Chip Kelly - Genius or Dunce?

[savvyman]

I am loving what Chip is doing in Philadelphia - However I think most people would think differently at this point in time.

How about for a little off-season fun - What is your prediction for the Eagles next year?

[kalibane]

Too early to tell. People didn't understand what Pete Carroll and John Schneider were doing either and until they won 11 games and a playoff game. Going into that season almost all the pundits were saying the NFC West was the worst division and predicting the Seahawks to finish with one of the worst records.

All I can say about Chip Kelly at this point is he is clearly confident in what he's doing and I don't understand it.

[NorthHawk]

Same for me.
Not sure what he's up to, but it's interesting to watch.

[savvyman]

Same for me.
Not sure what he's up to, but it's interesting to watch.

Agree - Chip has made the NFL much more interesting since he has arrived.

For the record - I voted Excellent.

[HumanCockroach]

Went completely opposite. I picked them to win the division last season, and baring some serious major upgrades from this point forward, I'm not entirely sure they will win enough games to not finish last in that division next year. Sometimes you have to let "proven" talent go, however, there is a difference between making that tough decision, and forcing them out the door, while replacing them with players that are injury prone, more expensive, and weren't all that impressive to begin with...

IF they sign Murray ( doubtful at best, but who knows) they might get is with 7 or so wins, beyond that, I could certainly envision a top 5 pick in next years draft, based on the "talent" that is currently residing in Philly.

We'll see.... cool with your excellent call, but I'm confident in my "disaster" vote, and I am more so by the day it seems. Who's left? isn't it time to cut another productive, pro bowl/ all pro player ( if they still have them), it's been like 24 hours since they have thrown one away....

[NorthHawk]

They signed both Ryan Matthews and DeMarco Murray to go along with Darren Sproles.
I wonder if there will be some ego issues in the backfield.

[savvyman]

Went completely opposite. I picked them to win the division last season, and baring some serious major upgrades from this point forward, I'm not entirely sure they will win enough games to not finish last in that division next year. Sometimes you have to let "proven" talent go, however, there is a difference between making that tough decision, and forcing them out the door, while replacing them with players that are injury prone, more expensive, and weren't all that impressive to begin with...

IF they sign Murray ( doubtful at best, but who knows) they might get is with 7 or so wins, beyond that, I could certainly envision a top 5 pick in next years draft, based on the "talent" that is currently residing in Philly.

We'll see.... cool with your excellent call, but I'm confident in my "disaster" vote, and I am more so by the day it seems. Who's left? isn't it time to cut another productive, pro bowl/ all pro player ( if they still have them), it's been like 24 hours since they have thrown one away....

"If" Bradford does not get injured then look out. Philly got rid of McCoy (who danced way too much and ran soft) and now have the combined 3 best backs (Murray, Sproles & Mathews) in the league. Isn't Philly's offensive line considered one of the best run blocking units in the league?

The now have a QB with the Arm and accuracy to make all the throws to any area of the field - Key with Bradford of course is staying healthy. (According to the "Experts" at Pro Football Focus - Foles is not that good of a QB - even in his remarkable partial first season he never graded very high - They point out to last year when the breaks did not fall his way the results were in line with the Talent that he truly has as a QB)

The Eagles have upgraded their defense with Maxwell, Kiko Alonso (who supposed to also excel in pass coverage - who they got in a trade for a soft running, overpriced RB who is near exiting his prime) and Walter Thurmond.

Now of course this makeover could end up doing nothing but filling up the training and rehab rooms of the Eagles all year long - That is the big variable behind all of these moves.

I actually think that the outcome of all these moves will be either Excellent or Disaster and not much in between.

[savvyman]

I am loving what Chip is doing in Philadelphia - However I think most people would think differently at this point in time.

How about for a little off-season fun - What is your prediction for the Eagles next year?

So far the Preseason in validating my complete opposite of the masses opinion of what Chip Kelly is doing in Philadelphia:

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000518231/article/sam-bradford-throws-three-touchdowns-in-three-drives

>>>>>>If they gave awards for the preseason, Chip Kelly would have Coach of the Year locked down. Sam Bradford, meanwhile, made his case for Preseason Comeback of the Year on Saturday night.

Bradford lit up the Green Bay Packers' defense in one quarter of action, completing all 10 of his passes for 121 yards and three touchdowns. Bradford has directed four drives this preseason in his return from ACL surgery, with the Eagles scoring a touchdown on each one of them. <<<<<<<<

[monkey]

I think it's ultimately doomed to fail sooner rather than later. I think the offense is one which will work well in the regular season, but when it comes to the playoffs will fail too often to keep him employed for long. People are all excited about what they see as some "new, innovative wrinkle" but it's really not much more than a regurgitated, updated version of what teams like the Bills ran years ago.
Spread them out and hurry them up is not new, it's recycled, and ultimately it always has a short shelf life.It also works better in college than in the pro's.

Like many coaches, he has a little bit of a dictator personality (not necessarily a bad thing actually) but with Chip, he seems to be tone deaf to the criticism that is coming from some of his players, specifically about race.
Now I personally think it's probably much ado about nothing, but in today's political climate, all it takes is an allegation(s) of racism to permanently color a person's reputation.

Bottom line: The Seahawks showed the entire NFL how to easily beat this offense last year, they gave the NFL the blue print. Not every team is equipped to do it right now, but teams will eventually become equipped if Kelly finds any real success, they will adjust to stop his offense.
All that is required to easily beat this offense, is to do what we did last year, and for that matter, what Bill Parcels did to the Bills who were running a similar fore-runner to Chip's offense in the Super Bowl; slow the game down to a crawl, control the TOP by running the ball.

[Hawk Sista]

I said in a thread after the draft that Bradford could really be great in Chip's offense "if" he could remain healthy. And "if" he can, and 2 of the 3 rbs don't end up on ice, then they could do well this year. I'm not sure what the vision is for sustained success though. I'm not yet seeing it.

Wait n see for me. I never let a pre season game make me think too much either way. But the idea that Bradford is mediocre is false. He's can be a very solid QB if healthy.

[NorthHawk]

I think the beauty of Kelly's system is it can be tailored to any QB's strength.
If the QB is athletic, he can use that to its fullest advantage and if he's like Bradford with wonky knees but accurate arm, he's able to use that to it's maximum effectiveness, too.
As well, it seems they can change in the middle of the game as we see in pre-season when more athletic QBs come in.
It's an interesting view of Offense, but I wonder how long it will take before all teams effectively counter it.

It sure would be fun if we had an OC here with that type of system - or if Pete would let that happen.