It’s been a crazy week in the NFL, but nothing is crazier than what is happening in Philadelphia. While trying to figure out what is going through Chip Kelly’s mind, it came to me. Nobody, including Kelly himself, has a clue what’s going on.
He has morphed into the crazy guy in your fantasy league who will make moves for the hell of it. Kiko Alonso is cool, why not trade my best player for him right now? Hello Kiko, goodbye LeSean McCoy.
That trade was defended by Eagles fans and pundits as an attempt to get younger and cheaper at the position of running back. I, myself, thought Kelly had figured it out. Since then we’ve learned he hasn’t figured anything out. In fact, Kelly panicked the next morning, but there aren’t “Trade approval windows” in real football.
So now he needed a new running back, and Frank Gore was the best one available, or if you believe me, the first name he saw. Gore and the Eagles hammered out deal during the negotiating window, only for Gore to spurn the Eagles for the Colts at the last minute. Not to fear, though Ryan Matthews was also available, so the Eagles quickly snatched him up instead to fill the RB void. It was a done deal, but no contract was signed. Which is a break for Kelly, because he decided that DeMarco Murray would be a better fit. So the rumored deal is a 5 year 42 million dollar contract (or LeSean McCoy money) for Murray to sign with the Eagles. A move that should become official later today. I have to use italics because it’s not official yet and Kelly may change his mind again.
But for now, it’s DeMarco time in Philadelphia. While both RB’s will be 27 entering this season, Murray is coming off of a year where he carried the ball 392 times. 9 of 14 ball carriers who carried the ball that many times had a significant drop off the next season. YPC went down. The Cowboys never planned on paying big money for Murray, and were set to let him walk. Because of that, they ran him into the ground. Do not be surprised if Murray is a step slower next season, and being a step slower in the NFL is the difference between a 1,800 yard season and an 1,100 yard season.
In addition to being a step slower, those RB’s also had a higher rate of injury. Injuries are clearly not a concern for Kelly, though, as he showed by shipping Nick Foles (and a second round pick) to the Rams for Sam Bradford. Bradford’s key stats are 59 career touchdown passes, 18 career wins, and 2 ACL tears during his five year career. Bradford has those 59 touchdowns in 49 games, or 1.2 TD’s per game. Compare that to Nick Foles, who excelled under Kelly’s system. Foles had 40 touchdowns in 21 starts since Kelly has taken over, including a ridiculous 27-2 ratio in 2013. Foles turned the ball over much more last season, and clearly Kelly has soured on him. But to trade him for Bradford, who has a 50/50 chance of getting hurt at the press conference? He had to do better than that.
All of this has distracted the talk (at least for this week) of the Eagles trading the house to draft Marcus Mariota as well. Deep down, we all know that is Kelly’s end game, no matter what he claims. Remember that guy in your league who yearns for the player he had three years ago? So does Chip Kelly. He can’t wait to get the band back together. Fire up “Mighty Oregon” over the loudspeaker.