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With Jason Peters’ future with the Eagles up in the air, Jason Kelce made it clear he’ll be ready to trust Andre Dillard at LT if his number is called
The question on everyone’s mind in Philadelphia revolves around team legend Jason Peters. Will the veteran offensive tackle return to the City of Brotherly Love next season for one more go with the Eagles?
A lock for the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Peters has been a stud for Philly since joining the team in 2009. He’s a free agent, though, and his future is clear as mud. If you ask fellow lineman Jason Kelce, he’s hoping Peters returns, but made it clear he’d be ready for a future without him as well.
Kelce’s reasoning? Former first-round pick Andre Dillard was thrown into the fire early and often last season and lived up to his billing. The former Washington State tackle appeared in 16 games, making four starts, and has been a major topic of conversation for fans this offseason.
When the Eagles took him in the first round of the ’19 draft, it was so he could eventually take over for Peters at left tackle. Dillard’s time to shine on a full-time basis could be coming this fall.
“Andre’s a guy who’s got incredible physical abilities,” Kelce said. “He’s very quick-twitched, he can move his feet really well, he’s athletic, he’s smart, he’s got a lot of the things that are hard to get if you don’t have them. If there was one weakness to his game last year it was power, and I think he knows that, I think everybody knows that, and that wasn’t even that big of a weakness that we couldn’t go out there and win games with him, because we did at times.”
Whoever ends up protecting Carson Wentz’s blindside for the 2020 campaign will have quite the task in front of him. Will it be Dillard or Peters? That remains unclear, but Kelce believes the Eagles will be rock solid with whoever lines up at that left tackle spot.