Brent Celek On Upcoming Season [media id=332 width=480 height=360]As Monday night’s opener with Washington draws ever nearer, the optimism and anticipation surrounding Chip Kelly and the Eagles is growing in Philadelphia.
There’s no denying the amount of excitement that a lot of Eagles fans have for the Chip Kelly era to get underway. There’s no more “I’ve gotta do a better job”. There’s promise of fast-paced offense, and an innovative approach that will help alter the game. It’s the kind of stuff that can make any fan eagerly anticipate the start of a new era.
But how much should we really expect from Kelly’s offense in his first year? Are the Eagles going to have one of the top offenses in the league?
I think the Eagles offense has a chance to be good, but they’ve got some issues that many people haven’t focused on to this point. Regardless of whether or not Kelly’s offensive ideas have merit, these problems are going to make it difficult for his plans to hit their potential.
The receiving corp. is paper-thin in terms of depth. The Jeremy Maclin injury was huge blow to this offense, and DeSean Jackson is not a number-one receiver. Defenses have figured out how to defend Jackson, he’s scored just six touchdowns in the last two years after scoring 15 in his second and third seasons. DeSean disappears too often, and with Maclin out of the picture defenses will be rolling their coverages over to his side even more often. Jackson’s durability is also a major concern. He’s only played 16 games once in his five-year career, and has already suffered several concussions. Even if Kelly is able to come up with some creative ways to get him the ball, if he exposes DeSean to too much contact, sooner or later he’s going to get injured.
Beyond Jackson, what playmaking receivers do the Eagles have? Jason Avant does his job well, but he’s a role player out of the slot and nothing more. Riley Cooper, Damaris Johnson, and Jeff Maehl aren’t scaring any defensive coordinators.
The tight ends? Brent Celek’s production has declined over the last three years. Zach Ertz and James Casey might turn into some nice pieces, but I haven’t seen anything to this point to believe that either player is any kind of gamebreaker.
Even the offensive line has their question marks. Lane Johnson is going to go through growing pains as a rookie; Todd Herremans has a lot of miles on him, and he hasn’t really been 100% for a couple of years now. I see this as a good offensive line, but not necessarily a great one.
The way I hear some people talk about what they believe Chip Kelly is going to do for this team offensively, you’d think the Eagles hired a Hall of Fame coach who has already established himself as one of the best minds in the game and can turn the garbage that was a 4-12 team in 2012 into 9-7 gold in 2013. But in reality, Kelly is a great unknown at this point. His belief in a fast-paced attack with a high volume of plays might dazzle at times, but it could also just as easily fizzle out and backfire.
The idea that Chip Kelly is just going to stroll right into the NFL and take the league by storm with his alleged offensive brilliance just isn’t realistic. Just like his young team, Kelly is going to have to go through growing pains as a coach too. The NFL is not the PAC 12, and Kelly is going to need time to figure out what works and doesn’t work at this level. You have to give defensive coordinators a little bit of credit. They catch up to trends and gimmicks very quickly in this league, and it only takes one successful blueprint from a single defensive gameplan from a single game for the rest of the league to figure out how to defend a certain style of attack.
Could Kelly be this great, revolutionary head coach that a lot of people hope that he’ll be?
Maybe.
I myself am very skeptical and have strong reservations about his philosophies, but I don’t think that this a year to expect much from him to judge him on. The Eagles just don’t have the talent to win a lot of games this year. The issues at quarterback, wide receiver, and throughout the entire defense are much greater than many realize, and while we may see flashes of what Kelly could potentially turn this team into, the 2013 season is going to be strictly a rebuilding year.
There’s a lot of work to be done to make the Eagles a viable contender again.
Denny Basens is the editor of GCobb.com. Email him at dbasens@ycp.edu, or follow him on Twitter.
Jaguars fans have more confidence and excitement for they team. This site has become depressing. I love critique articles as well. But the negative articles are out weighing everything. MNF just needs to get here. The better we play and the more we win can shut all this negativity up. But then again. We can beat the redskins and excuses are already built in. RG Coolio rusty etc
I’m not even worried about wins an losses and will not use wins and losses to measure success with the 2013 Eagles. I just want to see team cohesion and the building of the core foundation. Go Eagles.
