Top 10 offensive tackles in the 2019 NFL Draft

#4. Andre Dillard, Washington State

Following the footsteps of his father, who played on the O-line for the Cougars in the late 1980s, Dillard made a name for himself coming from the Seattle area. He played a reserve role for the Cougars his redshirt freshman year before stepping in as Washington State’s left tackle for the next 39 games. Dillard was an honorable mention All-Pac-12 selection by league coaches in 2017 before making the first-team all-conference last season, protecting the blindside of long-time Heisman trophy candidate Garnder Minshew.

Dillard does a nice job locking out the edge defender on the back-side of run plays by stepping up and turning his pads to shield the inside. He can get some pretty good movement on slanting defenders if he has an angle on them, When he is in a battle with a defensive lineman, Dillard sometimes uses that outside arm to go underneath the pad and actually open up a running lane. He solo-reaches defensive linemen lined up in 4i and sometimes even 3-technique. At the same time, he has quality experience pulling across the line and kicking out to end-man as well as on power plays, where he gets in front of linebackers and has the balance to adjust his angles. Dillard was used quite a bit to set up wide receiver screens into the boundary by getting out and blocking cornerbacks. He is also is comfortable at getting to the second level on draw plays or those shovel passes to the running back the Cougars ran.

This kid has really athletic feet that allowed him to operate in Wazzu’s pass-happy offense. I love the way he jumps out of his stance in pass protection and can set up perfect posture before the defender is even engaging with him. Dillard puts himself in a position where the defender doesn’t really know where he should go and once he gets his hands on an opponent it’s time to say good night. You can actually see guys on the edge hesitating and stopping their feet against him, which doesn’t take them anywhere either, and if they do get a step on him, the Cougar tackle widens his strides and somehow make up that space in a flash again. Dillard puts a hand on the guard next to him when the defense is showing pressure or he has no clear responsibility, in order to make picking up everybody easier. He displays good snap and catch technique to defeat twist effectiveness, while also displaying a lot of awareness for late rush games, such as the D-end coming upfield and engaging before stunting inside while the linebacker to his side is coming on a delayed blitz off the edge.

With that being said, Dillard More of a people-turner than -mover as a run blocker, without any kind of pop against the defender. His hand-placement is a little too high at times, which leads to little drive in the run game and hinders his core strength. If you can a get a hand inside his chest, Dillard can be thrown off balance and taken for a ride occasionally as well as taking his eyes down every once in a while when he does try to take away the momentum from his rusher. He was pushed around quite a bit by Texas’ Charles Omenihu and gave up a strip-sack in the Senior Bowl game.

Dillard really stood out among the OT group at the NFL combine, where he ran sub-five in the 40, led all offensive linemen with a broad jump of almost ten feet and easily had the best 20-yard shuttle time, while showing light feet and loose hips during the on-field workout session. He is the best pure left tackle prospect in this draft. He might not be the guy you want to run right behind, but he can seal and climb in the run game while giving you tremendous feet and protection of the blind side.