One player at each position Redskins should target after NFL Combine
2. player. 826. . Running Back. Eagles . AJ Dillon
I was high on Dillon entering the NFL Combine. And he didn’t disappoint with his athletic testing numbers and may be one of the biggest risers at the running back position.
Dillon tipped the scales at 247 pounds on his 6-foot-even frame at combine weigh-ins. To further contextualize just how heavy that is, Derrick Henry weighs roughly the same, but is three inches taller than Dillon.
That said, it’s clear that Dillon can carry that weight. He logged an excellent 4.53 time in the 40-yard dash. It was the 10th-fastest overall despite the fact that he outweighed the rest of the running back field by at least 15 pounds. So, that was a good sign that Dillon is a special type of athlete who can carry a lot of weight and turn it into strength, power, and explosion at the NFL level.
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Beyond that, Dillon posted a solid 7.19 time in the 3-cone drill and led the field in the vertical jump (41 inches) and broad jump (10 feet 11 inches). It was an all-around stellar performance for the Boston College product and it will make more teams pay attention to him as a potential No. 1 back at the NFL level.
The Redskins don’t necessarily need a running back given that they already have guys like Adrian Peterson, Derrius Guice, and Bryce Love on their roster. But if Dillon is available in the middle rounds of the draft, the team may have to consider him as one of the top overall players on the board.
For those wondering why Dillon may last that long, he had 866 touches during his three years at Boston College, so that’s a lot of tread already on the tires for a running back. Success of backs can often be short-lived, so taking a player with that type of workload early, despite his three 1,000-yard-plus and 10-touchdown-plus seasons, may not be ideal for some teams.
Either way, Dillon was a big winner at the combine. And if the Redskins want to invest in more depth for their backfield and add another potential workhorse to the fold, he could fit the bill.