You’re 100% correct. Wins aren’t important this year and shouldn’t be what is used to measure the team’s success. Whether they’re 5-11 or 8-8 at the end of the year, we need to see growth…we need to see solid evidence that Chip Kelly can succeed at this level, we need to see that there’s some hope for Billy Davis’ scheme.
I agree with this article.
This is just the start of a totally new system. We are coming off a 4-12 season and many of the players that produced that record are still starters. The coach can only do so much.
Watching Manning work the other night shows that the traditional quarterback running the Erhardt-Perkins offensive system is going to be here for a while. The jury is still out on the read-option.
Denny, lets just call it a wrap and not even watch the games. You people make me laugh, I could disect every team on a negative too but I’m not going to do that, the O line is going to dominate, the running game is gonna end up in the top 5 in rushing, Vick is gonna play like he did in 2010, Desean will b moved all around to where they can’t double team him like you suggest Denny, we will have three TEs out there which will cause mismatch nightmares, our special teams will win us a couple games this year between putting us in great field position, causing some turnovers and scoring a couple TDs, the game has three phases not two, our D might not be up to pare with the rest of the team right now but it will be way better then what your predicting, 9 or 10 wins this year, if the Colts could do it with a complete turn around and a first year coach then so can we. Positive thinking people! Lets go Eagles!!!!!!
There’s nothing wrong with being excited to see what the team will look like in the first year of a new era, but keep it all in perspective. I think most of the points you make are blindly optimistic at best.
Vick’s going to play like he did in 2010? With a weak receiving corp and his own various issues with his game? When he’s never played anywhere close to that level in any other year of his career? Oh yeah, that sounds reasonable.
DeSean will be moved all over the place and that’s going to make him as effective as any other number one? Defenses have shut him down even with Maclin present, and once the hits start piling up, he’s as much of a durability concern as anyone.
Three tight ends will cause matchup nightmares? Celek hasn’t been very good since 2010, I don’t think James Casey is anything more than a role player. Zach Ertz may be that guy, but he’s a rookie and its unfair to expect that kind of production from him right away.
You do realize that in order for special teams to win you “a couple of games” the defense is going to have to pretty good right? The defense will need to keep games close and come up with stops to set up punt return opportunities.
4-12 only turns around quickly in the right circumstances. Anything else is the exception, not the rule. Last year for the Colts, they turned over almost all of their roster, picked up an elite can’t-miss quarterback prospect, and the coaching staff wasn’t trying to do anything radical with the scheme.
Here you have a situation where the roster really isn’t that much different from what it was a year ago. Yes, the offensive line is healthy, and they’ve added a couple of pieces here and there, but this is still a team with some big holes to fill and its got a first-time head coach with no previous NFL experience trying to introduce all kinds of innovative and revolutionary things, and you’ve got a defensive coordinator with a terrible resume trying to run a 3-4 defense with 4-3 players…I don’t know how anyone can look at those factors and expect this team to be good right away.
I know lot of fans like yourself don’t want to accept this, but this is going to be a rebuilding year. That’s not to say that it won’t be an enjoyable experience. There’s a lot to be gained and enjoyed from watching what the new coaches will try to do, and as long you see signs that the team is moving in a positive direction at the end of the year, then 2013 is a success regardless of the record. Watch what happens and enjoy the year for whatever it turns out to be. If your heart really believes that this is a team destined for great things, then that’s great. I couldn’t disagree with you more, but even though I think this is a 5-win team, that won’t stop me from enjoying the next chapter in Eagles history any less.
I already know and accept this is a rebuilding year! A lot of what your saying is what you THINK is gonna happen, ( not Thinking Casey is going to do anything, Ertz MAY be that guy) Theirs nothing radical for the Eagles cause the’ve been learning Chips system since day one and are ready, I don’t remember seeing tons of penalties or forced timeouts in the preseason because guys didn’t line up where they were suppose to be, it will be radical for the other teams! you make it like the Colts played a basic vanilla offence the whole season like they do in preseason and that’s why they succeeded, bottom line is this, I agree this is a rebuilding year, but I also believe we can have a year like the Colts did last year while were rebuilding and waiting to have the whole team filled with Chips type of players
The Eagles have released Brandon Hughes. Look for Shaun Prater to take his place.
