diming defenses and then strategically setting up something explosive, so i am all for it.

Agreed, I love the pound pound pound pound bomb. So demoralizing.

[YoHoChecko]

I think the major hurdle for Dillon taking Jamaal Williams' snaps is pass blocking. Based on what the Packers say they have seen in drills and what Waldman pointed out with a couple routes in which he showed very good awareness of the ball and his defenders, I'm not as concerned about him as an outlet or flats receiver. But right now J. Williams is our pass-protection back, and I believe that played a major role in Dexter Williams being unable to get into the field.

Waldman's breakdown showed a lot of struggles with finding the right lateral angles to pick up rushing defenders--when he gets in the right position, he can deliver the block or the cut, certainly, but getting in the right position--both through the mental processing of what's happening and then through the ability to have the physical lateral movements--will need to take place for him and Jones to share time as effectively as we'd hope to see.

That's why I think it's likely that Jamaal will hold his roster spot over Dexter, even though I think Dexter has more explosion and upside. I wouldn't be surprised to see some really nice preseason plays from Dexter; may even be able to recoup his pick (6th or 7th) for cutdown trade if he does. Then again, with both Jones and Jamaal entering the final year of the contract, Dexter has a logistical edge at the roster spot.

Anyway, I'm digressing. Pass protection. Priority #1 for Dillon this offseason.

[Pckfn23]

[YoHoChecko]

The receptions look pretty good for the most part, though from what I've been reading and hearing that's a little less of a surprise than the mainstream storylines would have us believe. It's still the pass protection piece I'd like to see more of.

Switching gears entirely, here's a spreadsheet of some measurable comps and their rushing production over the first four years of their careers, though the circumstances were wildly different for them. For instance, Michael Turner was Ladanian's back-up/complement for the first four years of his career while Jamal Lewis was starter from day one (but missed a full year with an ACL). Eddie Lacy was awesome for 2 years and fell off, while Henry started slow for 2 years. Blount bounced around the league and had staying power, having his best year at age 30.

Anyway, this lacks context is what I mean, but it is interesting to sort of see the differences (lateral agility, for instance, where Blount and Bell are way better but Jacobs and Turner are way worse--3-cone, wise; would be nice to see Dillon's shuttle, but oh well). And the differences as to how they were utilized early.

Where do you guys think Dillon fits into this group? What's a realistic projection/comparison?

image.png (35.03 KiB) Viewed 632 times

[BF004]

I hope this guy can be a weapon in the passing game.

One of those things if you can split him out wide and try to cover him with a LB, can cause problems, if just a CB or safety, get him the ball and see if he can run them over and beat them up.

[BF004]

Hopefully he makes the decision easy not to resign Jones.

[Waldo]

Anyone see the pic he posted the other day on twitter?



(if you click through it through Twitter it's a full length pic)

He's no Eddy Lacy, that's for sure. Good god. He's single digit body fat.

[Pckfn23]

Come on man, Lacy was just a victim of bad camera angles... In every single pic...

[go pak go]

Come on man, Lacy was just a victim of bad camera angles... In every single pic...

When people were actually legitimately trying to defend Lacy in 2015.

[Packfntk]

Come on man, Lacy was just a victim of bad camera angles... In every single pic...

When people were actually legitimately trying to defend Lacy in 2015.

I sat about 8 feet away from him at Pancake Place here in town. Trust me, that man left no food untouched.

[Packfntk]

Signed his rookie contract! Now get to work big guy!

[TheGreenMan]

Come on man, Lacy was just a victim of bad camera angles... In every single pic...

I'm pretty sure texas called him the best Packers RB in history.

Or.. could have been..

Along those lines....

Ya.

[TheGreenMan]

What's alarming about that chart [mention]YoHoChecko[/mention] is the fact Lacey was the second lightest back behind Bell, and only by a single pound.

[TheSkeptic]

What's alarming about that chart @YoHoChecko is the fact Lacey was the second lightest back behind Bell, and only by a single pound.

The problem is that Lacy did not stay at 231 pounds for more than a couple of weeks after the Combine. No way was he under 240 when he reported to camp as a rookie. No way was he under 250 in his last 2 years. After his first 2 years he had fat man's feet and legs and lost most of his speed and quickness. What a shame.

[Yoop]

you shouldn't have to monitor a players off season regime, however some players need it more then others, lacy was just such a player, he did well his first to seasons, then balloon'd his third, once the injury bug hit he was never able to recapture his rookie ability, to bad, he was a thumper, aint a person here that didn't love what Lacy brought those first two seasons.

[RingoCStarrQB]

you shouldn't have to monitor a players off season regime, however some players need it more then others, lacy was just such a player, he did well his first to seasons, then balloon'd his third, once the injury bug hit he was never able to recapture his rookie ability, to bad, he was a thumper, aint a person here that didn't love what Lacy brought those first two seasons.

Eddie Lacy was a head scratcher. If you look at the history of the Packers first and second round draft picks since 1950 ........... you will notice many many head scratchers. On the other hand there is a great success story list as well. GO PACKERS

[TheGreenMan]

One thing I will say about Lacy though, in those first two years, and even then he was starting to look big - I've never seen a guy his size move like the way he did in open space. Once he was in the clear, you couldn't pay me to step in front of him when he was running on all cylinders.

[salmar80]

One thing I will say about Lacy though, in those first two years, and even then he was starting to look big - I've never seen a guy his size move like the way he did in open space. Once he was in the clear, you couldn't pay me to step in front of him when he was running on all cylinders.

Yeah, Lacy was like a big meteor of brittle rock - burned bright for a brief while, looked unstoppable, then broke apart. Early on he was like unlike any RB I had seen - sorta Jerome Bettis with agility and moves. One could predict that would not last as long as some more typical RB body types, but I sure was hoping for longer than we got.

Dillon is a ripped, big dude. Should be more sustainable than Lacy's physique. Hope he has the other stuff.

[Yoop]

One thing I will say about Lacy though, in those first two years, and even then he was starting to look big - I've never seen a guy his size move like the way he did in open space. Once he was in the clear, you couldn't pay me to step in front of him when he was running on all cylinders.

Yeah, Lacy was like a big meteor of brittle rock - burned bright for a brief while, looked unstoppable, then broke apart. Early on he was like unlike any RB I had seen - sorta Jerome Bettis with agility and moves. One could predict that would not last as long as some more typical RB body types, but I sure was hoping for longer than we got.

Dillon is a ripped, big dude. Should be more sustainable than Lacy's physique. Hope he has the other stuff.

another thing that upset me concerning Lacy and what may have caused some of his complacency, he had to have blown a gasket when McCarthy limited him starting his 2nd season to 15 touches a game, down from the measly 19 touches as a rookie.

it takes touches for a RB to gain confidence with the OL and get a feel for his blockers tendency's, and at only 15 touches a game it slows down that process.