By BJ Bennett
SouthernPigskin.com

Follow us at Twitter.com/SouthernPigskin.  Become a fan at the SouthernPigskin.com Facebook Page

Significant momentum will follow A.J. Dillon to the NFL Draft.

After three years at Boston College, A.J. Dillon, now headed to the NFL Draft, finishes his career as one of the most accomplished running backs the ACC has ever seen. Dillon, even without a senior season, ranks fourth in ACC history with 4,382 rushing yards, adding 38 rushing touchdowns, both all-time records for the Eagles. Three league players have currently topped the 4,000-yard rushing mark since post championship game-expansion: Lamar Jackson, Dalvin Cook and Dillon.

Dillon’s legacy is a lasting one.

Bursting onto the national scene as a true freshman with 39 carries for 272 yards and four touchdowns in a Boston College win at Louisville, one where he went head-to-head with the Heisman-winning Jackson, Dillon firmly established himself as one of the leading playmakers in all of college football. Dillon, in three years in Chestnut Hill, went on to finish with 20 career 100-yard games, four 200-yard efforts, ten multi-score outings and earn first-team All-ACC honors three different times. He leaves with an all-time resume.

Starting with his formal introduction against Louisville, Dillon was often at his best against the best throughout his career. As a freshman, he rushed for 1,034 against ACC competition alone, a standard he recently improved upon, running for 1,242 yards in league play,this past season. Remarkably, Dillon moves on having rushed for at least 100 yards or a touchdown in 14 of his last 16 conference games. Dillon, among other performances, ran for a total of 430 yards in three games against Florida State.

The work Dillon did this fall puts him in rare company. At this point, he is one of just four running backs in the country with 1,650 rushing yards, joining Oklahoma State’s Chuba Hubbard, Wisconsin’s Jonathan Taylor and Ohio State’s J.K. Dobbins.

Significant momentum will follow Dillon to the NFL Draft. He moves on having reached the 100-yard mark in eight of his last ten games, a stretch which includes 223 yards and three touchdowns in a win over North Carolina State and 242 yards and three scores in a victory over Syracuse. Dillon’s final outing was leading Boston College to a triumph over Pittsburgh with 178 yards and a touchdown. He, becoming more of a factor in the passing game, also caught six passes in his last three games.

At 6’0”, 250 pounds, Dillon will bring a unique skill set to the professional ranks. He, as was often the case at Boston College, is a true feature back, one capable of carrying the offensive load for his team. Dillon ran the football 845 times for the Eagles. Furthermore, Dillon is a proven redzone producer, reaching double figures in touchdown scores in each of his three seasons. He is also a proven big play threat; Dillon has 96 career runs of at least ten yards, 33 runs at least 20 yards and 20 runs of 30 yards or more. He can and has done it all.

Fresh off helping the Eagles lead the ACC and rank sixth nationally in rushing with 267.8 yards per game, Dillon, as the offensive centerpiece, led Boston College forward during his career. The Eagles made three consecutive bowl games with Dillon and won 20 regular season games overall. He leaves Boston College atop all of the program’s career rushing lists, ahead of Eagle greats like Mike Cloud, Montel Harris, Derrick Knight and Andre Williams.

Few running backs in recent memory have done all that Dillon has done. He prepares for the next level as a Boston College and ACC legend.