Prospect Profile: Washington State T Andre Dillard

Tackle | Washington State | Redshirt Senior Height: 6-foot-5 | Weight: 315 pounds College Stats 2018: Started all 13 games; allowed just one sack on 677 pass attempts; All-Pac-12 First Team; Associated Press All-America Third Team; Senior Bowl participant Career: Appeared in 42 games and made 41 starts, including 39 in final three seasons; All-Pac-12 Honorable Mention in 2017Profile Summary: Dillard’s father Mitch played offensive line for the Cougars in the 1980s, but the younger Dillard was admittedly reluctant in developing his passion for the game. Dillard played basketball growing up, which he credits with improving the footwork that has helped him advance since hitting the gridiron in eighth grade. He went out for football initially to be “cooler” at school and didn’t love it until he said a switch flipped midway through his sophomore season at Woodinville High School (Washington). Dillard didn’t have many offers out of high school but joined the Cougars. He weighed 240 pounds when he arrived in Pullman. After redshirting in 2014, Dillard played in three games in 2015 and became a year-round starter in 2016. NFL Media draft analyst Lance Zierlein wrote Dillard can provide an “instant athletic upgrade” for teams at left tackle but has room to develop in the run game. “While he could play with a little more ferocity as a finisher, he has the athletic ability to make all the blocks and the protection talent to become a good, early starter on the left side,” Zierlein wrote. Click here for Zierlein’s full report. Stacking up (before the combine): Draft analyst Dane Brugler, who writes for The Athletic, ranked Dillard as the fifth-best tackle in this year’s class. NFL Media analyst Bucky Brooks listed Dillard as the second-best tackle in his newest positional rankings. Dillard is listed as the No. 13 overall prospect in NFL Media analyst Daniel Jeremiah’s most recent top 50. He has been listed at 12, 10, 11 and 13 in four different posts. “Overall, Dillard is a pure, pass-protecting left tackle,” Jeremiah wrote. “Yes, he needs to get stronger and more physical, but in a passing league, what he does best is highly coveted.” How his love for football blossomed: “It was kind of a mix. I started to become good at it, positive things were happening in the game. I was getting these feelings of strong satisfaction from doing those things. … Usually when we start to understand things for what they are, they tend to grow on us. So that’s kind of what happened, and just learning more and more about the game and what it can bring to a life just made me love it even more.”

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Prospect Profile: Washington State T Andre Dillard

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