In his Monday press conference, Chip Kelly said he thought he had “a very good football team.” Ha. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Sorry, Chip. You had a very good football team… then you gutted it for “culture.”
Look at Kelly’s starting offense entering the 2013 season:
WR: DeSean Jackson, Riley Cooper (Jeremy Maclin was injured.)
RB: LeSean McCoy
QB: Michael Vick
TE: Brent Celek
OL: Jason Peters, Lane Johnson, Evan Mathis, Todd Herremans, Jason Kelce
Look at that list again. Six of those players were no longer with the Eagles entering the 2015 season. Four of those departed players were former Pro Bowlers under Kelly. Jackson and Maclin had career years the season prior to leaving the team. McCoy and Mathis were 1st team All-Pros in 2013. Furthermore, only one of the six departed Eagles was not under contract when the team opted to move in a different direction.
Here’s the list of what their departures netted the Eagles; Kiko Alonso. That’s it. That’s the list. Chip Kelly forced 11 Pro Bowls, 3 All-Pros, and the franchise’s leading rusher out the door for a linebacker coming off a torn ACL. WHO KEEPS THEIR JOB AFTER THAT?!?!?! Seriously?!?! WHO?!?! I know Philadelphia is outraged right now, but the outrage needs to be ratcheted up 12 more levels. Pay attention, people: Kelly took the NFL’s top offense in 2013 and gutted it into the horrifying mess it is today, and he did so in less than 24 months. This is worse than Rick Kotite.
Kelly’s embarrassing personnel moves don’t end there, either. Remember 6 months ago when he traded Nick Foles and a 2nd round pick to the Rams for Sam Bradford? Remember how confident he was that Bradford could be a franchise quarterback and take the offense to new heights? Remember when Kelly was dumb enough to offer Bradford a contract extension and then Bradford was even dumber for rejecting it? Take a look at the stats below:
QB A: (8 Games) 2,163 YDS, 59.8%, 13 TD, 10 INT, 6.96 AVG/ATT, 81. 4 Rating
QB B: (9 Games) 2,297 YDS, 63.9 %, 11 TD, 10 INT, 6.86 AVG/ATT, 82.4 Rating
QB C: (9 Games) 2,418 YDS, 64.1 %, 14 TD, 11 INT, 7.83 AVG/ATT, 88.4 Rating
I’d like to know what you see, because I see three mediocre quarterbacks with nearly identical stats. QB A is 2014 Nick Foles. QB B is 2015 Sam Bradford. QB C is 2014 Mark Sanchez. Kelly thought he could make Bradford elite. Instead he got more of what he already had. In other words, Chip Kelly lit a 2nd round pick on fire.
Need more proof Kelly is bad at his job? How about 1st round picks. Marcus Smith. Ever hear of him? I guarantee you, if you poll Eagles fans, 30% couldn’t tell you who Marcus Smith is and another 65% couldn’t even tell you his number. Marcus Smith was the Eagles 1st round pick in 2014. The only time he gets on the field is when Kelly trots him out there for the coin toss.
Though it’s very early, Nelson Agholor is trending in a similar direction. Agholor struggles to get on the field. When he does, he’s either running poor routes or dropping footballs. Miles Austin is getting more snaps. MILES AUSTIN! Again, Jeremy Maclin had a Pro Bowl season last year. DeSean Jackson had one the year before that. Kelly thought his offense was so good that Agholor could replicate that success right out of college.
Let’s talk free agents. Kelly hit home runs early on with Malcom Jenkins and Connor Barwin. Since then? Mostly strike outs. DeMarco Murray has been a disaster. (Whew, good thing we didn’t give that money to McCoy.) Then there’s Byron Maxwell. Maxwell has avoided the angry mob in recent weeks, but that’s only because he’s been relegated to covering the opponent’s weaker receivers. $60 million to shutdown the opponent’s 2nd or 3rd receiver seems like a steep price, but what do I know? Also, Maxwell’s tackling, or lack thereof, makes Bobby Taylor look like Brian Dawkins.
We could continue with other personnel debacles courtesy of Chip Kelly, like his continuous draft failures (Hi Josh Huff. How’s it going, Zack Ertz?), but what’s the point? Kelly thinks his roster is good… sorry… “really good.” That’s the thing about arrogant people. You can tell them their pants are on fire but they won’t listen. Even as the smoke surrounds them, they’ll stick to believing they know best. Well, Chip, you may not see that steaming pile of poo you created on the field in front of you, but everyone else in Philadelphia does.
Frank Gore saw it 6 months ago.