Before I get started, I want to make it clear that I’m acknowledging how amazing Cleveland Browns star pass rusher Myles Garrett is, and this article isn’t downplaying anything that he did last Sunday.
However, what I’m going to point out has been a consistent issue, not only through Andre Dillard’s Tennessee Titans tenure, but throughout his entire professional career as well.
Buy Titans TicketsThese problems didn’t just arise because the Washington State product was lined up across from a generational talent. The unfortunate reality is his weaknesses were completely exposed because of it.
Truth be told, there’s a litany of issues in Dillard’s game, whether it be his underwhelming strength, lackluster balance, or inconsistent footwork.
But if there’s one thing that drives me crazy regarding his skill set, it’s how he constantly puts himself in disadvantageous positions that make him lose the reps before contact is even made.
I’m going to use the infamous end-of-half play as my example where Garrett sacked Ryan Tannehill, subsequently robbing the Titans of putting points on the board.
Before I get started, watch the play in its entirety posted below.
Myles Garrett has 2.5 sacks at half. Monster. pic.twitter.com/ujuj39FvAh
— ESPN Cleveland (@ESPNCleveland) September 24, 2023
The first thing that stands out is how Dillard has absolutely zero anticipation for the snap count. He faces the toughest task on the field, yet he’s one of the last guys to move.
When you’re facing someone as incredibly explosive as Garrett is, that’s an accident waiting to happen. And, unsurprisingly, the second thing is how Garrett easily beats No. 71 to the junction point.
For context, the junction point is the area on the field where the tackle and defender are trying to get to so they can put themselves in a position to win the rep.
For a tackle, it’s getting to that spot and preventing the defender from turning the corner. For a defender, it’s trying to get to that point on the field where he can turn the corner and get to the quarterback.
As you’ll see in the image below, Garrett easily wins the battle before the war.
Getting there first forces Dillard to open up and chase Garrett, who has already started to turn the corner by attacking his outside shoulder. All Dillard can do at this point is ride the dominant defender to the quarterback.
This rep is already lost by this point because it’s going to be impossible for the former first-round pick to recover in time. This is simply inexcusable for a veteran offensive tackle who has the benefit of using the snap count to his advantage.
Garrett ends up meeting Tannehill at the top of his drop. Keep in mind that Tennessee had no timeouts left, so they had to call a play that required enough time for the skill players to get to the end zone.
That’s why Tannehill continues to drop after his shotgun snap — because he’s trying to let the play develop.
What the casual fan doesn’t realize is your drops are synchronized with your routes. The longer it takes for your routes to develop, the longer your drops are going to be.
The fact that Tannehill couldn’t even finish his drop before being met with a sack is ridiculous by both Dillard and Garrett, but for two completely different reasons, obviously.
I’ve seen some people say, “Why doesn’t he climb the pocket?” And that’s just nonsensical when it comes to this particular play because this isn’t backyard football.
These plays have rules, and you’re never going to just abandon your drop, subsequently throwing off the timing of the entire play — and even more so given the situation we already explained regarding the time left on the clock.
Realistically, your tackles should be the ones who can at least allow you to do the most basic part of the play before being destroyed in the backfield.
Had the play been blocked even a second longer, Tannehill climbs the pocket and, at the very least, throws the ball away. He wasn’t even given a chance to do that.
For this play to even have a chance, Dillard has to get to the junction point first, which then eliminates the threat of getting beaten with speed. That would then allow the Titans lineman to get his shoulders square to the target, which will force the defender to go through him rather than around him.
Obviously, someone like Garrett is capable of doing either, but these are problems that are consistently occurring, regardless of who Tennessee’s left tackle lines up against.
Nobody is expecting Dillard to be an elite tackle or anything of that nature, but at least give yourself (and your quarterback) a chance.
Look at Chris Hubbard in the same play above. It’s not perfect by any means, but he gets to the junction point first, has his shoulders square to the target, and is ready to welcome contact.
Even after getting pushed back a few feet, he eventually finds his ground and holds the defender in place until he’s eventually tripped up once the play is over.
Dillard can’t even do that right now because he’s beaten before contact is even made.
Now, let’s compare that to another lineman on the Titans roster. People made such a big deal about Peter Skoronski’s arm length because they are about a half-inch shorter than the 33-inch threshold you prefer a tackle to have.
As ridiculous as that sounds, people also ignore the ways that he compensated for his lack of length, most notably the way that he mastered the ability to explode out of his stance while simultaneously timing the snap count.
