Philadelphia Eagles: The Eric Wilson signing says a lot about Jonathan Gannon

Welp, there ya go; after months and months of anticipation, the Philadelphia Eagles have finally signed a linebacker to help bolster arguably the worst position grouping in the entire NFL.

Is he a household name? No. If you said the name “Eric Wilson” to a non-fan from outside of the greater Minneapolis Metropolitan area, you’d probably be met with questions about the Beach Boys or, to a much more selective group, the bass player for seminal SoCal punkers Sublime. But objectively speaking, Wilson is an upgrade over every linebacker the Eagles had under contract last season, even everyone’s favorite feel-good story, Alex Singleton.

Measuring in at 6-foot-1, 230 pounds, Wilson came into the NFL as an undrafted free agent out of noted Eagles hotbed Cincinnati, which also features famous alums like Jason Kelce and Connor Barwin. Initially recruited as a safety by Northwestern, Wilson transferred to Cincinnati after redshirting in 2012, where he remained from 2015-16. Wilson led the Bearcats in tackles two times and even recorded three sacks in 2016, the best mark on the team.

But still, that wasn’t enough to get Wilson drafted, as he went unselected in a 2017 class that featured 21 linebackers selected, including our old pal Nathan Gerry.

However, for one reason or another – probably his 4.53 Pro Day 40 – the Minnesota Vikings saw something in Wilson they liked and signed him up as a UDFA, where he became a fixture of their special teams unit and eventually their defense as a whole.

Playing 1,032 snaps for the Vikings in 2020, the most of his career, Wilson logged 122 tackles, three sacks, and three picks as near-every down starting linebacker for the Vikings. His average value – a stat meant to quantify a player’s overall impact on the game – came in at an eight, which is a point higher than any linebacker on the Eagles, which, again, isn’t a particularly high bar to clear, but is still impressive nonetheless.

I could go on and on and on about Wilson as a player, why he was a steal, or whatever other platitudes one could place on a player who hasn’t technically played a snap in a midnight green uniform – and may never actually do so, I’m looking at you, Jatavis Brown – but that isn’t the most interesting aspect of this story. No, to me, this story tells us a whole lot more about new defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon than Howie Roseman.

Eric Wilson’s signing hints at a Vikings-like D for the Philadelphia Eagles.

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When Jonathan Gannon was officially announced as the Philadelphia Eagles’ new defensive coordinator, it felt incredibly logical.

The Eagles had just hired on ex-Indianapolis offensive coordinator Nick Sirianni to replace the franchise’s first Super Bowl-winning coach in their storied history, so why not bring along another top Colts assistant to serve as his defensive coordinator?

Was Philly turning into Indianapolis East? It sort of looked that way, didn’t it? But that’s to be expected. Sirianni had only been coaching in the NFL for 12 years split between the Chargers, the Cheifs, and the Colts, so it’s understandable that his inner circle wouldn’t be particularly expansive.

Fans, followers, and pundits alike began to comb through the tape, leaf through depth charts, and make assumptions about how Indianapolis’ respective schemes would look in South Philly and began to formulate how the club would recalibrate their roster heading into an incredibly intriguing 2021 season.

Only, here’s the thing; maybe the Eagles are going to be transplanting Matt Eberflus’ Colts scheme over one-for-one, and their defense will instead look a whole lot more like that of Gannon’s other former employer, Mike Zimmer.

Granted, is this all purely speculative? Yes, but follow me down this Pepe Silvia-style rabbit hole, if you will, and maybe we can make an educated guess together.

So far, the Philadelphia Eagles have signed three external free agents through the first months-plus of free agency: Andrew Adams, Anthony Harris, and Eric Wilson.

Now, what do those players have in common? Well, for one, all three play on the defensive side of the ball – and are plus coverage players at that with at least three career interceptions to their respective names. All three also initially broke into the league as undrafted free agents and initially found their footing on special teams before cutting their teeth on defense.

Okay, cool, but what else? Well, if you exclude Adams, who only played a few snaps on defense for the Super Bowl-winning Buccaneers last season, the other two played their entire careers up to this point on the Minnesota Vikings.

But wait, there’s more. Not only did Harris and Wilson both join the Vikings as UDFAs in 2015 and 2017 respectively, but the duo also initially worked with Gannon when they arrived in Minnesota, as he was a defensive quality control coach at the time.

Coincidence? Conspiracy? Well, if Gannon’s handshake with Harris is of any indication following their reunion at the NovaCare Center, I would think not.

So, just for argument’s sake, let’s say I’m right. Let’s say Gannon specifically had Roseman target players like Harris and Wilson over similarly talented former Colts like Malik Hooker and Anthony Walker because he wants to run a Zimmer-esque scheme, and bringing those two along would help to ease the transition over for the team’s existing players. What does that mean about the Eagles?

It means maybe the Eagles aren’t exclusively looking for a tall, long, man-press corner to run a two-high safety scheme and could instead have their sights on landing playmakers who aren’t as size-centric on the outside. It means maybe the Eagles will specifically look for speedy rushers like Danielle Hunter instead of more power players like Brandon Graham. And maybe it even means the Eagles could consider drafting a player like Micah Parson or someone similar early on to fill an Anthony Barr-esque role as a joker rusher alongside Singleton and Wilson.

The possibilities just became a whole lot more expansive than many initially expected, and I, for one, am all about it.

So will Eric Wilson make the Philadelphia Eagles better? Yes, he unquestionably will, especially if he’s tasked with playing a similar role that of his breakout campaign with the Minnesota Vikings in 2020. Based on how the Eagles’ offseason has gone so far, that, fortunately, appears to be how things are shaking out.