Eagles All-22 Film Review: Landon Dickerson had a really, really good rookie season
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By: Jonny Page
Encouraging signs from No.
Time for another Eagles rookie review. This post will follow the same format as last week’s article on DeVonta Smith. I’ll be totally honest, evaluating individual offensive lineman is not something I focus on a great deal during the season (shock!). You don’t have to be a genius to know Jason Kelce played really well. I care about the performance of the offensive line as an overall unit more than I do any individual. I do find watching offensive lineman on an individual basis a lot of fun though, so it is a great thing to do in the off-season.
I was a bit worried about the Landon Dickerson pick due to his injury history, but he stayed healthy throughout the season and I think nearly all Eagles fans would say he had an excellent rookie season. Let’s get to the film. FYI: Don’t expect a detailed breakdown of offensive lineman technique here, I won’t pretend to discuss things like I am an offensive line coach, because I am not! I hope you understand…
Stats/Scheme Notes
Mainly from PFF as usual.
Played a lot this year. 925 total snaps.
834 snaps at LG exclusively after week 2.
Total PFF grade 22nd in the league (interior OL).
PFF credited with 2 sacks allowed, 8 hits, 23, hurries.
Strengths
+ This is a large, large human being. It is noticeable on film just how big this dude is, even next to a giant in Jordan Mailata. He has noticeably wide shoulders.
+ Very aware of his surroundings. Rarely saw him beat by stunts.
THIS! I said earlier I want to see Hurts keep his eyes downfield and feel pressure rather than scramble. This is easily the best play of the first half. More of this please (and more targets to Smith) pic.twitter.com/srVKhF010G
— Jonny Page (@JonnyPage9) October 12, 2021
+ A bully in the run game, wants to physically dominate opponents. Can drive his opponents into the ground and completely take them out the play. Plays nasty and aggressive on every snap.
Another one where Hurts can probably hand off imo. Just not sure he reads all these RPOs correctly. pic.twitter.com/y1sguRCYRk
— Jonny Page (@JonnyPage9) October 12, 2021
Eagles All22 offense thread v. Giants. This could be an interesting one! Lets start by looking at Dickerson moving defenders to create a hole for Sanders. He’s going to be fun to watch in the run game for a long time. Good to see Sanders hit the hole quickly too. pic.twitter.com/KIceg3wLHZ
— Jonny Page (@JonnyPage9) December 28, 2021
+ Quick hands and wants to make the first move in pass protection, doesn’t just wait for the opponent to come to him. Often wins very early in the rep. Has the ability to deal with counter moves showing good hand usage.
Hurts… you can’t be successful long term if you are this frantic in the pocket. Just calm down & trust the projection! The OL are playing great! Literally no need to run out of this pocket. pic.twitter.com/2p7TDpa1G9
— Jonny Page (@JonnyPage9) November 2, 2021
The windows can be so small. Hurts is about half a second late here and it allows the Saints safety to break it up. To take the passing game to the next level, would love to see him start throwing with more anticipation. Post snap tendency shows zone so he can throw this earlier pic.twitter.com/EXH6OwlPqj
— Jonny Page (@JonnyPage9) November 23, 2021
Interesting design here. Looks like post/wheel with Reagor & Stoll & then a hi-lo read with 2 TEs over the middle from 13 personnel under center. Flooding 1 side of the field. Minshew is quick to process and knows he has a checkdown and gets it to Sanders with room to run. pic.twitter.com/pDpruedDH5
— Jonny Page (@JonnyPage9) December 7, 2021
+ Has light, quick feet and hands at the point of attack in the run game. Can get to the second level defenders and is strong enough to dominate linebackers
Sometimes nothing wrong with some good old inside zone. Great double by Kelce/Driscoll. Fantastic blocks by Maliata and Dickerson. Howard does what he does and bursts through a small hole. Nothing fancy – just well coached, well executed football. This was domination upfront. pic.twitter.com/XsbJ9euu45
— Jonny Page (@JonnyPage9) November 23, 2021
Some of Maliata & Dickersons blocks in this game are beautiful. They looked SO well coached. Perfect double team here & great job by Dickerson to get to the LB and move him. These 2 are going to be the foundation of the Eagles run game for years to come. pic.twitter.com/wBAn4c5okE
— Jonny Page (@JonnyPage9) November 30, 2021
This is how you run power. What a job by the OL. Kelce seals the 1T. Maliata and Dickerson double the 3T before Maliata gets one LB. Herbig pulls and takes the other LB. Reagor comes down and takes safety. Goedert takes DE. Leaves RB vs CB who takes a terrible angle. PERFECT! pic.twitter.com/Wd9qGPiO9G
— Jonny Page (@JonnyPage9) December 7, 2021
+ Excellent on the move in pin/pull scheme, power and counter run plays. Good at locating second level defenders and making blocks out in space.
They only did it once… but we even saw some QB power this week! About time but you know, better late than never?! pic.twitter.com/hRLzEgFJsP
— Jonny Page (@JonnyPage9) October 26, 2021
Eagles ran the hell out of this counter run with Hurts and some of the holes were absurd. Watch this play 3x times (at least) and just watch Dickerson, Maliata & Johnson. This is near perfection. Maliata & Dickerson look so athletic for 2 huge guys. This is awesome. pic.twitter.com/wqJOLskpFF
— Jonny Page (@JonnyPage9) November 30, 2021
+ Extremely strong. Can handle the biggest and strongest of the defensive lineman, put a lot of good tape out there against Vita Vea (twice). Very helpful when playing next to an undersized center in Kelce.
