According to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, the Denver Broncos will be requesting to interview Eagles’ defensive coordinator Jonathon Gannon. As some reporters have noted, Gannon coached with Broncos’ general manager George Paton in Minnesota from 2014-17, so there’s some familiarity there.
Gannon will be competing for the head coaching gig against names like Jerod Mayo, Dan Quinn, Eric Beiniemy.
Technically, the Eagles have improved defensively from 2020 to 2021. The Eagles rank 11th in passing yards allowed (3,756), ninth in rushing yards allowed (1,834), and 10th in overall yardage allowed. Still, they’re pretty mediocre in other areas – 18th in total points given up and 26th in turnovers.
The Eagles have also faced some pretty rough QBs this season — Trevor Siemian, Sam Darnold, Daniel Jones, and Garrett Gilbert are just a few — which helps to soften up the stats. There are also other problems – allowing easy gains by playing the secondary back while continuing to not pass rush more come to mind.
So, suffice to say, Gannon has been an improvement, but isn’t quite there yet and shows signs he may never get there. It’s definitely fair to wonder what the Broncos (and every other team showing interest in Gannon) see. Yes, Gannon’s a young coordinator (39) and that’s a huge draw in today’s coaching pools. But going simply by that could be a killer for teams.
Odds are, Gannon probably won’t be heading anywhere unless a team becomes desperate, similar to the Eagles’ signing of Sirianni last year. Feels like there’s better, more experienced or higher-upside plays out there.
If Gannon is eventually snatched away, the Eagles could have plenty of interesting names to choose from, such as Vic Fangio or Brian Flores. Either one could provide Philadelphia with a fresh scheme and take the defense to the next level.
