@Henry posted:A lot of people think he's going to have short shelf life because of how he runs. Anyone know about injury history? He may be one of those guys that just defies the odds. I hope so. He definitely can break tackles. Great balance too.
His sophomore year he played with an ankle injury that slightly limited him. He played better as a junior where he was completely healthy all the way through.
Obviously a nice blend of power and speed, but what impresses most about Dillon is his quick feet and his balance at contact(down right special) . Look forward to seeing him in the MLF offense.
I do have to say....he gets to top speed in 1 or 2 steps. Pretty impressive for a 250 pound dude.
I sure hope these first 3 picks prove us all Rong. Hell if just ONE of the picks prove us wrong I'll be thrilled.
@Packdog posted:Obviously a nice blend of power and speed, but what impresses most about Dillon is his quick feet and his balance at contact(down right special) . Look forward to seeing him in the MLF offense.
Agreed. And from a physical skills standpoint, for a guy his size to have 40"+ vertical jump, that is incredibly freaky and frankly I'd bet you can count on one hand in NFL history the number of guys that big and compact who would have been capable of that. That said, a great vertical jump doesn't help you run the ball, but it does show that this is a very rare talent worth taking a flyer on.
The more I look at just raw numbers for A.J. Dillon, the better I feel about that pick. His Junior year he was just absolutely fantastic from a production standpoint.
He's been compared to James Conner of the Steelers who had a great year for Pittsburgh last year. But then when you look at the NFL combine measurables for Dillon compared to Conner, Dillon is a step or 2 up athletically just about everywhere.
I am really looking forward to see if all these raw physical numbers translates to NFL production for this guy. If this guy is the real deal, he really could be an excellent complement to Aaron Jones. I basically had never heard of this guy and scoffed at the pick when the Pack first made it. The more I look at him, I see why the Pack wanted to take a chance on him. He's got some rare special tools for a guy that size and I can see why the Pack wants to give him a shot.
I don’t have any concerns about Dillon. He should a MFer in short yardage and GL situations at a minimum.
I agree...he's more frightening a runner than Jamaal... I don't dislike Williams, but he doesn't scare anybody.
Running back scare factor.
@Henry posted:A lot of people think he's going to have short shelf life because of how he runs. Anyone know about injury history? He may be one of those guys that just defies the odds. I hope so. He definitely can break tackles. Great balance too.
Not just how he runs, but the mileage on his legs with that running style. He’s had the second-most carries of any drafted RB. He’s not a “future” guy, he’s a “help now” guy as he may well not see a second contract.
@pkr_north posted:lol i have really bad camera angles too.
Do you have any good camera angles? 
@GBFanForLife posted:Running back scare factor.
I prefer to call it intimidation. I should have been more specific.
@Herschel posted:Not just how he runs, but the mileage on his legs with that running style. He’s had the second-most carries of any drafted RB. He’s not a “future” guy, he’s a “help now” guy as he may well not see a second contract.
Not many running backs are futures type guys. They need to play and they need to play now. I think this can can. He's good. He's big and he's fast.
I hope they get him in those nickle and dime looks and see what defenses do. Do they go small and try to tackle him with 180 DBs? Do they bring in someone bigger that you can then try to isolate in the pass game? He gives you lots of options.
I'm thinking like a much faster and quicker, non Cheeto-eating, cartoon watching Eddie Lacy.
Keep him away from the China Food.
I wouldn't expect Dillon to look anything like Lacy as a runner. Lacy had nimble, quick feet with a little more shake and bake before he ate all the shake and bake. Dillon looks stiffer and prefers to run through rather than side step anyone.
Dillon is more explosive than Lacy was.
@Packmeister posted:Dillon is more explosive than Lacy was.
And to me, Dillon seems to enjoy the game more, whereas Lacy was in it for a purpose, and the Steelers correctly saw his heart wasn't in the game.
I don't see Dillon as more explosive than peak Lacy. He's not sudden in acceleration or change of direction. He looks like he has better top end speed but his stiffness limits his explosiveness.
Dillon has never had a weight problem. He can walk away from the dinner table more than Lacy did.
That's not what she said.
@Packmeister posted:Dillon is more explosive than Lacy was.
Lacy couldn't ever finish his breakaway runs, he always looked like he was going to collapse. Dillon looks MUCH more explosive and even more powerful than Lacy. Lacy tried to be Gale Sayers in a Don Nottingham body.
Earl Campbell could not run a mile. The media asked his coach, Bum Phillips about this. Bum replied, "Well, when it's 1st and a mile, I won't give him the ball"
or something like that
@Koopla Krash posted:Could this pick signal a lot more of Jones split wide with Dillon being a single back? Do defenses cover Jones with a DB or LB? If it's a LB, it opens up the middle a bit to slam Dillon between the tackles. If they cover Jones with a DB, bubble screen and let Jones defeat the likely smaller defender in the open field.
