Size certainly does matter for Chip Kelly and the Eagles

We have heard it referenced to over and over again since Chip Kelly was hired to be the head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles in 2013. Since his arrival, Kelly has completely remade the Eagles’ roster and has left his stamp all over it. But size remains the one constant with nearly all of Kelly’s moves in the City of Brotherly Love.

Kelly and his staff certainly have a specific prototype that they look for at each position. If a player doesn’t fit their mold, they likely won’t even waste their time looking at said player. Look at recently traded cornerback Brandon Boykin for example, he just didn’t fit the mold that the Eagles look for at cornerback. Therefore he was shipped to the Pittsburgh Steelers for a conditional draft pick before he walked in free agency.

That’s just one example of Kelly’s desire for size at nearly every position. Prior to the 2015 NFL Draft, Kelly’s right hand man, Eagles vice president of player personnel Ed Marynowitz discussed the prototype that they look for at each position. Here’s what Marynowitz had to say, according to Zach Berman of Philly.com:

"The prototype-specific approach allows the Eagles to pare their draft board. They funnel more than 12,000 college players down to 150 players on their board for the draft.“The first step of that is we’re going to cross-check height/weight/speed and fits,” Marynowitz said. “So it’s not to say we’re going to totally eliminate a guy if he’s outside those parameters. But he’d better be exceptional at a lot of other areas to take a shot on a guy like that.”"

It’s clear that the Eagles have a certain build that they look for, but how serious is Kelly about it? Let’s take a closer look at the 21 draft picks the team has made since he’s become Philadelphia’s head coach. Out of all of those picks, the Eagles drafted just two players that measured under 6’0″, Josh Huff and JaCorey Shepherd.

But both of those players were unique cases as Huff was one of Kelly’s former players at Oregon and has freakishly long arms for his size. While Shepherd was a talented player at a position of need that fell in the draft due to a slow forty-yard dash time. Yet in those same three drafts, Kelly has managed to draft five players that measured in at 6’6″ or taller in Lane Johnson, Zach Ertz, Joe Kruger, Taylor Hart and Brian Mihalik. Four of those five players still don midnight green today.

The NFL Draft is one thing but how about Kelly’s starters for this upcoming season? How do they measure up (both figuratively and literally) to the rest of the NFL in terms of size?

Well I’m glad you asked! I used the average position specific height, weight, arm length and hand size measurements provided by MockDraftable.com for each of the Eagles’ projected starters to create the two charts below. Green designates a player’s measurement being above the average measurement for their position. Red designates a player’s measurement being below the average measurement for their position.

Here’s a look at how the projected offensive starters for the Philadelphia Eagles stack up against the rest of the NFL.

Here’s a look at how the projected defensive starters for the Philadelphia Eagles stack up against the rest of the NFL.

Nine of the Eagles’ twenty-two projected starters are above average in all four of the categories referenced in the charts. Seven of those nine players were hand-picked by Kelly himself. Five more starters are below average in just one category, while being above average in the other three. These two charts prove just how specific Kelly and the Eagles’ front office are when it comes to size, it truly does matter to them.

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There are a few players that stand-out like “sore thumbs” on the list, as they say. One being inside linebacker Mychal Kendricks, who recently signed a contract extension with the Eagles. Kendricks is a unique player as he is certainly small in stature but he’s an absolutely freakish athlete in terms of his speed, explosiveness and versatility on the field. While he may be small in stature, Kendricks is certainly feared on the field.

Then there is safety Walter Thurmond, who spent his entire career playing cornerback before signing with the Eagles this offseason. Thurmond and Kendricks are the only players among the Eagles’ starters that measured below average for both height and weight at their respective positions. But Thurmond is another freak, but not because of his athleticism, it’s because of his absurd length. Just think about this, Thurmond has longer arms than Seattle Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman and bigger hands than Detroit Lions wide receiver Calvin Johnson. Isn’t that insane?

Kelly himself has openly stated that he certainly cherishes size at nearly every position. But in typical Kelly fashion, they aren’t your normal, boring quotes from an NFL coach. He had to put his own spin on it to make it his, here’s one of Kelly’s famous lines, according to Les Bowen of Philly.com:

"But asked if the eight free agent signees last week indicate a trend toward the longer, leaner athletes he preferred at Oregon, Kelly agreed.“We want taller, longer people because bigger people beat up little people,” Kelly said. This has not been the Eagles’ philosophy in recent seasons."

That famous line was from Kelly’s first year as the head coach in Philadelphia. He followed it up with another interesting line regarding size, once again putting his spin on it. Here’s what Kelly had to say following the 2014 NFL Draft, according to Robert Mays of Grantland.com:

"Where Rick Smith went for bulk, Chip Kelly and everyone in Philadelphia have continued that obsession with chasing length. “Long levers are strong levers,” Kelly said about the 34-inch arms on Marcus Smith, the outside linebacker the Eagles took 23rd overall. It was a consistent theme. Also: Chip Kelly is talking about long levers because he is Chip Kelly.Second-round wide receiver Jordan Matthews is 6-foot-3, former Oregon defensive end and fifth-round pick Taylor Hart is 6-foot-6, and even the 5-foot-11 Josh Huff has notably long arms for his frame. No one expected Marcus Smith to be gone in the first round, but Kelly clearly has a type. As true Chip believer and Eagles fan Chris Ryan noted to me this weekend, the problem is going to be when injuries pile up and Kelly starts rounding up random 6-foot-6 Philadelphians."

While Kelly certainly likes to mess with the media, he doesn’t play around when it comes to size. The Seattle Seahawks were one of the first teams to really key in on a player’s measurables and look how that turned out for them. Back to back trips to the Super Bowl with one of the more intimidating teams in NFL history. It’s a proven fact that size does certainly matter in the NFL.

Now it’s just up to Kelly to put together the rest of the pieces to his unconventional puzzle. Many professionals, whether it’s analyst or other NFL coaches, have openly criticized Kelly’s philosophies in the past. But if he continues to succeed in the NFL and that eventually leads to a Lombardi Trophy or two being carried down Broad Street, Kelly will certainly enjoy the last laugh.

Next: Eagles Roster Analysis: Strongest and Weakest Position Groups

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