Pwn The Portal: Grad Transfer OL Eric Wilson

Word of Advice for the Harvard Newbie: Don’t Tell Us How Wood Drastically Underestimates the Impact of Social Distinctions Predicated Upon Wealth, Especially Inherited Wealth. We Know You Got it From Vickers, ‘Work in Essex County,’ Page 98. Yeah, We Read That, Too. 

When assessing new Penn State offensive guard Eric Wilson – the latest (last?) of James Franklin’s Transfer Portal pickups – we got some good news and we got some bad news for you. 

Which do you want first?

The good news? OK, that’s an unorthodox choice, but whatever.

Good News: After spending the weekend scouting two Harvard games from 2019, we feel confident proclaiming Wilson (the Crimson’s starting left guard) is a better run/pass blocker than he is a PSA spokesperson. 

Sigh…where do we even begin? 

First, it’s hard to tell which is older, the 1970s John Riggins facemask or the webcam Wilson used to shoot this masterpiece. According to a quick Google search, Harvard’s endowment  is $41.9 billion. Couldn’t they have gone to Radio Shack or Babbage’s and dropped a few bucks on an upgrade? You can’t even see the dude’s eyeballs it’s so blurry! Also, what’s with the helmet? And were the fuzzy VCR tracking transitions intentional editing effects, or is that just how this thing was slopped together? This video wouldn’t fly at ITT Tech, so no clue why an Ivy League institution gave it the greenlight. Goodness gracious.  

And now that we’re fired up and using Ned Flanders/Philip Rivers swear words, let’s drop the Bad News…it’s nearly impossible to predict what the heck Penn State will be getting in Wilson. 

Yes, the 2019 Second-Team All-Ivy League lineman received FBS transfer offers from Auburn, LSU, and Penn State and actually could have gone D-I right out of high school — Minnesota, Iowa State, Colorado State and a sampler platter of MAC programs all gave him full-ride invites — so there seems to be a shared belief Wilson can play at this level. 

The problem isn’t talent, though, it’s time off. If you’re reading this on Wednesday, it’s been 446 days since Wilson played competitive football. And though we don’t have Harvard degrees, we’re smart enough to know the best way to get better at football is to play football. 

The Ivy League canceled the 2020 football season way back in July. Harvard players were afforded an hour of school-sanctioned conditioning/training toward the end of September. A month later, Harvard athletes could partake in sports-related activities done in groups of no more than 10 people if everyone remained  six-feet apart. Translation: It’s been a minute between real football practices for Wilson – a stretch that won’t end until August 2021 because Wilson chose to finish his Harvard degree this spring before enrolling at Penn State.

According to Wilson’s YouTube highlight tape, he’s gained 35 pounds (280 to 315) between his last listed Harvard weigh-in and now – but is that good weight, bad weight, sustainable weight, or weight that will melt off once practice begins? No one knows. 

The uncertainty surrounding Wilson carries over to our scout, a true Tale of Two Games. The first vs. overmatched Howard was really good, and the second vs. co-Ivy champ Yale was pretty pedestrian. 

Despite facing a lesser opponent in Howard – the one-win Bison eventually lost to Harvard 62-17 – Wilson (No. 68, Left Guard in all clips) established his physical dominance on the first Crimson play from scrimmage, ejecting the Howard DT out of screen on a more-difficult-than-it-needed-to-be touchdown run.  From there, as you’ll see in this four-play run blocking montage, Wilson kept winning in the trenches and out on the edge/second-level space.

Because of the blowout, we only charted/graded Wilson’s first half vs. Howard (we skimmed the second half until the subs entered) and couldn’t find a snap where he allowed pressure in pass protection. Great base. Weight balanced. No wasted movement. Nice hand placement. In total control. On the final play of this pass pro montage notice Wilson’s discipline and true-to-assignment pickup of the second, slightly-delayed Howard blitzer. 

Only real demerit we assessed Wilson vs. Howard came on this 1st down failed reach block against the 1-Tech DT who slanted hard left and made the TFL.

Moving on. The 2019 Yale-Harvard game was absolutely wild. Despite having a three-score lead and running back who compiled 242 yards and 4 touchdowns on SIX CARRIES, Harvard still lost 50-43 in double overtime. The end of the game was just a rumor to many of those in attendance because an hour-long halftime protest pushed the action past sunset…and, well, the Yale Bowl doesn’t have lights. No, seriously. No lights. 

Here’s a split-screen clip of the actual in-stadium view vs. the TV view with the camera iris allowing full exposure so people at home could see.  

Despite leveling-up in competition, we still expected Wilson to POP off the screen like he did vs. Howard considering several perennial Top 25 FBS desired his services for the upcoming season…but that didn’t really happen. Instead, Wilson flashed on some plays and failed on others and basically appeared like he belonged on this lightless Ivy League stage. 

Here’s two clips of Wilson pulling on power run plays and getting the job done against the Yale DEs.

And here’s Wilson failing to recognize the End/Tackle Exchange, which allows the crashing Yale DE to drop the runner five yards deep in the backfield. 

In pass protection, Wilson was fine, I guess, but definitely not flawless like he was vs. Howard. On a few occasions, Wilson pulled to protect the Harvard QB on designed play-action rollouts and really struggled picking up charging defenders in space. This is the same play concept run twice. Play 1 Wilson gets the QB killed. Play 2 QB learns his lesson and tosses the ball into traffic after Wilson whiffs. 

Technically, Wilson didn’t surrender a sack in this rivalry game, but he did get beat by pass rushers more than he’d probably like. For instance:

Wilson guessed wrong. His first step is inside toward the center. The DT’s first step is outside, causing the now-Penn Stater to open up his hips and turn his shoulders. 

CONCLUSION: All factors considered, if Eric Wilson starts Week 1 then that’s a problem for Penn State. Don’t take that the wrong way. It’s not that the Harvard transfer isn’t capable of performing at this level. And it’s not a prediction that he won’t start eventually. But, man, there was already going to be a huge learning curve for Wilson IF he played a season for Harvard last year and IF he enrolled at Penn State in January and participated in Winter Workouts/Spring Practice. Well, neither of those things happened/will happen, so how can Wilson realistically grab a starting role unless guys like Juice Scruggs (who feels like a lock to start at one guard spot), Des Holmes or Anthony Whigan either wet the bed or get injured? With that said, it is completely realistic for Wilson to earn a two-series-a-game backup offensive guard role – no Penn State guard played an entire game at guard in 2020 (Will Fries played all snaps some games, but rotated in-game between tackle and guard) – Week 1 on the road in Camp Randall.