Q: I'm interested in your thoughts on the Defensive Tackles so far - specifically Eddy Wilson. In several of GBIs articles in the fall, the coaches and trainers went out of their way to compliment Wilson's work ethic, his off-season training results, and his performance on the field. Seemed like he was poised for a huge season - in fact to the extent that there's already been talk of him leaving early and entering the NFL Draft after this, his junior season.
Yet through 2 games, he has 0 starts, and has been pretty much invisible to my untrained eye - unless you count the personal foul penalties he's racked up so far. Lorenzo Neal seemed to have a much better game vs Louisville, and Keiwan Jones showed up making positive plays against Ohio. And Gelen Robinson has been terrific in both games.
First, regarding the starts: is Wilson being penalized for his academic issues back in the winter? Second, regarding his play - am I missing something? Is he being double and triple teamed - thus freeing up his teammates to make plays? But if that's the case why do Neal, Jones and Robinson seem to be so much more productive so far?
A: Thanks for the question(s). Asked Jeff Brohm Monday why Wilson didn’t start in Week 2 — though could have easily asked after Week 1, as well — and his response was “just some internal things we were dealing with.” I don’t like to speculate but for you, I will. There’s a common denominator between Wilson and Tim Cason, who didn’t even dress for the first two games but is back in uniform practicing now: They both made faces/gestures to jack up the team photo back on Purdue’s media day. If you’re able to find an original via Facebook (most likely place), you’ll see it. Plus, both guys also have had academic issues. Now, Wilson obviously still played the first two games and Cason did not, so the severity of discipline certainly was different and could not be related. But it just seems interesting to me is all.
Before I get to the second part of your question, everything you said about what coaches/teammates said about him in the fall is correct and accurate, including the part about him ready to leave for the NFL this year if he has a good one (that’s from Wilson himself this summer).
So, OK, how has he played? I have him unofficially with 59 snaps in Week 1 and 36 last week, so those are significant numbers even without a start. I personally think he’s been really good. Think he consistently has been getting push and affecting things in the backfield, even if he’s not getting the reward for that in terms of tackles. Thought he made it difficult for Ohio to run up the middle, forcing the back to spin off him at one point because of penetration or even when he was double-teammed. Even in those instances, I think he’s done a good job of not getting moved around too much. He’s a pretty strong dude, so I feel like he’s staying in a gap at least instead of getting shoved around. Absorbing two linemen and staying disciplined in alignment would seem to allow linebackers to stay clean to make plays. (But that’s just my take — haven’t talked to coaches about it, and Wilson didn’t seem to show up for interviews last week when he was requested and he didn’t appear to practice Tuesday, so I’m not sure he’ll talk tonight after practice either.) Can recall just one play against Ohio in which Wilson got blown off the ball, on the goal-line TD when he got doubled and then pancaked. But I think it’s rare for that to happen to him.
Wilson's personal foul against Ohio, I thought, was a tough one. To me, he was just having that relentless pursuit that coaches want. (I think he’s generally been pretty good with his motor.) He started the play by making a great move to get skinny and slip into the backfield, making the back bounce left, and Wilson just missed a diving tackle. Then all of Purdue’s defenders were trying to swarm the back and just before Wilson jumped on the pile, safety Jacob Thieneman jumped up and did something similar on the gang-tackle. So, to me, it was just Wilson trying to pursue and swarm and he was a tad late in joining the pile. The fact he’s had previous personal fouls probably didn’t help — I’m sure he’s building up a reputation that means folks are watching him closely.
I like, too, that in changing up the fronts, Holt has used Wilson some at 3-technique or even wider, depending on the look.
