The Philadelphia Eagles finally made an external free agent addition by signing former Green Bay Packers running back AJ Dillon to a one-year contract on Wednesday evening.
Let’s learn more about the newest member of Philly’s backfield by getting a Packers perspective on him. Here’s what Justis Mosqueda of Acme Packing Company had to say about Dillon through answers to my questions.
1 – Can you recap his time with the Packers?
When he was drafted to the Packers, Pro Football Focus’ live stream of the draft went crazy calling him a fullback, so Packers fans really rallied around Dillon for a while. Early on in his career, he had a standout game in primetime against the Tennessee Titans in the snow and from there on out a meme about “Dillon weather” kind of started. Unfortunately, he was never really able to catch that same magic again. He was a solid RB2 for Aaron Jones, but he mostly was put into the game to do the dirty work. I’ll get into some of the positives of his game in a sec.
2 – The Eagles obviously have one of the best run blocking offensive lines in the NFL. Do you think Dillon could have success as a backup RB in Philly?
Sure! Brandon, I think you might be a decent running back behind that line. I’m very jealous. In seriousness, he’s already been exposed to a similar run system with the Packers. They were more of a zone/duo team than a two-back or power team when Dillon was healthy. We haven’t seen him in over a year, though.
3 – What are his strengths?
First of all, he’s a very big man. For a big man, he’s pretty athletic. He doesn’t have the coordination you’d want from an NFL back, but he can stride when he’s in the open field for a dude who is 240 pounds. That will catch your eye quickly. He also is a pretty good pass-catcher. You wouldn’t think it, but there’s plenty of tape out there of him catching wheel routes and stuff along the sideline. One of his best traits though is his pass blocking ability. I’m sure size helps there. Green Bay would frequently run an empty set where he was basically in a tight end position so they could max protect out of 11 personnel and let their three receivers get downfield while Dillon and a TE chipped and then released.
4 – What are his weaknesses?
The coordination thing, man. His feet go crazy sometimes and you remember why guys that big don’t play in the NFL very often. It wouldn’t be shocking if out of every 30 carries, he slipped or tripped over his own feet at least once. The other thing is the medical. He had a stinger late in 2023 and ended up being shutdown with a neck injury in 2024 before the regular season even began.
5 – Anything to know about him off the field?
He has a podcast that doesn’t get many views if you guys wanna juice that thing up. He’s also Jewish and a sports card collector. I think he hunts his own 1 of 1 cards. I’m pretty sure he streams himself playing a game where you mow lawns on a tractor or something on Twitch. He’s a good dude. You guys will like his personality.
BLG’s take: The Eagles lost Kenny Gainwell, a running back who can catch and pass block. The Eagles added Dillon, a running back who can catch and pass block. It’s obviously not a one-for-one replacement with Dillon (6’0”, 247) being much bigger than Gainwell (5’9”, 200). There’s also no real guarantee Dillon even makes the roster; I’ve seen some compare this to the Eagles’ Rashaad Penny signing from two years ago and that’s not totally unfair. But there’s a chance that Dillon could pair with Will Shipley to be quality backup running back options behind Saquon Barkley. Of course, we’ll need see if Dillon is truly healthy and if he can stay that way.
