ESPN’s Dan Graziano reports the Eagles have ‘been impressed with A.J. Dillon’s ability to catch the ball out of the backfield” in training camp.
Dillon caught just 21 passes in three seasons at Boston College, but surprised everyone in 2021 when he caught 34 passes for 313 yards and two touchdowns. He would go on to catch 28 passes in 2022 and had another 22 receptions in 2023, suggesting he had more to offer in the passing game than we initially believed. Dillon missed all of 2024 with a neck injury and signed a one-year contract with the Eagles this offseason. He’s currently battling with Will Shipley for RB2 duties behind Saquon Barkley, but Graziano believes Dillon “would be the one to benefit the most” if Barkley were to ever miss time. He also noted that he expects Shipley to have a role regardless of Barkley’s health, although we wouldn’t expect that to turn into a reliable one for fantasy managers given Barkley’s bell cow usage. Both Dillon and Shipley make for interesting stashes in an offense that ranked second in neutral rush rate last season (52 percent), but it’s hard to imagine anybody but Barkley having standalone value on a week-to-week basis.