Eagles’ O-line grades: Dickerson a mixed bag in debut, Andre Dillard shines

The Philadelphia Eagles got beat badly by the Dallas Cowboys on Monday night, o badly that it’s hard to find a single silver lining from the game. Jalen Hurts was ‘an issue‘. The tight ends and running backs might as well have gone home early. Then, there were penalties, penalties, and…. more penalties.

Of all the flaws to be talked about, the Eagles’ offensive line displayed a mixed bag of success and disappointment.

Rookie Landon Dickerson stepped in for Brandon Brooks at right guard and was prepared to make up for his mediocre performance in Week 2’s loss to the San Francisco 49ers.

Unfortunately, we saw him make many of the same mistakes as he struggled to protect Hurts from Dallas’ pass-rushing attack.

His first half wasn’t one that we’ll look back on fondly as some wondered if Nick Sirianni was going to pull the rookie early.

In 2020, Dickerson won All-American at Alabama and proved to be one of college football’s best centers. But the Eagles saw more than just pure talent in Dickerson — there was his versatility, grit, his willingness to play wherever the team needed him. He played every offensive line position in college and has since been training to play center and both guard spots for Philly.

Philadelphia Eagles OL Landon Dickerson, Andre Dillard get performance grades

So far, Dickerson is the jack of all trades and master of none. The rookie is clearly still learning on the job, but he’s quickly running out of chances to prove himself.

We said it was difficult to find a silver lining from Monday’s disheartening loss, but if there is one, it’s Andre Dillard. We know, good news about Dillard? This is weird.

When news broke out that Dillard would be replaced by Jordan Mailata at the starting left tackle position, many people (including us) were crestfallen. We love Mailata. Dillard, not so much.

The last time Dillard started for the Eagles was in November of 2019, and he played so poorly that he got benched by halftime.

This time around, though, he held his own. He fended off Randy Gregory and Micah Parsons for much of the game, and he held down the left side as well as he could.

Those emojis pretty much sum it up.

Dillard has long disappointed as a first-round pick back in 2019, but after Monday’s performance, he may slowly start to win back the trust of his coach, teammates, and fans.

We’d still prefer Jordan Mailata to start over him, but Dillard may not be in our ‘Burn Book’ for much longer.

Heading into Week 4, the Eagles will have to go back to the drawing board and figure out how to solidify their offensive line. Last year, the Birds started 14 different combinations of 0-lines in 16 games, so you would think they’ve gotten used to the constant changeovers and countless plug-and-play situations.

Philly may be without a large chunk of their starting offensive linemen this season, but as we saw with Andre Dillard on Monday, the alternates have every opportunity to step up.