Philadelphia Eagles: Is Milton Williams the next Vinny Curry?

The Philadelphia Eagles used four of their nine picks in the 2021 NFL Draft on the defensive line… or did they?

Did Howie Roseman select two defensive tackles and two defensive ends, as one would assume based on their pre-draft profiles, or should we instead believe what the team’s own social media department declared shortly after each player’s selection, where only three are listed at either defensive tackle or defensive end, with the team’s final two selections, LSU safety JaCoby Stevens and Tulane edge rusher Patrick Johnson both listed as linebackers?

At this point, does it even really matter?

While some will call this poor planning, and others, myself included, look at the draft as an example of Roseman maybe, just maybe, drafting the best player available after a brutal need for speed the year prior, we won’t really know how well the Eagles’ collection of players will perform – and which position they will do so at – until they actually take the field in a few short months.

But still, one question has plagued me since Day 2 of the draft, that may remain until we finally get to see this year’s iteration of the Philadelphia Eagles take the field, whenever that may be: Where is Milton Williams going to play?

Milton Williams is a disruptive player the Philadelphia Eagles need to unlock.

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At LA Tech, Milton Williams wasn’t so much a defensive tackle or a defensive end but a disruptive force capable of completely destroying opposing AAC offensive lines. He rushed from all over the field, from the zero tech to the wide nine, and was capable of setting a hard edge against the run when playing end and swelling would-be runners when deployed on the inside.

In theory, this deployment made sense both for Tech and Williams. As one can safely assume by nothing more than his draft position, Williams was by far the best player on the Bulldogs’ defense and was thus utilized as such when on the field with plenty of players who won’t be NFL bound any time soon.

One only has to look at Dallas Goedert’s usage at South Dakota as an example of how a player who is so clearly better than the players around him will occasionally be deployed in ways the NFL wouldn’t dream of, which can make their translation from a smaller college to the League a bit more of a question mark.

Had Milton played at, say, Ohio State or Alabama, weighing in at 6-foot-4, 278 pounds, it’s hard to see him utilized as a do-it-all defensive weapon, especially considering he’d all but surely be lining up alongside future first and second-round picks pretty much every game regardless of down or distance. In that world, Milton either would have had to get up to 300-plus pounds to play tackle full time, focus on his move set to become a full-time edge rusher, or fall somewhere in between as a tweener a la Penn State’s Robert Windsor, who fell all the way to the sixth round due to his lack of an NFL position last spring and failed to make much of an impact with the Indianapolis Colts in 2020.

Is that what the Eagles see in Williams, a pass-rushing specialist who can make an impact on the inside next to Fletcher Cox on obvious passing downs? If so, they certainly landed the perfect player to do so, as Milton is an athletic freak from the defensive tackle position and would surely get a few more one-on-one looks when playing alongside a player like Cox, but personally, I just don’t see it.

No, to me, Milton Williams looks a lot more like Vinny Curry – aka a bigger edge rusher who can pick inside – than an undersized defensive tackle like Ed Oliver who plays the pseudo-Aaron Donald role every team has been after since he broke onto the scene in 2014. If deployed in such a manner, playing outside in base packages while kicking inside on money downs, Williams’ size would serve as an asset against the run, and his already impressive quicks would remain among the best in the league regardless of his technical position distinction.

Such a move would also be advantageous for the young Crowley, Texas native because it would effectively mirror the “big edge” role the Indianapolis Colts deployed Denico Autry in during Jonathan Gannon’s time with the team from 2018-20, as well as the role players like Everson Griffen played for the Minnesota Vikings during his previous tenure from 2014-17. While Williams would only be so lucky as to eke out a career as consistently successful as Griffen with the Eagles, as the former fourth-round pick out of USC made four trips to the Pro Bowl over a five year stretch with the Vikings, one could argue he’s already a more explosive payer than Autry ever was and could thrive in the same role regardless of positional distinction.

Sum that all in with the fact that the Eagles’ current defensive ends rotation is a potent mix of a 33-year-old Brandon Graham, two players on expiring contracts and other members of the 2021 draft class, and the path to consistent playing time for Williams on the edge looks a whole lot clearer than on the interior, especially if Marlon Tuipulotu becomes a player on run downs and Hassan Ridgeway somehow squeaks onto the initial 53 man roster, which probably won’t happen, but you never know (more on that here).

Next. 3 thoughts on sixth-round pick Marlon Tuipulotu. dark

Who knows, maybe I’m wrong. Maybe Milton Williams was simply the best player left on the Philadelphia Eagles’ board, and they are completely fine with subbing him in for Javon Hargrave on obvious passing downs. If that’s the case, cool. But in my humble opinion, the best way to get the most out of Williams is to get him on the field as much as possible, and allowing him to enter the edge rotation, regardless of what his technical position distinction may be, is the easiest way to make that a reality. If he somehow turns into the next Everson Griffin, great, but if he just tops out at Vinny Curry, that’s fine too, as the Neptune native had a very successful set of tenure with the team that ultimately earned him a Super Bowl ring and maybe a WWE Title belt too.

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