Eagles Draft Pick Capsules

PHILADELPHIA (973espn.com) -

Round 1, No. 22 overall - Andre Dillard, LT Washington State - A top 10 talent started to drift and the Eagles seized on it, trading two Saturday picks (No. 127 in the fourth round and No. 197 in the sixth) to move up three spots and leapfrog offensive line-needy Houston to snare the future at left tackle.

IMPACT: Dillard is a worthy heir to Jason Peters and figures to be the starter at left tackle in 2020. His rookie season should be spent as the game-day swing tackle behind Lane Johnson and Peters. Perhaps Halapoulivaati Vaitai is moved to garner a late-round pick lost in the deal while now second-year player Jordan Mailata can rest easy as he continues what was expected to be at least a three-year project in his shift from Australian rugby to NFL player.

CONCERNS: In Mike Leach's air-raid offense, Dillard was constantly in a two-point stance and rarely asked to fire off the ball as a run blocker so there is some projection to his game. Technique will be a key to Dillard reaching his ceiling as a player making offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland very important in his development but a solid template is there for a player that compared himself to Dallas All-Pro Tyron Smith.

SUMMARY: Dillard is the most accomplished pass protector at tackle in the 2019 class. According to ProFootballFocus.com. Dillard was asked to protect the QB 722 times in 2018, allowing only 1.0 sack and 13 pressures (a minuscule 1.8 percent). He was generally one of the top 15 players on most draft boards and the Eagles claimed they had him in their top 10 so there's tremendous value in the pick even if it's not at an immediate need position.

"At the Senior Bowl,I kind of got my first glimpse at being in a three-point stance and it felt pretty natural for me to do that and put the hand in the dirt and just drive somebody off the ball so if that was a lot of fun," Dillard said. "I can only imagine what the next chapter in my life is going to be like and I'm just really excited to get to work and improve in every way that I can."

STILL TO COME:

Round 2, No. 53 overall

Round 2, No. 57 overall

Round 4, No. 138 overall

Round 5, No. 163 overall