Philadelphia Eagles: Milton Williams is a dark horse breakout candidate

The Philadelphia Eagles‘ defensive line is loaded. How loaded? Well, let’s just say Jordan Davis, the 13th overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, might not even start thanks to the presence of Fletcher Cox and Javon Hargrave.

So naturally, with a pair of big-time, Pro Bowl-caliber performers already in place, two players who combined to play 1,476 total defensive snaps in 2021, and a rookie nose with super-sized potential in tow, there aren’t going to be too many snaps available for a fourth defensive tackle, right?

Normally, yes, but Milton Williams isn’t your normal fourth defensive tackle.

So, as the Philadelphia Eagles prepare for a summer full of football, don’t forget about the former third-round pick out of LA Tech, as he might just prove to be one of Jonathan Gannon’s more impactful players this fall.

Milton Williams is going to feast for the Philadelphia Eagles.

What is Milton Williams’ ideal role with the Philadelphia Eagles? Like, if he reaches his potential, becomes a reliable double-digit sacker, and permanently etches a midnight green 93 into the hearts and memories of fans across the Delaware Valley and beyond, where does he start, and how is he deployed?

That, my friends, is a very good question.

In a 4-3 defense, Williams’ best position in base defense is likey as a defensive end who kicks it inside on obvious passing downs – think Jim Schwartz-era Brandon Graham. At 6-foot-3, 290 pounds, Williams has better speed and burst than Derek Barnett and thus could arguably be a more impactful defender versus both the pass and the run on the outside in base packages than on the inside, where his size could be taken advantage by some of the bigger mauling guards the NFL has to offer.

But here’s the thing: Jonathan Gannon isn’t planning on running a traditional 4-3 defensive front in 2022.

No, much like the rest of the NFL, the Eagles will likely spend 70-plus percent of their defensive snaps in one defensive subpackage or another and may opt to run an idiosyncratic defensive front more akin to a collegiate 5-2 or a 4-3 under, where Haason Reddick and his fellow strongside linebackers deploy from the line of scrimmage like a 3-4 outside linebacker. In this sort of front, Williams’ responsibilities will be more akin to a 3-4 defensive end than any player in a traditional base 4-3 scheme with all three linebackers deployed between the offensive tackles.

With Jordan Davis in place as arguably the most athletically nose tackle in NFL history, Fletcher Cox manning the other defensive tackle spot, which should be akin to the wide-9 3 tech he excelled in under Jim Schwartz, and Javon Hargrave allowed to cycle between the two positions, Milton should be able to slide under the radar of opposing teams as a face-up 4 tech and feast on opposing tackles who also have to contest with Riddick coming off the edge.

Factor in an improved linebacking corps and a one-two-three punch at cornerback that will surely give opposing quarterbacks fits, and it’s not too outlandish to declare Williams the dark horse breakout candidate of the Eagles’ 2022 defensive front, or maybe even their defense in general.

When the Philadelphia Eagles traded back from pick 70 to 73 in the 2021 NFL Draft, it rubbed some, like senior football adviser Tom Donahoe, the wrong way. He, presumably, wanted cornerback Aaron Robinson out of UCF and wasn’t too willing to celebrate with Howie Roseman when Milton Williams came off the board two picks later. Who was excited about Williams’ selection? That would be Jonathan Gannon, who got a player perfectly tailored to both the scheme he planned to run and the scheme he wanted to eventually implement. *sigh* if only Gannon could have imagined playing Williams and Jordan Davis together. His reaction would have been even more legendary.