EAGAN, Minn. — The air is thick and warm, practice wrapped about 15 minutes ago on a steamy late-summer day, and there's a pair of linebackers running half-gassers, one after the other, across a field.

One of them, Blake Cashman, had just been voted one of eight Vikings season-long captains. It's a significant honor for the Eden Prairie native, but he is humble and insists there are many players worthy of the distinction.

It takes 10 more minutes for the second 'backer, Eric Wilson, to sit next to Cashman on a low concrete wall near the locker room. In the interim, Cashman expresses great joy for the forthcoming season: his third in his home state, eighth overall in the NFL and first as a father. Moments will be a smile sweeter for the former Minnesota Gophers star. After conditioning, Wilson used the JUGS machine, then practiced holding field goals for All-Pro specialists.

"I don't think this guy gets tired," Cash' says, touting 'E-Wil' as an "anomaly."

One year ago, they formed a sensational duo.

Specifically, Cashman and Wilson fed and led the beast bred by Brian Flores, an undiagnosable defense that attacks teams like a virus, scrambling senses and zapping bodily functions, aka offensive call sheets.

"I think it's just fun, honestly," Wilson says coolly, contrasting the chaos he creates. "We're not only playing in Flo's defense. We kind of make it our (the players') defense as well, and we definitely buy in."

That's an aspect Cashman and Wilson appreciate and reiterate is unique to systems around the league. They are well-sourced, after all. Cashman played under five defensive coordinators in his first five NFL seasons: Gregg Williams, Frank Bush and Jeff Ulbrich with the Jets, and Lovie Smith and Matt Burke with the Texans. Wilson learned from three, including one campaign with co-coordinators, in his first stint with the Vikings from 2017-20, and then five across four more seasons in stops with four separate clubs from 2021-24. That latter stretch started with current Packers Defensive Coordinator Jonathan Gannon in Philadelphia and ended in Green Bay with new Dolphins Head Coach Jeff Hafley.

The stewardship in Flores' scheme requires smart players and confident communicators. It invites innovation and freedom, and rains firestorms, and keeps offenses guessing in heavy-pressure formats.

"It is pure joy when you get up there on the line of scrimmage and these guys are wide-eyed, like, 'What the hell is going on?' " Cashman says excitedly, as Wilson nods along. "They're arguing with the quarterback on how they should set the protection, and we know as players in this defense that when we get offenses like that, it's going to be a long game for them, and we're going to find a lot of success."

Nos. 51 and 55 look like action figures, and last season they played like action heroes.

Cashman assailed quarterbacks 9.1 times per game in 13 appearances, acting from three alignments (thrice off the edge; 41 times from off-ball distance; and 74 times showing and going after he was walked up as a "DL"), according to Next Gen Stats, and he generated eight of 18 QB pressures in less than 2.5 seconds.

The homegrown Viking increased his blitzing percentage from 27.8% in 2024 to 29.9% last year and awed with a workmanlike rush plan, refusing to be denied on first, second and sometimes third efforts.

His pursuit partner, Wilson, started 16 of 17 contests and more than doubled his prior high for pass rushes in one season. E-Wil chased prey 10.6 times per game, and from four spots on the field: once hanging over the slot; 41 times aligned off the ball; 46 times as an edge; and 92 times mugging the tackle box. Amazingly, he notched more than half his 40 QB pressures in a wink (23 under 2.5 seconds).

Each man's success often stems from teamwork — and conversation up until the ball is snapped.

"Just throughout the weeks of practice, and constantly bouncing ideas off each other," Cashman says. "And he did a great job all season, either beating the back or pushing the back into the quarterback's lap and getting him off the spot. We bounce those ideas off each other, work different things in practice, try to test those things. And then on game day, sometimes, it's just feel."

"Playing linebacker in our defense is a lot of making sure everybody's on the same page," Wilson adds. "We do a good job of splitting up that role and breaking up the communication on any given play. … We're not necessarily waiting on one or the other to say something.

"We have a lot of things inside where we have to play off of one another in the run game or in the pass game," he continues. "And I just remember one time, I think he made a pick for me, and I came off in there and made a sack and I'm not even celebrating for myself. I'm just trying to find him and celebrate."

Wilson reset his single-season high blitz rate to 39.4%, a staggering increase from his old one of 16.7% in 2022 when he appeared on defense just twice in 13 games — that's crazy, right?

His entire career arc is of the sort. E-Wil refers to it as "an evolution" and prides his versatility.

"We blitz — regardless of who it is — a lot," he comments. "I've played many different parts of this defense, and I kind of embrace that regardless of what it is. I just make sure I get it done. That's kind of my M.O. — just figure out a way and get it done, regardless of where I'm at. So, if I'm blitzing, I'm going to make it work. If I'm in coverage, I'm going to make it work."

Cashman is smiling while Wilson downplays his success, because his roles are liberating but demanding.

