Philadelphia Eagles: No new gig for Jonathan Gannon

Welp, it’s official: Jonathan Gannon isn’t going anywhere.

That’s right, after reportedly being one of the finalists for the Houston Texans job, the Philadelphia Eagles‘ defensive coordinator will be returning to his duties in the City of Brotherly Love for at least the 2022 season, maybe longer, according to Josina Anderson.

While Gannon did advance to the second round of consideration in the Lone Star State and was called in for a second interview about how he’d run the team to boot, the Texans will now look to either Josh McCown, who was a backup quarterback with the Eagles in 2019 and has no NFL coaching experience, or Brian Flores, who is currently suing the league for a slew of reasons, to become their next head coach.

A weird mix? You bet, I’ve never heard of anyone going from high school head coach to NFL head coach regardless of how many years they spent playing quarterback, but hey, at this point, McCown feels like the leader up the clubhouse to join the league’s most exclusive 32 man fraternity.

And as for the Philadelphia Eagles? Well, they get to see how Jonathan Gannon’s defense can progress heading into Year 2, hopefully with a few new players who better fit his scheme.

The Philadelphia Eagles have clarity on their defensive coordinator.

With the East-West Shrine Game and the Reese’s Senior Bowl officially in the books, the Philadelphia Eagles are about to enter the most important period of the offseason: The start of the 2022 NFL calendar year.

Once the Super Bowl comes to an end, the 2022 NFL Draft combine will take place from March 1st-3rd, followed closely behind by the start of free agency on March 16th, and then finally the NFL Draft from April 28th-30th, with dozens of Pro Days sandwiched in between.

For the Eagles, and every NFL team, really, these next few weeks will be all about player evaluation, schematic evaluation, and a slew of different war games-style exercises to key in on the best way to rebuild a team, depending on how other teams attack the period.

What if, for example, the Atlanta Falcons want two first-round picks for Calvin Ridley? What if, instead, they only want a third-rounder? What if Jason Kelce opts to retire after a glorious tenure in midnight green, or what if he opts to roll into a 2022 season down Tom Brady for one final ride?

Fortunately – or not, depending on your preference- one big question mark the Eagles now have answered is who will serve as their defensive coordinator, as Jonathan Gannon is now locked-in for a second season with the team and Howie Roseman can plan accordingly come free agency and the draft.

I know, I know, the Eagles’ defense was mediocre last season, rarely blitzed, and gave up way too many receptions to opposing quarterbacks with their bend-but-don’t-break, easily read zone defense, but it’s hard to really judge how much of that was Gannon’s scheme and how much of it was the team’s lack of compatible personnel to run said scheme. With Gannon now back, the Eagles should look to bolster their depth chart at both safety and linebacker with the sort of hybrid coverage players who can support the run, play the pass, and athletically cover the field between the perimeter corners.

Could this be the year the Eagles finally draft a linebacker in the first… okay, second round? Or maybe Roseman will go out and sign a premier free agent safety like he did in 2014 and 2016 and capitalize on signing an elite player at an undervalued position. You know, some folks have suggested that the New Orleans Saints may look to move off of some of their vets in favor of a rebuild. Could we see the Eagles trade away one of their first-round picks for a second elite outside cornerback in Marshon Lattimore?

With Gannon officially back, the Eagles can now run through all of these scenarios with a definitive knowledge of what scheme they will be running.

In life, sometimes a bird in the hand really is worth more than two in the bush. While the potential was certainly there for the Philadelphia Eagles to get even better with a coach like Vic Fangio as their defensive coordinator, they signed Jonathan Gannon for a reason back in 2021, and with a year’s worth of tape of his scheme now in the vault, Howie Roseman should be able to better address the team’s depth chart with compatible players. If that happens and the defense takes a massive step forward, that can only spell good news for the Eagles… at least until Gannon leaves for a head coaching job in 2023.