The Colts turned it around in a much weaker division with a much better quarterback who threw for more yards and TDs in his rookie season than our quarterback has in any season over his 10 year career.
Of course our QB can beat our RB in a foot race – so we got that going for us….
We were top five in the league in rushing in 2012 and you saw how that turned out… rushing the ball alone will not produce wins. And it’s yet to be seen how much running Chip Kelly will do when his team is losing.
I’m optimistic because we have made a coaching change and we might be on the right track to improve, but if you really think this group of players will win 9 or 10 games, I think you will be disappointed.
the stats this year in rushing will be totally more meaningful for one simple reason, How n When we run the ball? that’s a major difference! As far as Vick beating a RB in a foot race and thinking that’s all he is, your contradicting yourself! Your optimistic on the coaching chance but by saying that about Vick your saying it was a bad coaching move to keep him, I don’t know about you but if Kelly kept him and has him starting, obviously he thinks he can bring the 2010 version out of Vick, I believe he can and will. as for the Colts, Luck was a rookie, nobody knew he was gonna do that, besides Luck and a rookie coach don’t forget they did a complete overhaul of the roster, they let go of 30 players from the season before, nobody had them winning more then 4 games, even in that weak division with all that turnover, we can do the same thing and I believe we will.
Much better Qb? It shows how little the pessimists actually know about football. Luck had a a Qb rating lower than Vick and Foles.
The Colts took advantage of a schedule that had them play only six games against winning competition.
Okay Andrew, we don’t have to see things the same way. We both want the same thing in the end – a super bowl for Philadelphia.
As for Vick, and Kelly’s decision – I think Kelly made the only decision he could make under the circumstances. There was no one for him to draft that was better than what we have, and I don’t think he ever planed to use a pocket QB in his system.
IrishEagle, agreed! We both want the Eagles to win a SB, that’s the bottom line! I just hope your not one of those guys on here that want to see them lose cause you don’t like Vick or certain players on the team. That’s the craziest thing I ever heard, I would never consider someone that thinks like that a true fan.
andrew p:
You my friend are a true Eagles fan buddy. I agree with your posts. However, I can no longer comment on this site with these ridiculous so called “fake bandwagon fans” (including this ridiculous writer) who’d rather lose in order to be better next season. I’ll never in my life doubt my eagles whether we win or lose. I’m all in every year with my eagles and chip kelly and the gang are gonna surprise the entire NFL this year. You’re on of a few who believes in your Eagles as well; good stuff buddy. We will win this game and division Mark my words!!!!!!!!
Rocko, you can’t leave this blog, I need you buddy! We have to stick together and just overcome these haters and so called knowledgable writers that all don’t have a clue about how you really support a team, it’s our job to remind them.
I got you andrew but I’ll only comment if anything’s here worth commenting over. This is our year man!
From Bill Simmons this week (just about perfect I think). And no, I’n not “Ottawa reader Neil Varan”
20. Philadelphia Eagles
Ottawa reader Neil Varan wonders, “Who’s the leading candidate for your 2013 Man-Crush?” The answer: Eagles coach Chip Kelly. I love his brain, love his system, love the rapid-fire play thing … I mean, I would have picked the Eagles as my 2013 sleeper if Michael Vick weren’t so prominently involved. Last year, we decided that (a) his decision-making just wasn’t good enough, (b) it was too hard for him to stay healthy, and (c) if he were an NBA star, he’d be nearing the “I’m gonna play in China” stage of his career. Now he’s going to spearhead an offense that runs 85 plays a game and relies on him to make MORE decisions? If Kelly makes this one work in Year 1, he’s even better than I thought. And I think he’s gonna be great. Eventually. Either way, the 2013 Eagles will be a pain in the ass to play, even if they end up going only 6-10 or 7-9.
