Life in NFL Could Be Easier for Dillon

No running back in this year's draft class wore a bigger bull's-eye from defensive coordinators than Boston College's A.J. Dillon.

GREEN BAY, Wis. – For just about every NFL rookie, that first taste of professional action will be immeasurably more difficult than his experience in college.

For Green Bay Packers rookie running back A.J. Dillion, it might actually be easier.

“There was a stat that Pro Football Focus had that he led the country by over 100 carries in a loaded box,” said Dillon’s running backs coach at Boston College, Brian White. “No. 3 in the country was our backup tailback. We were going to run the football and people were going to load the box and put eight, nine or even 10 guys up there a lot. A.J. just did an incredible job of running into some really adverse situations.”

The list at the end of this story, from Sports Info Solutions’ “Rookie Handbook,” details just how often Dillon ran into a loaded box – defined as eight or more defenders at or near the line of scrimmage – compared to his peers.

Everyone at Camp Randall Stadium knew the Badgers were going to hand the ball to Jonathan Taylor, right? According to SIS, Taylor ran into a loaded box 20 percent of the time. That was child’s play in comparison to Dillon. He saw a loaded box on 44 percent of his carries, which was by far the most in the draft class.

In fact, of the 14 running backs drafted in the first four rounds, no other back ran into a loaded box more than 25 percent of the time. Of the six backs taken in the first two rounds, Dillon’s loaded-box rate was more than double that of Georgia’s D’Andre Swift and Taylor.

At 247 pounds and with 4.53 speed in the 40, Dillon is a freakishly talented back who defensive coordinators were hell bent on stopping. With 1,685 rushing yards in 2019, it seemingly didn’t matter.

“The fact that Aaron Rodgers is quite a weapon, as we all know, there’s going to be a lot of two-deep coverages to take away the receiving game,” said White, who’s now at Colorado State and rose to prominence at Wisconsin coaching the likes of Ron Dayne and Michael Bennett. “I would think that should open up some lanes for A.J. If you give him a crease, people are going to be surprised at how fast he is. He can hit the home run and he can bruise you and bump you and grind on you, but he can score. He can score from a long ways. The fans are going to Green Bay are going to really enjoy watching this guy play football.”

Loaded Boxes: RBs in First Four Rounds

LSU’s Clyde Edwards-Helaire; first round, Chiefs: 12 percent

Georgia’s D’Andre Swift; second round, Lions: 21 percent

Wisconsin’s Jonathan Taylor; second round, Colts: 20 percent

Florida State’s Cam Akers; second round, Rams: 13 percent

Baltimore’s J.K. Dobbins; second round, Ravens: 10 percent

Boston College’s AJ Dillon; second round, Packers: 44 percent

Memphis’ Antonio Gibson; third round, Redskins: 9 percent

Vanderbilt’s Ke’Shawn Vaughn, third round, Buccaneers: 25 percent

Utah’s Zack Moss; third round, Bills: 15 percent

Appalachian State’s Darrynton Evans; third round, Titans: 25 percent

UCLA’s Joshua Kelley; fourth round, Chargers: 19 percent

Florida’s Lamical Perine; fourth round, Jets: 11 percent

Maryland’s Anthony McFarland; fourth round, Steelers: 13 percent

Miami’s DeeJay Dallas; fourth round, Seahawks: 23 percent

Data from Sports Info Solutions