THE NFL DRAFT REPORT PRESENTS
THE 2019 SCOUTING REPORT: ANDRE DILLARD
NFL TEAMS NEEDING PASS PROTECTION ARE READY TO POUNCE ON THIS COUGAR
Andre Dillard-#60
Washington State University Cougars
6:05.0-315
Agility Tests...4.97 in the 40-yard dash…1.70 10-yard dash…2.86 20-yard dash…4.40 20-yard shuttle…7.44 three-cone drill…29-inch vertical jump…9'-10" broad jump…Bench pressed 225 pounds 24 times…33 1/2-inch arm length…10-inch hands…80 3/8-inch wingspan.
Background...Despite a solid prep career, even the Cougars coaching staff had doubts that Dillard would succeed at the college level earlier in his tenure at WSU. The Washington native attended Woodinville High School, where he was named All-King County first-team and King County 4A Crest Division Offensive Lineman of the Year as a senior.
Dillard added Seattle Times All-Area honors, yet only received a two star recruit rating from ESPN.com, Rivals.com and Scout.com. That star rating was a bit puzzling, as ESPN also had selected him as the sixth-best overall prospect in the state. At least the Seattle Times pegged it right, choosing the lineman for red chip prospect honors after naming him one of Washington’s top-16 prospects.
Enrolling at Washington State seemed like a natural. After all, his father, Mitch, had also toiled on the Cougars' offensive line as a center, lettering in 1986. It took three seasons for Mitch to earn his first letter and his son appeared heading for the same path. Andre was red-shirted after enrolling in 2014 and was limited to three contests during the 2015 campaign. Still, he made a lasting impression on the coaches after he debuted vs. UCLA, starting at left tackle in the Colorado and the Apple Cup clash vs. in-state rivals, Washington. Dillard would never come off the bench again as a Cougar.
Opponents soon notice that Dillard was a load to handle, despite playing on an island at left tackle. The All-Pac-12 second-team selection started all thirteen games that season. It was a bit of adjustment for the youngster, but despite being flagged fourteen times and giving up seven of the thirty sacks yielded by the front wall, he helped the offense throw for forty touchdowns while averaging 362.5 aerial yards per game. Through 1,074 snaps, he finished with 118 knockdowns.
Twice named Player of the Game for his blocking vs. USC and Oregon State, Dillard only received All-Pac 12 honorable mention in 2017. He participated in 1,034 offensive plays and proved to be an invaluable performer for an offense that ranked 27th in the nation with 5,012 total yards (455.64 ypg), placing third in the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision ranks and first in the Pac-12 Conference with an average of 375.27 aerial yards per game.
With Dillard lowering his sack yield total to just two and reducing his penalties to only five flags, the Cougars would be accorded enough pass protection to rank seventh in the FBC while placing second in the Pac-12 with a pass completion percentage of .676.
The media began to recognize Dillard's talents, as he was named All-American first-team by The NFL Draft Report, second-team by SI.com and third-team by the Associated Press in 2018. The All-Pac 12 first-team choice added player of the game honors vs. San Jose State, Oregon State, Oregon, California and Arizona.
Dillard allowed only one sack via 677 pass plays, grading 98.9% for blocking consistency, as he posted 134 knockdowns. He was penalized just four times through 985 snaps and was a major reason the Cougars led the nation in passing, averaging 373.8 yards per game. They also totaled 451.5 yards offense per contest.
The Scouting Report
Athletic Ability... Dillard has a well-developed frame with room for additional growth. He can carry at least another 15 pounds of bulk without having the additional weight impact his foot speed. He has the long arms (80 3/8-inch wing span) and broad shoulders you look for in a left tackle. He possesses a big bubble, wide waist and hips, solid thickness in his thighs and calves and firm midsection. With his toned frame and good body fat content, he looks more like a defensive lineman, especially with his sudden explosion off the snap.
Dillard has natural strength and quickness, as his 40-yard dash clocking of 4.99 is one of the best among 2019 NFL Draft eligible offensive tackles. He shows excellent balance and change of direction flexibility, along with outstanding acceleration when working into the second level. He plays on his feet well, thanks to superb balance and shows the body control to play and adjust in space and pick up blocks on the move down field. He can slide and readjust to mirror edge rushers in pass protection. He also displays the lower body flexibility to drop his pads and anchor firmly vs. stunts and the bull rush.
