Introducing the Philadelphia Eagles – the all-injury team
By Robby Sabo
While most realize by now that trying to evaluate Chip Kelly’s Eagles is a fruitless endeavor, the fact that they’ve become injury prone is a cruel reality.
There’s no arguing it, Philadelphia Eagles boss Chip Kelly has gone completely rogue.
Eagles
Aggressive, daring, confident, ballsy – just a few descriptions of the work the Eagles head coach has exhibited since taking over full personnel responsibilities.
It’s nothing new for Kelly.
Remember, he’s a trendsetter, and many of his offensive concepts have been replicated throughout the NFL the past two seasons.
While everybody zigs, he zags and — while his personnel movement concepts have been sound this offseason — he’s destroyed himself in the one area you cannot afford: the possibility of games missed.
NFL offseasons usually zig. They are usually boring, predictable and matter of fact. Kelly has completely thrown that philosophy out the window and joined his own personal offseason island.
The first big move, of course, was LeSean McCoy to Buffalo for Kiko Alonso.
Although most of America (and all of Philly faithful) destroyed Chip for the move, I loved it.
McCoy was part headache on and off the field. While he is still the most elusive back in the game, with football vision of 20/20, he is the true definition of an East/West runner. Kelly knows what he wants, and he wants a North/South guy who can move the chains in those critical short yardage situations.
He found that guy in DeMarco Murray. With Alonso, they’ve also now found their defensive quarterback for the next five to seven seasons as his linebacker attributes have the potential of a poor man’s Luke Kuechly.
Where Chip completely lost the world is giving up a fourth-rounder this year and a second next year in the Nick Foles/Sam Bradford deal.
Not a fan of Foles? Fine, it’s understandable. Despite a phenomenal 2013 that saw the youngster put up an absurd touchdown to interception ratio of 27-2, the league is very divided on the idea that he’s a franchise quarterback.
Kelly obviously thought he wasn’t, while Jeff Fisher and Les Snead will gladly roll the dice. And oh yeah, they’re surely still doing cartwheels in the Rams facility because it saved their cap number this offseason.
Or is it Kelly who’s truly rolling the dice?
To bring in Bradford on top of Alonso, Murray and Ryan Mathews is straight insanity.
This is the NFL where the faint of heart do not survive, and where durability is the most important skill-set a player can excel. No football player is worth anything if he’s standing on the sidelines and potential is only a dirty word if experience is impossible to be gained.
Or, maybe Chip is that crazy mad scientist everybody has been claiming as of late and Bradford is only move one in the quest for Marcus Mariota. As it stands right now, Bradford is his man and he’ll have to lose out on some value if he re-trades the oft-injured signal caller.
Ladies and gentlemen, we now present to you the Philadelphia Eagles: the All-Injury Team of the NFL.
Next: In House Concerns