Adrian Fedkiw
Ever since the trade of guard Allen Barbre last week, one of the names that keeps popping up among the Philadelphia Eagles coaching staff during press conferences is Dillon Gordon.
Last year’s undrafted project is progressing fast!
The former LSU tight end, who caught just seven passes for 96 yards during his career in Baton Rouge, was experimented as a fullback, guard and tackle last summer. The Eagles thought so highly of him that they didn’t place him on the practice squad for the risk that another team would snatch him up. He was essentially a redshirt rookie. Fast forward to this Training Camp and Gordon is being talked about filling a swing tackle role.
Head coach Doug Pederson is excited about his potential.
The potential’s there. Yeah, the potential’s there We’re excited to continue to see his growth as we go through camp.
Pederson also talked about how Gordon’s path of being a former tight end in college is similar to Jason Peters.
Well, he was a tight end in college. Brought him in. Athletic guy. Big guy. Someone we felt could kind of get in that mold of the Jason Peters. Jason Peters, tight end guy, college. Started his first couple years as a tight end in the National Football League before converting to a tackle.
I’m not comparing him to Jason, but that’s the path that Jason took. It’s very similar to Dillon. He’s learning. A young player. He’s just got to get better each day. Every rep that he gets is a valuable rep for him. Comes down to just the focus and just detailing his work. But he’s done a nice job for us.
Not to mention that Peters has also taken Gordon under his wing once he stepped onto the football field in Philly.
Gordon will see the field this season if there are injuries along the offensive line and offensive coordinator Frank Reich discussed why they swing tackle is important.
That swing tackle is a very critical position, because odds are, he’s going to play. So you’ve just got to keep swinging — that’s, by nature, what they have to do. They drew the short straw, right? The guys who are starters get to work their side and be good at their side. But when you’re the backup, you’ve got to be versatile.
When you’re a backup player, you’ve got to be versatile, especially up front. It’s good for those guys. They accept that challenge, and I think they work very hard at it.
Reich also explained why Gordon has developed so fast.
What sped up the process is two things. One, he’s worked really hard at it. It’s been important to him, and he’s really developed.
Second, he’s getting good coaching between [Offensive line coach] Jeff Stoutland and [Assistant offensive line /tight ends/run game coach] Eugene Chung working with him for these years. But the bulk of the credit goes to him because he’s got to embrace that. He’s got to embrace that transition for him and [he has] really gotten better each year and has looked good so far.
Another thing to keep in mind here is Pederson’s use of a sixth offensive lineman at times during a game. He does it about five times a contest. With Gordon being a former tight end, you can mix in some play-action using him around the goal line. It’s another potential trick in the bag and something I’ll be keeping an eye on this season as well. So who is going to fill the role of the sixth man? Last year it was Matt Tobin or Isaac Seumalo most of the time.
Maybe that’ll ultimately be Gordon’s role for the 2017 campaign, as an eligible receiver playing tackle along the offensive line. We shall see.
You can check out my video on Dillon Gordon below.
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