Getty Images
If Chip Kelly does indeed have a plan to move the Philadelphia Eagles closer to the Super Bowl, the results of the last two drafts demonstrates it is an odd and haphazard one and fans have reason to be very concerned.
The draft is supposed to be about filling positions of need, not filling positions that are needed by unnecessarily releasing good parts. If anything, the Eagles are stuck in neutral and Kelly only has to look in the mirror to see the reason. The Eagles got rid of a perfectly good deep threat at wide receiver in DeSean Jackson two years ago, only to create a need for a deep threat at wide receiver. They then targeted a receiver, Oregon State’s Brandin Cooks, only to see him go off the board a pick before them. They then panicked and reached for a project at rush end, Marcus Smith, who they do not need and who they will eventually cut. They then got a wide receiver, Jordan Matthews, in the second round. Had they kept Jackson, they would have been able to fill more dire needs in two areas.
Instead of signing Jeremy Maclin, they used a pick on a Maclin clone, Nelson Agholor. If Kelly indeed had a well-conceived plan, they would have signed Maclin and used that pick on a stud offensive lineman who he could have plugged in to replace the aging parts of his current offensive line. While his second-round pick, Utah DB Eric Rowe, was laudable, his third-round pick, Jordan Hicks, was laughable. Kelly has a solid group of linebackers led by Mychal Kendricks, but rumors of Kelly being on the outs with Kendricks might have forced him to use an unneeded pick to grab the Texas linebacker.
To be really good at drafting, Kelly is going to have to come to the realization that he has to get along with a variety of personalities. This is not college, where he can recruit a five-star when needed. Kelly needs to learn how to get along with paid professionals who might not fit his idea of culture. If he doesn’t, his future drafts — like his past ones — will be an exercise in replacing players who were perfectly good fits otherwise and neglecting real areas of need. That’s the very definition of being stuck in neutral.
Mike Gibson is a writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @papreps , “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google.
