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The NFL Draft begins tonight at 8, live from Roger Goodell’s basement. ABC, ESPN, and the NFL Network will be producing a joint broadcast for the event. The second and third rounds of the draft will follow tomorrow at 7pm, with rounds four thru seven beginning Saturday at noon. Please feel free to boo until our guy, AJ Dillon, gets his name called.
Boston College has two Eagles in this year’s draft in AJ Dillon and John Phillips.
While we’re not expecting the BC running back’s name heard night one, and possibly not a single running back, we are hopeful tomorrow night AJ sneaks in. Most mock drafts foolishly project AJ in the fourth or fifth round. It’s a deep draft class, but Dillon brings a certain set of skills different than most of the others, and it all comes down to where a team values him. NFL.com’s Lance Zierlien gave Dillon a 6.17 prospect grade which translates to “a good backup who could become a starter.” Here’s a compilation of what AJ did at the NFL Combine. I initially projected the Tennessee Titans could draft him and eventually pivot off of Derrick Henry to keep a similar offensive structure. There have been a billion mock drafts, but some of pointed to the same scenario. Other teams like the Falcons, Chargers, Bills often come up in these mocks as well. Let’s just hope for the best situation for him at the highest possible position.
The All-ACC offensive lineman isn’t currently projected to go drafted, but in such a bizarre year, who really knows. Phillips, like most everyone else, wasn’t able to have his pro day, with the news of cancellations coming while he was training in Florida while staying with former Eagle Michael Walker. In lieu of the workout, he said in a recent media conference how his agent suggested filming a pro day and sending it out to all the teams. This evidently has become a popular trend among a lot of players in similar situations. Fortunately for Phillips, he was able to put his name on the radar because he participated in the East-West Shrine Bowl before quarantine. He was able to meet with teams then, and was even asked to draw some plays up. Phillips will be watching the draft from his home in the Syracuse area.
Good luck to both of these Eagles this weekend!