"I would say since I've been here, whether it be a young player or a vet that's new, he's picked up the defense quicker than anybody else I've seen come through these doors in the past three years," Cashman points out. "I think the coaches recognize that and they put him in a bunch of different spots, and when it comes to some of the blitzing stuff, he was taking advantage of those opportunities.

"Flo' always talks about feeding a hot hand or, you know, we're a bunch of chess pieces in there," Cash' elaborates, "and we want to put guys in favorable positions; we want guys playing to their strengths. [Flo'] was doing such a great job, just keeping him going and letting it rip, and it gave us a lot of success."

Nine years ago, Wilson joined the Vikings as an undrafted rookie and was used, exclusively, on special teams. He was a spot-starter in 2018 and '19 and broke into the regular lineup in '20 after Anthony Barr tore a pectoral muscle in Week 2. Wilson served then as the "Green Dot," the title Cashman holds now.

After that, Wilson was part of four clubs — Philadelphia, Houston, New Orleans and Green Bay — in 12 months. He started his Packers tenure mid-season in 2022 much like his Vikings one — in the third phase and a reserve on defense. His playing time finally surged, again, in 2024 when he started 12 of 17 games.

He performed well, especially in Week 17 at U.S. Bank Stadium when he collected nine tackles and Cashman tied for a game-high 11. Their relationship dates to when they trained together and with other NFL players during the pandemic; Cashman admits he was stunned the Packers didn't lock up their own before the Vikings consummated a reunion. The rest is recent history; E-Wil subbed for Cash' early last year when he left Week 1 with a hamstring injury and joined forces when Cash' returned.

Together, they flourished.

"It was really the second half of the season because we started showing a lot of mug looks where both of us are in the A gaps or both of us are in the B gaps, and we're bringing pressure, but it's also a read, so we don't know who's going to be the blitzer," Cash' details the on-the-fly adjustments.

Their ascension seemed incessant.

Cashman and Wilson were one of 10 duos — one of five sets of 'backers — in 2025 in on 115 or more tackles apiece. Three of the other LB tandems have drifted apart, so the only other at the threshold back together in 2026 is Pittsburgh's Patrick Queen, who is 27, and Payton Wilson, 26.

The Vikings pair is peerless, however, when it comes to their combination of production and experience. They were the only NFL teammates in their seventh season or later in '25 to record 115-plus tackles.

Triple digits don't capture the everything-everywhere-all-at-once impacts of Cashman and Wilson, though. There are few statistics — but many scenes — that do. One transpired on Sunday Night Football.

In the 34-26 win at AT&T Stadium last Dec. 14, Cashman and Wilson leaned on brains, brawn and a clue perceived in film review to make misery and cause the Cowboys offense to go 2-for-12 on third downs.

They combined for 30 pass rushes, and seven flustered Dak Prescott.

"There were times where we knew the protection and E-Wil's just like, 'I can beat this guy. Let me just go,' " says Cashman, who would play his part. "It's funny, when we're presenting all these pressures, it's full-on conversation the entire time."

"A lot can change" in the games within the game, he notes, "and we just want to help each other out."

The fact a couple of well-traveled linebackers are playing the best ball of their careers is special. But, far from unbelievable. Cashman, 30, and Wilson, who will turn 32 Sept. 26, are superiorly positioned to thrive in these circumstances — under Flores, with myriad responsibilities, at this stage of their journeys.

Wilson is setting out to complete a decade in the NFL and hasn't yet reached 3,750 defensive snaps. Cash', as he launches his 30s, is flirting with 3,000, after missing a swath of games when he was younger. So, the co-commander-in-chiefs of Minnesota's "D" have been gaining insights and aptitude, advancing their savvy and programming their bodies for peaks that may make anyone who forgot, remember them.

"My argument is if we didn't play a lot of defensive snaps early on or at a certain point in our career, that's time we didn't put that physicality on our bodies, and you can make it up on the backend," Cashman asserts. "I think both of us have been flying around through training camp. And I would say in terms of the knowledge of the game — coming here, I feel like my football intelligence has exponentially grown. And I think a big part of that is just how the coaches teach it, because Flo's defense is so exotic in a way where it limits a team's menu, and the best way to know this defense is understanding how teams can attack it. … It's knowing those things that allow you to anticipate plays and play faster out there.

"Some old guys will say, 'You may lose a step, a physical step, but you gain half a step because of the IQ.' "

Their love for the game has peaked in Purple, as well, and "fellowship with the guys" is a big reason why.

"The relationships and connectivity in this locker room are different than anywhere else I've been," Cashman states. "E-Wil brings that, in terms of creating those relationships and memories outside the building and off the field. … I'm a guy that's always interested and eager to bring guys together whether it be the LBs going over to someone's house and ordering food and watching the Monday night game or Thursday night dinner and cards. Whatever it is, [E-Wil is] a guy that's always trying to incorporate that."

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