He shows ease of movement accelerating into the second level and excellent change of direction agility to make plays working down the line. He plays with a strong base, keeping his feet wide and pad level low to generate enough explosion coming off the snap. He has the lateral range to make adjustments in his pass set. Dillard bends his knees with good flexibility and shows that he has the quickness to get out on the edge and seal off the rush. He has the agility to pull and trap with effectiveness from the outside position and displays good hand usage and the redirection skills to mirror on stunts and blitzes.
Initial Quickness...Dillard has exceptional initial quickness for his position. He is very light on his feet for a player his size and shows the ability to immediately react to movement. He is sudden working to gain position working in-line or when reaching into the second level. He generates explosive pop on contact, especially in pass protection and has that long wing-span that he uses effectively to engulf edge rushers. He gets to top speed quickly and does a very good job of getting up field to neutralize the linebackers.
He has nimble feet and excellent redirection agility to make proper body adjustments on the move. He is also very quick to gain hand placement, using his long reach to keep defenders at bay. He shows ease of movement in his kick slide and can really gain a head of steam when he gets moving. When he gains advantage on a defender with his foot speed, he works hard to keep it. He has the short area speed to get up field and shows the strong base to maintain his position when working in-line.
Balance/Stays on His Feet…Dillard consistently plays at a low pad level, quickly generating the explosive burst to gain advantage. He is able to cover defenders up, thanks to his long reach and large hands. Even at his size, he shows no problem getting low in his stance to attain proper leverage, displaying excellent knee bend. He plays on his feet well, using his hands to sustain. He plays with steady effort and is a strong, physical finisher.
Once he locks on to a defender, he will generally win the battle. Even vs. the bull rush, defenders have a very difficult time attempting to knock him off his base. He always plays with his feet and base wide, which allows him to battle throughout the play. He uses his hands with force to gain position and is a nasty finisher whose hand quickness and placement lets him mirror his man and sustain blocks. Even when he over-extends, he is quick to recover. His body control lets him excel on the pull. It is very rare to see him lunge or fall to the ground, using his long arms to generate solid reach blocks.
Explosion/Pop… Dillard combines his size, strength, body mass and long wingspan to generate very good explosion behind his blocks. He is also an explosive hip roller, playing with properly bent knees that he uses well, along with his strength to push and wall off his man. When he extends his arms and executes his hand punch, his upper body power will see him jolt and control the defender. He will sometimes over-extend and try to maul the opponent, but shows good pop driving into the defender on running plays. He demonstrates good hand usage and above average strength to shock and jolt, but might have to add more bulk to maintain that consistency at the next level.
He accelerates quickly coming off the ball and his low pad level lets him get underneath the defender to sustain. He is a very good positional mover who can maul. He uses his hands with force, delivering a solid punch to stymie the bull rush and simply knocks people off balance with his explosion off the snap. He is not the type who will lean and shove, preferring to attack and grind it out until the whistle. His lower body flexibility is superb and he drives off the ball with good urgency. When he makes contact, he hits with thud and good pop.
Run Blocking…Dillard comes off the snap with a hard surge and good leg drive, possessing the feet to stay on his blocks and sustain. He is a good upper body blocker who shuffles his feet well. As a zone blocker, he has more than enough strength to move out level one defenders. Once he gains position off the snap, he has the strength to wall off. He has a good concept for taking proper angles to cut off second level opponents and shows outstanding ability leading on long pulls.
He is still more comfortable working in space, as he shows better explosion getting out to search and neutralize linebackers, but has the leg drive and lateral movement to be quite effective maintaining rush lane integrity. In 2018 (see San Jose State, Oregon, California games), he showed very good improvement in attempts to scope, sustain and make reach blocks than in the past. He plays on his feet and battles throughout the play. He gets very good hip roll, which lets him be more physical and aggressive coming off the snap. He sets his base a little high at times when blocking in-line, but generally does a solid job of using his size to maul and take over on blocks.