What does anyone from Ottawa know about football? Let him stick to Hockey!
Exactly, with a new coach, new philosophy, new everything, the stink still permeates with Vick at the helm, it’s not new, it’s old , it will get older yet
I’m just done. Sad ass negative fans and media. Andrew P. I’m with you. #embracethehate. LETS GO BIRDS!!!. Don’t want to hear from any of you haters when the wins are piling up
We can’t give up Armyprince, we have to overcome the hate, us and IrishEagle have to stay on board, were outnumbered by the haters right now but you watch, their will be more of us then them by mid season.
I forgot Rocko too! We’re getting there, before you know it, the real fans that want to see the Eagles win every game regardless of who’s on the team will be the majority on this site.
Andrew P!!! I’m all in!!! Can’t wait for Monday!!! Can’t wait to shut redskin fans and fair weather eagle fans up!!! It’s all about the name on the front not the back. But people can’t get past they own prejudice or dog loving thoughts.
I like that saying, ‘it’s all about the name on the front not the back’!
Mike Vick’s “greatest season” 2010.
63% passing 3018 yrds 252 yrds/game 21tds 6 ints 11 fumbles
Last year would have placed him
12 in comp %
25th in yrds
11th in yrds/game
18th in tds
2nd in INTS (Yaaaay…..of course just an illusion created by first 5 games)
32nd in fumbles
Even at his all time bestest bestest best, he’s bottom tier in most QBing categories.
Vin, keep in mind, those stats were of Vick passing the ball 40 times a game and a run/pass ratio of 70/30, it’s going to be totally different this year with a balanced O, I see Vick thriving this year because of that balance.
You do realize that the stats that are his totals for the season are irrelevant because he didn’t play the full 16 right?
Just another example of your bias by providing an incomplete picture of the stats. And since INTs contradict your narrative you conveniently discount them. So according to Vinniethehater, you ignore the stats that favor Vick and count only the ones you think make Vick look bad.
ESPN’s metric had him top ten in 2010, Football Outsiders 12th, Qb rating top ten. But haters are going to hate anyway.
skayne, don’t forget he was also Second in MVP voting that year, I guess they were wrong about his stats and performance too. Are these people crazy or what?
All the MVP talk was for his first 5 games (no film), completely ignoring his typically mediocre final 6 weeks.
This is what hype does. Favre was still the amazing gunslinger 10 years after he had played his last MVP season. Vick was still getting the “MVP” hype for the whole season completely ignoring his dropping comp %, dropping yards, and rising ints over the final 6 games.
Of course I do. But that’s the reality of Mike Vick. When a guy has only played 16 games once during his career, his inability to play factors in. I expect him to miss 3 or 4 games again this year like every year. He’s one more hit to the noggin away from ALS.
That was his best statistical season as a QB.
One that is constantly pimped on here as awesome. How everyone hopes he gets back to 2010 form.
He puts up his 2010 numbers and he’ll rank about 20th amongst QBs this year. That’s his ceiling.
Good times
Vin, I cant argue about the health issues with Vick, but if he plays within the system hes gonna be fine, as far as his ranking if he puts up 2010 numbers? Don’t forget the bottom line, we had a winning record and he came in second in MVP voting, I’ll take that any day!
You didn’t talk about his durability issues in your earlier post. No, you posted his total season stats as if they reflect a full 16.
Stop pretending it wasn’t more bias.
BTW – even IF we roll with FO’s ranking (12th) or ESPN (10th).
That was still his BEST EVER. LOL.
And it was 3 seasons ago.
Even if he gets back to his bestest bestest best, he ranks 10th.
Fantastic.
Aim low VIck fans!!
And the Dellusional Cult of Vick continues to march on toward their Angry Plummet off the Pied Pipers Cliff Chanting….
This is the Coach and System that was made for Vick…He’ll be great just you wait..
Enjoy it while it lasts LOSERS.
Come see me in week 16. This team goes NO where with this QB. This style of Running your QB is a STUPID STUPID FAD.
7 touchdown passes from a “statue” as most of you would call a guy like manning. You all know NOTHING!!!!
