Eagles A.J. Dillon can make Saquon Barkley even better, while scaring opponents in this potential new role
PHILADELPHIA − The last thing a defensive player would want to see is Eagles running back A.J. Dillon, with a full head of steam, running up the field right at them.
After all, the running back known as "Quadzilla" is listed as 6-foot, 247 pounds, and all it takes is one look at Dillon's quadriceps to understand why he has the nickname.
"He’s a beast, man," fellow Eagles running back Will Shipley said about Dillon. "He’s 250 coming at you downhill. I wouldn’t want to tackle that."
But Dillon is hardly a glorified "Fridge" in reference to the late William "The Refrigerator" Perry, a defensive lineman whom the Chicago Bears used in short-yardage or goal-line situations in the 1980s.
Sure, Dillon will run over you, like he has a few would-be tacklers during the Eagles' first practice in pads in training camp on July 29. But Dillon also has speed, and he can catch the ball.
The Eagles are trying Dillon in a unique way to further maximize his skillset: as a kickoff returner. Dillon has been among a handful of players vying for the job during training camp.
Under the kickoff rules instituted in 2024, Dillon has a chance to do what he does best: run up the middle, with a full head of steam, as opponents try to tackle him.
"The new kick return rule, if you look at it from a running back perspective, it’s kind of like running an inside zone," Dillon said. "You get the ball and you go get vertical. It’s definitely new for me, but I’m excited for the opportunity."
While the kick return part might be a novelty, Dillon's benefit for the Eagles has more to do with Saquon Barkley.
That's why the Eagles' running attack can be even better than it was in 2024, when Barkley rushed for 2,005 yards, becoming just the ninth player in NFL history to surpass 2,000 yards in a season.
That's also why all of the hand-wringing over Barkley's workload from 2024 is misplaced, or at least not as worrisome as many are making it out to be.
For the record, Barkley had 482 touches, including playoffs, last season. That eclipsed his previous high of 377 touches in 2022 with the Giants. But the Eagles needed Barkley to have that many touches because the backs behind him − Kenny Gainwell and Shipley − were not equipped to pick up the slack.
Gainwell, who left as a free agent and signed with the Steelers, was more of a receiver out of the backfield, and Shipley was a rookie.
Dillon, a second-round pick of the Green Bay Packers in 2020, rushed for more than 600 yards in three straight seasons from 2021-23. Dillon did this while sharing the load with a 1,000-yard back in Aaron Jones.
But Dillon missed the 2024 season with a neck injury.
When Dillon was medically cleared in the spring, the Eagles signed him to a one-year contract. If Dillon can recapture his form from 2021-23, it's very possible that the Eagles can lighten Barkley's load while actually improving the running game as a whole.
"I’ve always said tired guys fumble," Eagles running back coach Jemal Singleton said. "That’s where the depth of our position becomes really important. It’s not always just going to be Saquon. We need that next guy, or that third guy, to step in at times and make sure we don’t skip a beat."
It was something Eagles coach Nick Sirianni mentioned on July 28 when he was asked if quarterback Jalen Hurts can sustain the amount of carries he has had during his first four seasons as a running quarterback.
Sirianni immediately turned that into a referendum about all the similar questions he gets about Barkley's workload.
"It has been (sustainable) so far," Sirianni said about Hurts. "And I'm going to say the same thing to whoever asks me that question about Saquon ... We'll rest them Monday through Saturday (during the practice week). We'll get them ready for the game, we'll get them ready for practices, and then we'll do what we need to do to win football games ...
"Now, it's still football, and there's still obviously a risk of injury at any time. But we're always thinking first and foremost when (Hurts) carries the football, how do we keep that scheme safe to keep him out of harm's way?"
The same applies to Barkley, but the Eagles can lean more on Dillon than they did last season with Gainwell.
In 2024, Gainwell had 75 carries for 290 yards and Shipley had 30 for 82. Dillon had at least 178 carries in each of the last three seasons he played in for the Packers. Jones had a similar amount of carries in each of those three seasons in Green Bay.
That means Dillon and Jones combined for roughly 350 carries each season. Barkley had 345 carries last season.
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Granted, Barkley will still have many more carries than Dillon. But it doesn't have to be as many, not when Dillon, and to some extent Shipley, can fill in the rest.
"We have a lot of awesome weapons on this offense," Dillon said. "As far as my individual ability, I feel like I can pride myself on being able to do anything out of the backfield, and I’ve done that throughout my career, whether that’s catching passes or running.
"So however they see fit to use me in my skillset ... It’s always great when you’re on a team with a lot of weapons. It keeps the defense guessing. It’s fun to be out there. You might get a play call that the defense might not be expecting drawn up for you."
Like, for example, returning a kick with a full head of steam, with those massive quads churning, ready to overpower a much smaller defender.
Contact Martin Frank at [email protected]. Follow on X @Mfranknfl. Read his coverage of the Eagles’ championship season in “Flying High,” a new hardcover coffee-table book from Delaware Online/The News Journal. Details at Fly.ChampsBook.com
This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: How Eagles' AJ Dillon can make Saquon Barkley better, with a new role
Category: Football
