Eric Wilson's Production?

Eric Wilson doesn’t get anywhere near the amount of love that Anthony Barr or Eric Kendricks do. That makes sense because he only took over a starting job last season when Ben Gedeon got hurt and hasn’t been anywhere nearly as consistent as those two studs.

However, Wilson has a knack for making big plays on the field and is a magnet for the football. He potentially could have a more productive season than both Kendricks and Barr, and here are some reasons why:

HE PUT UP BIG NUMBERS WITH LIMITED OPPORTUNITY

Wilson came into the league as an undrafted free agent back in 2017. He played sparingly in his first two years, primarily as a standout on special teams, but he got worked into the defense in Year 2, accumulating 336 snaps on defense. After Gedeon suffered multiple concussions, Wilson took on a starter’s role and saw his snap count increase to 379. He flourished in that role and ended his 2019 season with 62 tackles, six tackles for loss and three sacks.

Those were impressive numbers. Wilson has a knack for making impact plays which is something the team just didn’t get from Gedeon. His production last season was very impressive, even moreso when realizing he played about a third of the snaps that Kendricks and Barr did.

In the six games that Wilson started, he had 38 tackles, five tackles for loss and three sacks. When projecting that over a 16-game season, he would’ve finished with 101 tackles, eight sacks and 13 tackles for loss. Those numbers would’ve made him the team leader in sacks and tackles for loss, and just nine away from the lead in combined tackles.

Having Wilson start from Day 1 producing at the pace he did last year would have arguably already made him the leader of this linebacking unit.

HE CAN PLAY INSIDE OR OUT

Another factor that benefits Wilson and makes him a strong candidate to be the team’s most productive linebacker in 2020, is the fact he can play inside or out. His versatility allows him to not only hold the starting weak side linebacker job but to be the primary backup to both Barr and Kendricks. This only creates more opportunity for Wilson to produce.

In Mike Zimmer’s defense, more is asked of the strong side and middle linebacker. They are the ones who make the majority of the plays, and if Wilson and his athletic gifts find themselves at one of these positions, there could be more chances to rack up sacks, tackles and tackles for loss.

There has been talk that Zimmer will be mixing up his looks this year, so perhaps Wilson gets moved around even if there isn’t an injury to a starter. Zimmer could try to use Wilson inside and send him up the A-Gap, or try him outside and see if he can get to the quarterback coming off the strong side. Wilson’s versatility and past production could lead to a major increase in snaps this upcoming season, which will, in turn, lead to a large uptick in production.