Nothing to be delusional about, its all about the system! Kapernick, Wilson, are proving that, as for that playoff choke artist “Statue” YOU could of threw 7 TDs against that D. Those games will be the norm the way the game is played today, that’s no biggie. Vick is gonna have a MVP year like he did in 2010! Its all about the system!!!!!!
That ‘system’ was brand new to the nfl last year. D coaches have spent the entire year dissecting it.
We’ll see what happens.
Chips system isn’t the same as what the NFL saw last year, parts of it yea, but hes also coming in with a lot of new stuff, your right, we’ll see what happens.
There is no Cult of Vick. There are many haters of Vick, who frequently spew there fact free condemnations of him.
The guys who’ve defended Vick have been right about how this offseason would play. It’s loudmouths like Regal who’ve been wrong the whole time who won’t STFU and let the season play out. You constantly have to push your hate Vick agenda.
When the season goes well you will still be crying about Vick being QB. So don’t pretend a good season will change your tune.
Another thing the Vick haters like to mention the elite Qbs like Manning. The debate about Qb was between Vick, Foles, and any other QBs who were available in free agency or for trade. None of the others were available. Vick was by far the best available, and way better than Foles.
The offseason has proved that, and it’s driving the Vick haters crazy.
Go away and in week 16 apologize for being a MORON
Why would why go away when it’s been clowns like you who’ve been wrong on everything and still won’t quit hating?
Every game when Vick outplayed your hero Foles you and Vinnie just piled more excuses for Foles.
Since Chip decided on Vick all you’ve done is whine and moan about Vick.
Again I’ll say it. If people are so confident that Vick will thrive in Kelly’s system then why is Vick drafted later then the 100th pick in most fantasy drafts? Are we all haters? No, I think we just know what Vick is. A lower tier quarterback.
Skayne, if you don’t think Luck is a better quarterback than Vick you are blinded by you man love.
No, he’s not. As I said his Qb rating was lower than both Vick and Foles. That’s just a fact, deal with it.
The Colts played ten games against losing teams, and that is why they mafe the playoffs.
You want to talk about fantasy football? How many angles do you guys need to come up with?
Teams draft Rbs first, and guys like Manning, Brees, Rodgers, Brady, are going to be drafted before. The main reason for Vick’s lower fantasy value is his durability issues. People don’t think he will last the whole season, which is one of the criticisms of Vick which are valid. His fantasy value is high, but you won’t be picked high when you get hurt.
Irish, from the stats Vin showed, Vick was in the lower tier in stats when he came in second in MVP and led us to the playoffs, my point is, who cares about stats if he ends up playing like a MVP n leads us to the playoffs? You guys are so caught up in fantasy football that you can’t separate it from the real thing.
He played like an MVP for 5 games.
In Vick hater world maybe. In reality he was an Mvp the entire season.
That is a Dellusion
The delusion only exists for the haters, who like to pick and choose which games count. Funny how all the games Vick plays well don’t count, all the games he was bad in do count.
Your analysis is as follows: if you take out all the games Vick played well in, HE SUCKS!
On the flip side…this NFL Gamepass is pretty cool. I can roll with any game and can instantly replay any play I want (from any Q).
Also access to the coaches film of every game the day later.
Pretty good stuff.
I’m not talking about stats, I’m talking about confidence in Vick as a quarterback. And how confident Eagles fans are about how well the team will do this year with Vick as the quarterback.
We can all act like we believe the Eagles are going to the playoffs, but honestly, very few fans believe that.
My point about fantasy football is not to say Vick sucks… but to show that few fans have confidence in him as a quarterback.
Vick’s average draft position.
2011 – 6th
2012 – 44th
2013 – 103rd
If that doesn’t indicate a lack of fan confidence I don’t know what does.
Oh Shyane, does Alex Smith’s (highest in the NFL) QB rating make him better than Kaepernick?
Yeah, a lack of confidence he will stay healthy, as I wrote.
No, Kap is better. Luck played the one of the easiest schedules in football. If Vick had played the same teams he would have smoked Luck’s stats.
You are so right Skayne.
