2021 Chiefs Draft Prospect: Landon Dickerson

NAME: Landon Dickerson

POSITION: Center/Guard

SCHOOL: Alabama/Florida State

HEIGHT: 6’6”

WEIGHT: 326 pounds

CAREER BACKGROUND

Growing up in Hickory, North Carolina, Landon Dickerson attended South Caldwell High School. After his senior season in high school, he earned USA Today All-USA North Carolina first team honors. Dickerson also took part in the 2016 Under Armour All-America Game. 247Sports ranked him as a five-star recruit and as the number two overall player to come out of the state of North Carolina. That database also rated him as the number five overall player at his position and the number 17 overall prospect in the nation for his class. Dickerson committed to Florida State over various offers like Virginia Tech, Tennessee, Auburn and Georgia.

Unfortunately for Dickerson, he spent just as much time in street clothes with the Seminoles, as he did on the field. He started the first seven games at right guard in his true freshman season of 2016. Though, a season ending knee injury cut that year short. More injuries held him to just five games played across 2017 (four games) and 2018 (one game). His ankle injury in 2018 allowed Dickerson to be granted a medical redshirt. After three years with Florida State, he opted to enter the transfer portal.

Dickerson won the starting job at right guard in 2019 after joining the Alabama Crimson Tide. He spent four games there, and then moved to center for the final nine contests. Starting every single week, the blocker became a dominant force up front. He allowed just one sack and four quarterback hurries all season. Meanwhile, the graduate transfer earned second team All-SEC honors.

Dickerson was even better in 2020. Starting the first 11 games at center, he and his teammates allowed a measly 11 sacks while Mac Jones was on the field. Not only did his play flash on the screen, but his leadership was clear on the Crimson Tide squad. He did suffer another injury, a torn ACL in the SEC Championship Game against Florida. Dickerson still dressed for the National Championship Game against Ohio State, and head coach Nick Saban let him take the field for the final kneel down. The blocker was a Rimington Trophy and Jacobs Blocking Trophy winner in 2020. Additionally, Dickerson earned unanimous All-American and first team All-SEC honors.

SCOUTING REPORT

Positives

Power/Strength

The amount of separation that Dickerson can create with a single push is massive. His power allows the blocker to drive opponents into the ground. Sometimes, it is almost laughable how helpless defenders look when Dickerson is charging towards them. Once he latches on, Dickerson’s power and strength simply overwhelms the opposition. They struggle with how to counteract the initial power at the point of attack. Their feet can stop moving. Elsewhere, the defenders are unable to time up hand counters before his strength takes over.

Physicality

There is a difference between being universally strong, and with being nasty up front. Dickerson will use almost a sort of buck type of move, where he sticks his face into the chest of opponents. He attacks opponents with such determination. As a result, it is often a shock if the opponent does not fall backwards to the ground. I would describe this plan of attack as eager, yet still under control. Where that generally shows up more noticeably, is with his ability to finish blocks. Opposing defenders believe they have a shot at reaching the quarterback or the ball carrier. But, Dickerson obliterates his man with authority.

Football IQ

We mentioned Dickerson’s leadership at the top. That rings true both in pre-snap and while the play is occurring. His awareness stems from having played multiple positions and multiple offensive schemes up front. At Alabama, he was asked to pull or climb to the second level often. Dickerson proved he could read the opposing defense with ease. He does well to not use wasted movements if he is moving in the open field. On the other hand, this blocker does a good job of keeping his head on a swivel. He uses astute angles and can usually beat defenders to the landmark on the field before they arrive.

Negatives

Durability

The line you will often hear surrounding Dickerson, is that he has first round tape. Yet, the durability issues could cause him to slide. After all, your best ability can easily be your availability. The Kansas City Chiefs know that very well right now, in terms of the offensive line. If there is a positive here for Dickerson, it is that he has played more games the last two years with Alabama combined than his three years at Florida State. The injury in the SEC title game may put a wrench into his timing with offseason programs at the NFL level. Though, Dickerson was recently caught on video doing cartwheels and other lateral movement drills. How will his injury history have an impact on his long term career outlook? That will be a major question mark for teams that will be interested in him.

Athleticism

Overall, Dickerson’s athleticism is extremely limited. He has a strong, dense lower half. This can cause Dickerson to be tight at times when moving in space. His flexibility can become limited. Despite pulling and climbing to the second level often, timing can be a bit premature when landing blocks. His quickness can shine off of the snap. However, Dickerson has struggled with keeping his base and balance up right when moving with a head of steam.

Hand Technique

Dickerson’s immense hand power can steer and turn opponents with ease. This issue stems more from timing, placement, countering and resetting. Dickerson can be late with getting his hands inside or into the opponent’s chest. Patience can be a benefit, just as much as it can be a detriment. The placement issues can stem from modest length and becoming too high too quickly. Finally, Dickerson has trouble with getting his hands back up and square occasionally in his pass sets.

Chiefs Fit

Kansas City is looking for more competition on the offensive line. Landon Dickerson has never been shy about proving he can hang when an opportunity like that presents itself. He would be able to transition smoothly into a zone blocking scheme like the Chiefs use. Furthermore, his smarts and leadership would likely be an important factor for someone like head coach Andy Reid. Kansas City is eventually going to have to install a more physically dominant and commanding blocker at the center position. They just have not had that at their disposal in a while. For playing that position, Dickerson has everything a team would want both instinctively and physically. Yes, there are certainly injury concerns. But still, I would not it past the Chiefs to take him at 31st overall and pair him with Patrick Mahomes for the foreseeable future.

Be on the lookout for our final FPC Chiefs draft prospect profiles for the next few weeks. For more great sports and NFL content, stay tuned to Full Press Coverage.

– Braden Holecek is the Kansas City Chiefs managing editor for Full Press Coverage. He covers the NFL. Like and follow on Follow @ebearcat9 //platform.twitter.com/widgets.js Follow @FPC_Chiefs //platform.twitter.com/widgets.js and Facebook.