People love to point out the half inch he doesn’t have in arm length yet never point out how he’s consistently the first guy to the junction point.
At that point, You’re still gonna have to deal with him. And idc how long you are, thats not gonna be an easy win
— Shaun Calderon (@ShaunMichaels31) April 15, 2023
Below is an example against the Kansas City Chiefs’ 2022 first-round pick, George Karlaftis.
Look at how Skoronski is not only the first guy who moves, but pay attention to how much depth he gets into his kick, which easily allows him to get to the junction point before anybody else.
This is one of the many reasons why Peter Skoronski deserves a chance at LT when he’s healthy.
This always mattered more than Dillard’s three-centimeter advantage in arm length.
Skor is rarely chasing guys, and if you’re gonna beat him, you have to physically beat him.#Titans https://t.co/mSxeCgfukp— Shaun Calderon (@ShaunMichaels31) September 24, 2023
That forces defenders to beat Skor strictly with power and technique. Good luck trying to outduel him when it comes down to either of those.
Even if he doesn’t have the type of length that you’d undoubtedly prefer, he’s still able to compensate for it with his elite explosiveness, superior technical skills, powerful strength, impeccable hand usage and impressive contact balance.
The #Titans got an absolute dawg in Peter Skoronski
People love to show the one rep from 2021 where Skoronski was exposed by LVN yet conveniently leave out the countless other reps over the last 2 years where he more than held his own.
Wherever he plays, Titans got a pillar pic.twitter.com/B9b9BUr1Xj
— Shaun Calderon (@ShaunMichaels31) April 28, 2023
Hardly anybody is going to beat him with speed, and as of right now, I have much more confidence in Skor’s ability to withstand power rushes than I currently do with Dillard, even with the short arms.
If you need proof, go back, watch the New Orleans Saints game and see how he stonewalled anybody who tried him, and that’s while playing along the interior where defenders are often stronger than the edge rushers.
If you want my honest thoughts on why you see so much online pushback regarding this topic, it’s because people spent months pretending that Skoronski is incapable of playing offensive tackle at this level.
This means that having to change that opinion now would be an admission that they were wrong, especially if he performs well.
If Skoronski moves to tackle and he struggles, I have no issue with it because, at the very least, it will give us some clarity regarding his long-term position. At that point, we will know for a fact that he’s strictly a guard at this level.
Right now, we’re going off opinions more than anything else. If you want mine, not finding out if he’s capable of playing the position he once dominated when the only other solution is Dillard, is borderline incompetence.
Dillon Radunz has shown that he’s capable of adequately holding down the left guard position. I’m not opposed to giving him a shot at left tackle, but I would prefer to give the guy who was a blue-chip prospect the first crack at playing the most important position on the offensive line.
You often hear things along the lines of, “If things don’t improve, Tennessee has to see what it has in Malik Willis and Will Levis before next year’s draft,” which I completely agree with.
But I’d argue that finding out what you have in the Northwestern product at left tackle is just as important, considering who is currently holding down the job. Dillard not only leads the league in sacks allowed (six), but he has allowed two more than the next-closest guy.
He is currently on pace to allow 34 sacks and 91 pressures. For comparison, Dennis Daley finished last year with 12 sacks and 52 pressures allowed.
I’d rather know for sure that Tennessee has to either invest in another veteran left tackle in free agency or take one of the top offensive tackles coming out next year instead of unnecessarily wasting another premium pick on a tackle and passing up on a top skill player.
The only way to truly find out is to throw him out there and see what you have. If the former unanimous All-American struggles, at least you’ll have the peace of mind knowing you can move him back and he’ll be just fine for the next decade. If he’s awesome, it’s one less thing the franchise has to worry about fixing.
Anywhere in between, and you can at least let him stay there for the rest of the season and figure out a long-term solution in the offseason.
First things first — the rookie lineman has to recover from his recent appendectomy before anything else. But if the Titans are wise, they’ll strongly consider making the switch sometime in the near future.
If I had to guess, I think Skoronski returns to practice this week in some capacity, but he ultimately ends up missing the game. Therefore, in my ideal scenario, you have him split reps at both guard and tackle this week. That way he starts to prepare for the possibility of playing at either spot.
Then, if Dillard continues to struggle against the Bengals, you make the switch going into Week 5.
If there’s not some type of drastic improvement along the blindside, then there needs to be a switch made sooner rather than later.
