2019 NFL Draft: Andre Dillard has elite pass blocking potential

Former Washington State offensive tackle Andre Dillard might be the NFL Draft’s best pass blocker, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t come with his share of concerns.

Washington State’s Andre Dillard is one of the most intriguing prospects in the 2019 NFL Draft. With technical issues, playing in the air-raid, and his elite physical tools, Dillard might have the highest ceiling and lowest floor of all the projected first round offensive linemen.

He’s a boom-or-bust prospect with the potential to end up as a perennial Pro Bowl left tackle, or a guy who finds himself out of the league in a few years.

Dillard started 26 consecutive games at left tackle for Washington State, providing the perfect steadying force for Mike Leach’s offense. He was a first-team All PAC-12 and third-team AP All-American as a senior, keeping Gardner Minshew‘s blind side clean as he helped lead the Cougars to a program-record 11 win season.

He leaves a massive void on the Cougars’s offensive line, but could ultimately become the first Washington State offensive player to be selected in the first round since Ryan Leaf in 1999.

Hopefully with a much different end result.

Strengths

What makes Dillard a coveted prospect is obvious. There aren’t many players with more impressive physical traits than the Wazzu product. At 6-foot-5 and 316 pounds, he ran a blazing 4.96 40-yard-dash at the combine. He has excellent athleticism, and his foot speed allows him to easily quell speed rushers coming off of the edge. His quickness out of his break makes him an ideal left tackle prospect.

Playing in the air-raid has its advantages and disadvantages for an offensive lineman. One of the advantages is, in the increasingly pass-happy NFL, Dillard has more experience as a pass-blocker than any other prospect. There’s plenty of tape on Dillard pass-blocking, and he was mostly outstanding in that area.

His foot-speed is elite, and he has powerful hands that makes it tough for rushers to disengage from him to make a play on the quarterback.

He doesn’t have a ton of run-blocking experience due to the volume of passing plays in the Cougars offense, but his athleticism should translate to in the very least a capable run blocker. Washington State utilized receiver screens as the running game more times than not, and Dillard would often times pull out to go make blocks at the second level. When he did, his quickness to get over and make a block was impressive.

If he can reach his sky-high potential, then Dillard could become a franchise left tackle who solidifies the position for years to come.

Weaknesses

The disadvantage of playing in the air-raid is that Dillard has very little actual run-blocking experience, and almost all of his pass-blocking experience came via the shotgun. He’ll have to clean up some technical issues and learn a pro style system before he’s ready to actually take the field in the NFL.

It’s interesting that Alabama’s Jonah Williams has been picked apart in the pre-draft process for his lack of ideal arm length, and Dillard has faced no such criticism. Dillard’s arms are actually shorter than Williams’s, and yet very few prognosticators have mentioned the fact that Dillard might have to shift inside to guard like they expect Williams to.

Dillard is quicker and more athletic than Williams, which will mitigate some of the arm length issues, but he still could struggle with some of the longer edge rushers in the NFL. If he’s forced to kick inside to guard because of those issues, he doesn’t have near the run-blocking prowess as Williams to make as seamless of a transition.

Ideally, Dillard would be viewed as a long-term project, a player who isn’t likely to be thrust into the starting lineup for a year or two. Based on where he’s projected to be drafted, though, he might not have the luxury of a redshirt year.

Draft Expectations

Based on some of the concerns I’ve laid out, I would have a second-round grade on Dillard. With the draft just a week away, though, it looks like Dillard is a no-doubt first round pick with the potential to go in the Top-15.

Teams typically are willing to reach on offensive linemen, particularly players they view as potential franchise left tackles. Dillard has the potential to be an elite pass blocker at the next level, keeping the blind side clean for his quarterback.

The Bengals and Packers could have interest in Dillard inside the Top-15. It’s tough to imagine him falling past the Texans at No. 23 with their glaring need for pass protection after Deshaun Watson was sacked a league-high 62 times last year.

The Giants, Vikings, and Titans inside the Top-20 might snatch him up before Houston’s on the clock, though.

Projection: Top 20