In a sport that is so often marred by controversy and injury, the NFL Draft is the much-needed spark of altruism all football fans can be genuinely interested in.
More than 250 young men get to fulfill their dreams of being selected by a professional football team, and a few of the Palouse’s own basked in that glory last week.
Washington State offensive tackle Andre Dillard and quarterback Gardner Minshew will depart from Pullman to Philadelphia and Jacksonville, respectively, while Idaho linebacker Kaden Elliss will join the New Orleans Saints. Each player had a remarkable career in their own rights, deserving to hear their names called on draft day.
Jonah Baker
Dillard highlights the Palouse’s class for obvious reasons. Graded as one of the top offensive tackles in the draft, Dillard was a consensus first-round pick for the entire draft process. On top of playing one of the highest-valued positions in the game, Dillard also earned his lofty selection with a thoroughly remarkable collegiate career. As a second-generation WSU offensive lineman, Dillard started 39 consecutive games on the blind side, garnering an All-Pac 12 Conference honorable mention in 2017 and a first team commendation in 2018. He also earned AP All-America Third Team honors and allowed just one sack in 677 dropbacks during the 2018 season.
The Philadelphia Eagles took Dillard with the 22nd overall pick and are unlikely to regret it. The selection is also massively favorable for Dillard, as he will get time to acclimate to the professional game behind stalwart tackle Jason Peters. The 37-year-old has anchored Philly’s offensive line for 10 years and signed on for one more year with the team in March, so there will certainly be pressure on Dillard to shore up some of his run game techniques before next season. Regardless, the choice is a favorable one for both sides from the outset.
Further down the draft, you will find Wazzu’s mustachioed gunslinger. The Jacksonville Jaguars selected Minshew with the 178th pick in the sixth round as insurance behind newly-minted franchise quarterback Nick Foles. The reigning Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Year, Minshew thrived in Mike Leach’s Air Raid system and adjusting to the Jaguars’ slightly less gung-ho passing approach will take some time. However, Minshew’s selection shows the Jaguars’ brass are not exactly set on career backup Cody Kessler as insurance for Foles.
As he starts his NFL career, Minshew will get the unique bonus of learning under a proven winner who essentially laid the groundwork for less-touted quarterbacks to make names for themselves. Foles was Michael Vick’s understudy after being selected in the third round of the 2012 draft and played sparingly as a rookie. After Vick suffered a hamstring injury in 2013, Foles seized his opportunity and played his way to Pro Bowl honors after finishing the year with 27 touchdowns and only two interceptions. His career then took a turn as he bounced from the Eagles to the St. Louis Rams and the Kansas City Chiefs before finally returning to Philadelphia as a backup. Of course, we all now know the legend of his run in 2017 that ultimately delivered the Eagles to their first Super Bowl win. Minshew’s road to NFL relevance will have to include some mixture of proper tutelage and a few strokes of luck, and no quarterback currently in the NFL may be more familiar with those two concepts than Nick Foles.
As the Palouse’s final representative among 2019 draftees, Kaden Elliss will join New Orleans as an intriguing prospect. As Vandal fans saw over the course of Elliss’s career in Moscow, the Salt Lake City native is capable of fulfilling the duties of a three-down linebacker or a situational pass-rusher, and in some cases he is even capable of hauling in contested passes on offense. The Saints had the fewest selections in the 2019 draft, so using one of their four slots on Elliss might mean a little more than other seventh-rounders.
Elliss will also find himself in a favorable position for playing time if he impresses throughout minicamp. The Saints run a 3-4 defense that requires a plethora of flexible linebackers of Elliss’s ilk and their depth is thin enough that Elliss could theoretically step into backing up current middle linebacker Alex Anzalone right out of the gates. New Orleans was tied for fifth in the NFL in sacks last year, and Elliss brings a remarkable nose for the ball with his Big Sky-leading 16 tackles for loss last year.
And of course, Saints head coach Sean Payton has a long reputation of finding creative uses for athletic players, as we saw with backup quarterback Taysom Hill playing in two-quarterback sets and various special teams alignments last year. If he impresses throughout the summer, Elliss seems like the next logical Swiss Army knife for Payton to take advantage of on both sides of the ball.
All told, Idaho and Washington State combined to produce a trio of enticing pro prospects, each with plenty to get excited about for hometown fans. Even if you don’t have a team to root for this upcoming season, make sure to follow along as some of the Palouse’s own take their next steps at the professional level.
Jonah Baker can be reached at arg-sports.uidaho.edu or on Twitter @jonahpbaker