Hurts has to see the field better. You know its 2 high instantly so the comeback to Smith is going to be a tough throw with a CB there. Should look to the middle of the field where Ertz and Sanders are both wide open rather than forcing it to the first read. pic.twitter.com/9IXNKIomZQ
— Jonny Page (@JonnyPage9) October 18, 2021
Phew…
Eagles really tried to commit to the run early & got nothing going except designed QB runs. I would have liked to see some more Jordan Howard at times to try to stay on schedule. Also, Sanders needs to be more patient here and cut this backside – a late gap opens up. pic.twitter.com/CGfgdvuiXN
— Jonny Page (@JonnyPage9) January 18, 2022
Some of Hurts’ out of structure plays were so good. Big 3rd and long here. Reads a Hi-Lo to his left but nothing is open against tight man coverage so just picks it up himself. Risky strategy to bring 5 with man coverage against Hurts because he has the ability to do this. pic.twitter.com/RVKy52KnrQ
— Jonny Page (@JonnyPage9) January 4, 2022
+ This is just a personal opinion but he seems to be one of those offensive lineman who manages to do ‘just enough’ even on reps where he struggles with technique or loses his balance. You rarely saw him get ‘badly’ beat.
Eagles also used PA from under center! It produced Hurts best throw of the day which… makes you think. Raiders play a lot of C3 and Eagles dialed up a lot of zone beaters with 3 level passing plays. Here they get here with Goedert running a post/corner and its a beauty by Hurts pic.twitter.com/1QM6ANh0cD
— Jonny Page (@JonnyPage9) October 26, 2021
Good example here, gets beat off the line of scrimmage by speed but still recovers and does enough.
Strangely…really like this play from Hurts. To me, this is progress. Half field read, recognises he isn’t going to get the ball to the vertical WR or Goedert (where he wants to go) but elimates quickly, steps up and hits the checkdown rather than try to extend the play. pic.twitter.com/38bfmvtHdA
— Jonny Page (@JonnyPage9) November 16, 2021
+ Handled the variety in the Eagles run game well. The Eagles were had a very multiple run game this year with a lot of different concepts and he was able to handle it as a rookie.
+ Always has a fantastic reaction when the defense jumps early!
My new favourite thing is Landon Dickerson when the defense jumps early pic.twitter.com/5p5OJOMETh
— Jonny Page (@JonnyPage9) November 2, 2021
Weakness
– Injury history is obviously a concern but… lets not worry about that for now.
– Looks a little bit heavy footed on occasions. This is rare but sometimes looks slow to move his feet which mean he can get beat in pass protection.
Some of Hurts’ out of structure plays were so good. Big 3rd and long here. Reads a Hi-Lo to his left but nothing is open against tight man coverage so just picks it up himself. Risky strategy to bring 5 with man coverage against Hurts because he has the ability to do this. pic.twitter.com/RVKy52KnrQ
— Jonny Page (@JonnyPage9) January 4, 2022
– Can get caught out in pass protection when he relies on strength and leans into defenders. Smaller quicker lineman can catch him off balance.
Right… if Hurts starts making throws like this under pressure… we might just have something here Not getting carried away yet but this was easily the best Hurts has looked in the pocket. He looked really confident in the pocket this week. pic.twitter.com/tV35GLJme4
— Jonny Page (@JonnyPage9) November 16, 2021
– Just being honest, I watched a lot and didn’t see many clear weaknesses…
Overall
Dickerson played better than I thought on a second watch. I thought he had a pretty good rookie season after watching him throughout. After really focusing on him more, I thought he had a really, really good rookie season. He is an outstanding run blocker and is a pretty good pass blocker too. There aren’t many interior lineman in the league as good as him in the run game. He has an awesome combination of power, speed and nastiness.
As much as I have praised him, I do think it is fair to point out that this offense suited him perfectly as he is better as a run blocker then a pass blocker. The Eagles ran the ball a lot and didn’t have a lot of games where they dropped back 45+ times. If the offense changes in the future and becomes more of a drop back offense, he may have to improve his pass protection slightly to be considered one of the best at this position.
The Future…
Dickerson’s future could go a number of different ways depending on what happens with Jason Kelce. I really like Isaac Seumalo too and if he is fully healthy after his injury, he would be a very good guard or center next season. My personal preference would be to keep Dickerson at left guard to avoid him having to learn another position. It would be perfect if Kelce can come back next as I think continuity is important and it will good for Dickerson to play next to the same center and left tackle. I don’t think it’s a crazy statement to say that Dickerson has all-pro potential. He really could be one of the elite interior lineman.
Another reason I would keep Dickerson at left guard is that occasionally he would get caught out by quicker defensive lineman at the start of the rep, I would rather he didn’t have to worry about snapping the ball. Especially as he plays as a very aggressive offensive lineman who wants to get his hands on the defensive line as quickly as possible. I really do think he has the toughness and physical ability to be one of the top interior lineman very soon.
Milton Williams is up next week!
Originally posted on Bleeding Green Nation