That Luck guy….nothing to see there. (8 for 8 for 113 and 2 tds so far today)
But VIck is better.
Obviously.
You said Vick would smoke Luck.
But there is no Cult of Vick.
Another garbage team for luck to beat up on? Did you see the numbers first team offenses were putting up on the Raiders in the preseason?
The only cult here is the HateVick Club that won’t give it a rest. You were wrong on like what, everything this offseason?
You mean like Vick against the Jags D this preseason?
Sorry, he didn’t do well against the Jags (as tough as they are).
I meant Pats and Panthers.
But VIck is better than Luck.
32 NFL GMs would take Luck over Vick in a draft (both now and 11 years ago)
But not Skayne….Luck only beats up wimpy teams…Vick is better!!!
Completely, utterly ridiculous.
But there is no cult of Vick.
@skayne…..looks like you seem to be a Luck-hater…why all of the hate for Luck?
The playing of Vick makes no sense. This team is not going to “stockpile wins”
This team will be lucky to win more than 3 games this year. Have you seen our DEFENSE???????????????????????????????????
Playing Foles would have at least given insight into what could be or even build trade value. Sitting him has destroyed his trade value for next year (We will have to draft a mobile QB for Chip for his last year before returning to college)
Face it suckers NFL = NOT FOR LONG
We need a NFL offense Run by an NFL QB with an NFL Caliber Defense. Call me when any of these things show up!
Losers want the lesser player to play. Loser franchises talk about rebuilding. Loser franchises use real games as tryouts, instead of playing the best players. I wrote it before, players like Shady and Lesean will be out of their prime when your “rebuilding” plan comes to fruition. The offseason is about development.
According to you Vick sucks. Since Foles couldn’t beat him out, you have your answer as to how he would play in the regular season. If Foles couldn’t beat Vick, who is a bum in your eyes, we’d probably go winless with Foles.
Another clown who still doesn’t understand the whole 6 games vs 100 games business.
Foles has played less than 10% of the snaps Vick has…Vick should be better. And he was a little better…whoop-de-do. We know VIck’s ceiling, we do not know Foles.
The Raiders tried to “win now” by signing an old shitter Palmer…how’d that work out….cause hanging on the Vick amounts to the same thing.
Another clown who doesn’t realize Vick is 3x better than Foles. Only Vick haters think there is a comparison.
Foles didn’t do shit last year when he had the chance. This preseason thru 2 preseason games Vick had almost 2x the yards/att.
Foles is Captain Checkdown. I don’t want to see his noodle arm anywhere near the field.
It doesn’t matter how much experience you give Foles. Vick will be better when he’s 50.
@skayne…..speaking of loser, in case you don’t realize it…..Shadey and Lesean are the same person.
Hey nimrod, it was a typo. Just for you I meant DESEAN.
Typo, ok…I see that the D is right next to the L on my keyboard…oh wait…honest mistake I guess for a long time Eagles fan
Are you serious? You got nothing better than to critique my typing? You really are a nimrod.
At least I know who our players are
No you’re just a nimrod.
Andy Reid’s Chiefs getting penalties for delay of game. Lol, what else is new. Special Teams gave up a safety too. Good ol Andy!
Tru as always.
But his QB is looking ok. Funny that all Qbs except 1 seem to look good in his system.
Yeah, Mike Mcmahon did suck under Reid.
But if Vick was 13/20 for a measly 98 yards, there wouldn’t be any bullshit about him having a good game.
That Colin Kapernick experiment sure is ending poorly.
Colin Kaepernick is a punk ass and I can’t wait until it again ends poorly for him
Wow… sheesh guys. Vinnie is giving it his all… he may pull an all nighter before slipping away.
Both the giants and cowboys looked sloppy tonight… no reason to think we cant win. Eli with what… 3 pics?
Eagles up next… cant wait. Lets god birds!!
larrwd & tjohnson both jump on to boast about Colin Kapernick… What is that about?
Colin Kapernick is a great player – so what does that have to do with you two? Are you somehow responsible for Colin Kapernick’s success?
I don’t get it…. Colin Kapernick is not an Eagles player, he has no connection to us.