Phillip Dillard trying to measure up at linebacker

One of the knocks on Phillip Dillard coming out in this draft was his size. I mean, the kid is only six feet tall! That may be big in normal life, but for an NFL middle linebacker it’s a little undersized.

Does that bother Dillard or the Giants? Nope.

“Height has nothing to do with it,” Dillard said. “It’s the heart and the way you go out there and the way you prepare. If you ask (Gary) Brackett if height means anything, you’ll get the same answer. Obviously it doesn’t mean anything because he’s balling out, he’s doing a great job, and he’s undersized supposedly. That doesn’t mean anything.”

Defensive coordinator Perry Fewell said roughly the same thing, just with a different example.

“As long as they run and hit,” he said of what he wants from his linebackers. “I had London Fletcher and London Fletcher was pretty good for us. As long as they can run and hit and intercept the football, I have no biases. … If you have speed, quickness and agility, I think that football players, if they have natural instincts, are football players. You give up some size advantage, especially when you play against the big football teams like the Dallas Cowboys and those type people, but for the most part if you’re a football player we expect you to play ball.”

Brackett, by the way, is listed at 5-11 and 235 pounds. Fletcher is 5-10, 245.
Dillard is 6-0 even and weighs 245.

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