Pass Blocking…This is his greatest asset. Dillard uses his foot quickness well to shuffle his feet and slide back with ease when taking on edge rushers. He stays square and balanced while keeping his pad level low. Even when he gets over-extended, he is quick to recover. He generates a strong anchor and good field vision to recover vs. double moves. He is quick to pivot in attempts to counter the speed rush, as he shows good urgency getting to his reach point.
He uses his long arms effectively in attempts to extend and lock on to the defender’s jersey. He has the speed to mirror and square up with an opponent, as his strong anchor lets him maintain position when trying to neutralize the pass rush charge. He excels with edge blocking, showing the foot quickness in his kick slide to mirror (rare to see him drop his head when making contact).
With his lateral quickness, he has no problems when trying to slide and readjust. Dillard plays with good awareness and has the flexibility along with functional lower body strength to anchor. Few offensive tackles demonstrate the hand quickness he has. He comes out of his stance with good urgency and a solid base, opening his hips quickly to pivot and adjust to the speed rush
Pulling/Trapping Skills…Dillard’s quickness suggests that the coaching staff should find more ways to using him on pulls. He is an athletic blocker who is smooth in his movement getting into the second level. He has the body control to execute blocks in space and plays with a strong base that makes it very difficult for the defender to get him off his feet. His quickness coming out of his stance and outstanding body control allows him to make fluid adjustments working in space, making him an ideal lead blocker on long pulls and playing down field.
There is great ease of movement in his hips when changing direction. He has more than enough balance to stay on his feet on the move. He adjusts well to pick up stunts when working in-line and shows very good explosiveness to get out and make plays in space. His change of direction agility lets him make good contact on the move, especially when he attempts to neutralize linebackers.
Use of Hands/Punch... Dillard has the hand strength to stun and control defenders with his hand punch.. He has made good strides using his hands to lock on and grab. As a junior, he displayed much better ability of throwing his hands, thanks to good timing. He has the long arms to pressure and keep rush ends at bay, using his strength and pop on contact to jolt and control the opponent. When he attacks a defender with his hand punch, he will generally neutralize him. He will get a little reckless at times and take long arm swipes, causing the defender to slip off his blocks, but shows enough redirection agility to recover.
Dillard is capable of getting on top of the linebackers, as he will use his long arms to engulf and his strength to pancake them in the open. He has good hip swerve that he uses to adjust and make contact when delivering open field blocks. He has the balance and foot speed to get in front of the charge on pulls and roll-outs, taking proper angles to get into the second level. He is always looking for linebackers to attack. He shows great ease of movement in space and has the body control and base to get position and keep it. He takes proper angles to cut off and when he wheels on the linebacker, he will quickly neutralize the opponent. He is very alert when working in space and likes to use his hands with force to shock and jolt.
Reactions/Awareness...Dillard plays with very good awareness in pass protection, as he is quick to locate and pick up games and stunts instantly. He does a nice job chipping to the second level and is very alert on the edge to neutralize pass rushers in space. He has no problems digesting the playbook and deals with the mental aspect of the game well. He is very quick to pick up defensive schemes and has good work ethic, easily taking the plays from the board to the field with only minimal reps. He is the type who shows enough savvy to make blocking calls, if needed.
Dillard is a quick-footed athlete whose ability to shuffle and slide makes him an ideal fit at left tackle. He is quick to recover when caught out of position and shows good urgency and vision to handle twists and games. He is very natural reacting and executing blocks on the move. His foot speed lets him get to his reach point and cut off edge rushers and he displays good body control when readjusting to movement. He does a good job of shuffling his feet. When he gets too tall in his stance, he can get caught out of position (will lunge and fail to recover), but when he stays square, he maintains good balance.
Compares To...David Bakhtiari-Green Bay Packers...Like the Packers standout, both have led or been near the top of the leader-board in pass protection among their peers. Both players are blessed with excellent athletic agility, along with the quick feet to mirror even the speedy edge rushers. Dillard is a solid run blocker that plays on his feet with very good balance and body control. He has the strength to gain position when working in-line and does a very good job of creating and widening rush lanes. He is capable of staying on his feet and sustaining his blocks, using his hand strength well to lock on and control his man.
