Philadelphia Eagles Offensive Plans

Throughout this offseason, Philadelphia Eagles head coach Chip Kelly has completely remade the team. Throughout the numerous moves that have taken place this offseason, it has become much clearer what the Philadelphia Eagles offensive plans will be this coming year.

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Perhaps the biggest move of entire offseason was when Kelly traded Eagles quarterback Nick Foles to the Rams for quarterback Sam Bradford. Bradford, a former Heisman winner and first overall pick, was known in college for his strong and accurate arm and his football IQ. Bradford excelled at making quick decisions and being able to squeeze the ball into tight spaces.

The next biggest move was sort of a compilation of two moves: trading Eagles All-Pro running back LeSean McCoy and adding All-Pro running back Demarco Murray and former Chargers running back Ryan Mathews in free agency. Originally, speculation was that the Eagles just did not want to pay McCoy the hefty price his services were going to come at. However, they paid Murray almost the same amount, so the reason is a football reason.

Lastly, the Eagles made sure that they did not overpay for wide receiver Jeremy Maclin, who was a free agent. Maclin ended up rejoining his former head coach Andy Reid in Kansas City. In the draft, the Eagles replaced Maclin with USC wide receiver Nelson Agholor, who had nearly identical measurables but is more versatile and might have better hands of the two.

Kelly has remained committed to the running game throughout the last two seasons. McCoy, however, was a dancer. Rather than picking up yardage, McCoy would often dance around at the line of scrimmage. In Murray and Mathews, Kelly got two players who are one cut runners. Neither of these two is likely to dance around at the line.

Also, Murray and Mathews had the best and second-best rushing yards per attempt out of the shotgun the last two years, respectively. If you read this scouting report on new Eagles quarterback Sam Bradford, you’ll see that Bradford excelled in college in playing almost exclusively out of the shotgun formation.

In Agholor, Kelly also got another receiver, in addition to last year’s rookie wide receivers Jordan Matthews and Josh Huff, who can play in either the slot or on the outside. Agholor is a very willing blocker, but at the moment lacks the strength to block NFL cornerbacks effectively. After a few months in the Eagles conditioning program we can expect that to change.

So, what’s becoming clear is that Kelly plans to run the ball a lot, play primarily out of the shotgun formation, and use his wide receivers all over the field. Kelly’s offense has excelled at getting wide receivers open in his first two years. With Bradford under center, the Eagles are no longer going to rely on the big play.

The offense was killed the past two years by three-and-outs. With McCoy’s dancing at the line, the offense became too reliant on the big play. This year, the Eagles offense will be a dink-and-dunk drive-sustaining offense that might not have as many big plays, but will probably end up scoring more points.

This style of offense, which is what Kelly ran at Oregon, will likely help the team in multiple ways. More points are a given, but the sustained drives will also create lots rest opportunities for our defense. The Eagles are ready to roll.

Fly Eagles Fly.

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