Late last year teams started sliding a CB out on Jones.
@RochNyFan posted:Lacy couldn't ever finish his breakaway runs, he always looked like he was going to collapse. Dillon looks MUCH more explosive and even more powerful than Lacy. Lacy tried to be Gale Sayers in a Don Nottingham body.
Not if you watch his film. I see explosiveness as being sudden in and out of cuts, acceleration and momentum, agility. Dillon may be stronger and with a faster top gear but he looks stiffer. He'll be running through tacklers instead of trying to go around them. Because he wants to and because he has to.
A new Bayou Bronco?
@DH13 posted:Not if you watch his film. I see explosiveness as being sudden in and out of cuts, acceleration and momentum, agility. Dillon may be stronger and with a faster top gear but he looks stiffer. He'll be running through tacklers instead of trying to go around them. Because he wants to and because he has to.
Lacy really did have excellent lateral movement and a nice spin move for a guy as big as he was in his first 2 seasons. One thing I do see about Dillon that is impressive is how quick he can accelerate into a hole once he sees it. His lateral quickness might not be at the level of Lacy, but maybe that quck acceleration into a hole will make up for it.
I saw in one video that pointed out Dillon had more yards vs. a stacked box than any other back in his Junior year. Maybe with Rodgers/Adams to worry about, he won't face that as much?
It'll be interesting to see how Dillon does in the NFL. I'm sure 20 years ago he'd a be a first round pick but backs like him haven't been en vogue in recent drafts. Teams want a back that can create matchup problems and catch the ball out of the backfield, even split out wide (Jones did that a few times last year). Zeke, McCaffrey, Gurley and Barkley come to mind. Only recent RB taken high in the first that was strictly a runner was Fournette, and that's shown to be a pretty poor pick.
Not sure how Dillon is as a lead blocker but I could see formations with both Dillon and Jones lined up behind Rodgers, then either hand it off to Jones with Dillon as a lead blocker, fake toss to Jones then hand to Dillon, or split Jones out wide then either play action or hand off to Dillon. In theory there's a lot they can do.
My worry is that he ends up like TJ Duckett, another big back with a fast 40 that had a lot of production in college. Not sure why Duckett failed in the NFL, just noticed some parallels in their college careers and combine measurables.
@antooo posted:
My first Packer favorite.
@CUPackFan posted:It'll be interesting to see how Dillon does in the NFL. I'm sure 20 years ago he'd a be a first round pick but backs like him haven't been en vogue in recent drafts.
Teams want a back that can create matchup problems and catch the ball out of the backfield, even split out wide (Jones did that a few times last year). Zeke, McCaffrey, Gurley and Barkley come to mind. Only recent RB taken high in the first that was strictly a runner was Fournette, and that's shown to be a pretty poor pick.
Its all cyclical.
Offenses use to have Big Backs and defenses went Big to stop them. Remember all those monster DTs like Sam Adams, Grady Jackson, Gilbert Brown ?
Then offenses went small/fast to outflank the big defenders, so the defense reacted and went to small and fast too - which is where they are now with hybrid Safety/ILB guys like Deone Buchannon and ILBs who can run like the wind
Teams were playing vs Aaron Jones with an extra CB on the field, so how do you attack that ? You hit them with a Big Back like Dillon and make them pay for the light box.
And round and round it goes in the chess match of personnel packages and situational substitutions. With Jones and Dillon both on the field, how will a DC match up ? More CBs to handle Jones or more LBs to handle Dillion ?
Either way GB needs to make him wrong and it may change over the course of the game. Back when minny had the Williams Wall, MM would run em ragged for the first half with outside run after outside run. Once those beasts were winded, things opened up and the Packers OL could really lean on em.
Excellent take, Satori...spot on.
Lacy was a pretty decent RB until his weight and injuries started taking their toll. He had really good footwork for a guy his size and was able to sidestep and cut back and spin away to avoid some hits.
Dillon is more of a typical power back with speed like Jamal Lewis. Lewis was a better prospect but my concern is the straight forward type (big) runners that can’t make people miss tend to take a pounding and don’t have very long lifespan. In college, guys like Dayne could run away from defenders but not at this level as defenders are just so much bigger and faster.
Still, if he does what Lacy did I’d be more than happy with the pick.
I will jump for joy when they finally line up in the wishbone
Joy was hanging from the chandelier.
Jesus, you just Fedya'd all over the place didn't you.
Everyone wants to be like Fedya, don't they?
Who's fedya?
Brockington had that high knee action. When guys tried to tackle him, they were almost as likely to get knocked out with a knee to the jaw. And how could you not love a guy who ran like that with a name like Brockington? 
