Yesterday Jonathan Gannon was exactly what Eagles fans have wanted in his press conference as he spoke consistently about using players to their strengths and not forcing a scheme.
“We’re not going to box ourselves into one scheme… We’re not hardheaded, it’s my way or the highway. That’s not what this is about. It’s about serving the players and getting them to hit their ceiling.”
Jim Schwartz got a lot of criticism, some of it was justified and some not, for the defensive philosophy he brought to the Eagles of relying on the front four to generate pressure, rarely blitzing, and having a fairly simple defense. In a weird way, it fit because he did not have corner talent before Darius Slay — playing off covered for lack of CB speed and dropping seven in coverage gave some extra help. But he also did not use his CBs to their strengths as Avonte was used on the outside despite his inability to play there and Rasul, who many fans wanted to see more of, was asked to run with WRs despite his 4.6 40 speed instead of using his physicality and trying him at safety.
Gannon’s team performance
I have written often about the need for the Eagles to prioritize CB (here and here) and have worried about excessive trust in Jonathan Gannon’s defense to magically improve the Eagles pass coverage, but wanted to look at his history to see what we can expect. Below is Gannon’s history with the Vikings as assistant defensive backs coach and Colts as defensive backs coach:
There’s a lot to be excited about as at both MIN and IND his secondaries dramatically improved after he got there. With the exception of MIN in 2016, his teams were top half of the league and top-10 in three of his seven years. Digging in deeper to look at the personnel, my enthusiasm and how it translates to the Eagles tempers a bit as there is clearly a talent gap.
Below shows the top three CBs by snap count for MIN including the two years before and after Gannon’s tenure. One thing that sticks out is Gannon has just had more talent than what he has on the Eagles, having multiple first round picks in Xavier Rhodes, Trae Waynes, and Terence Newman.
For IND, the history may be more instructive as Gannon was now the defensive backs coach (not assistant coach) and it is easier to compare similar talent. Pierre Desir, a 4th round pick with typical 4th round performance in his first four years in the league, broke out in 2017 and 2018, allowing career low QB ratings against and completion percentages allowed and generated an elite 15 AV over two seasons. Kenny Moore, an UDFA and second year player under Gannon also allowed a sub-80 passer rating and generated 15 Approximate Value (AV) over the 2018–2020 seasons. As comparison, Slay generated 4 AV last season (on pace for 5 over a full season) and in 2018 the Eagles top-playing CBs of Rasul, Avonte, and Darby generated 3–4 AV.
What does this mean for the Eagles?
My top thoughts for what Gannon means to the Eagles in 2021:
The secondary will be better than 2020 — Gannon’s history shows he can get more out of the talent that he does have. And while I have focused on corners above, the Eagles have clearly upgraded coverage skills in other positions with the addition of Anthony Harris and Eric Wilson.
But temper your expectations — I hear a lot that Gannon’s increased use of zone will cover for our corners and we don’t need top corners. That’s just not true. The Eagles still only have one outside corner. And Gannon’s defenses in IND that were missing the multiple top-end corners that he had in MIN showed when they went up against the top receivers:
Davante Adams 7/106/1
AJ Brown 4/98/1
Allen Robinson 7/101/1
Julio Jones 8/128/1
DeAndre Hopkins 9/106/1 and 6/94/2
Michael Thomas 12/128/1
The NFC East receiving units got better this offseason and the Eagles still do not have the personnel to contain them. Despite being better, we will likely have several games that feel too familiar with WRs streaking down the field against us. To think Gannon’s scheme will magically neuter CeeDee and Gallup and Amari and McLaurin and Julio and Michael Thomas and Mike Evans this year using our current CB talent is absolutely unrealistic.
It will be interesting to watch the use and progression of players — I am not the biggest Avonte fan, mostly because he is the perfect representation of Howie’s strategy of “investing on the cheap” for CB and expecting it to work out. But in the right use, he can be a contributor — how will Gannon make use of his strengths? And what do we have in Zech, who has all the explosive and agility measurables but is a rookie?
The Eagles still need to desperately invest in corner — I do expect Howie to bring in another CB to man the outside because not doing so will rely on either Avonte Maddox to magically grow or get better or Zech McPhearson to perform as a rookie. As I wrote here, Howie needs to dramatically change his draft philosophy on corner and make it a priority in 2022.
So, be optimistic and appreciate the energy and approach that Gannon brings, but give him better tools.