Boston College Football: AJ Dillon squashes “NFL fullback” projection

The NFL Combine was good to AJ Dillon, and vice versa, as the Boston College football star shook the notion that he should be an NFL fullback.

At 6-foot-0 and 247 pounds, the deafening talk of Boston College’s AJ Dillon transitioning to a fullback at the NFL level was hard to miss.

With that size and bruising running ability, Dillon looked to be a plus-fullback who could carry the ball better than most at the position, but in reality, it’s a dying position in football. This was basically a nice way for some scouts to say that he’s just not good enough, quick enough or shifty enough to play running back at the next level.

That’s not exactly a fair shake for a kid who starred at Boston College for three seasons and put up some incredible numbers in a so-so offense.

In fact, he rushed for over 4,000 yards and 38 touchdowns in three seasons and put Boston College on his back. Unfortunately, the Eagles weren’t exactly a power in the ACC and he never truly got the recognition he deserves as one of the nation’s best runners.

Sure, he could run defenders over, use a devastating stiff arm and drag piles, but his speed is incredibly underrated.

Dillon used that speed and sneaky athleticism at the NFL Combine this week to squash that fullback talk, and he took to Twitter to say so himself.

https://twitter.com/ajdillon7/status/1233850029540069380?s=20

Dillon might be 247 pounds, but he’s cut and he can run a 4.53 40-yard dash. On top of that, his 41-inch vertical and broad jump were tops among running backs. This kid is a freak athlete and that just goes to show how overlooked he’s been because he played on some average team in Chestnut Hill under Steve Addazio.

If Dillon played for a team like Clemson or Ohio State or Georgia, we’d probably be talking about him as the top running back in the class.