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Eagles Analysis: Chip Kelly is taking big risks

By Owen Lloyd

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The Philadelphia Eagles head coach, Chip Kelly, is taking big risks heading into his third season in the role.

Over the offseason, Kelly has torn apart the Philadelphia Eagles’ roster. While it looks like he has achieved his aim of adding depth and quality, if you look beyond the names on paper there are still some huge risks that have been taken.

Key players for the Philadelphia Eagles have big red flags by their names. New quarterback, Sam Bradford, missed the majority of two seasons with knee injuries. Everybody in the organization is going to be holding their breath every time that Bradford takes a hit for the first few games of the season. Behind Bradford, backup quarterbacks Marc Sanchez and Stephen Morris just aren’t as good and will leave the Philadelphia Eagles in a vulnerable situation.

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Newly acquired running backs DeMarco Murray and Ryan Mathews also have some questions to answer. Starting with Murray, can he post another season with big numbers after having such a hefty workload with NFC East rivals Dallas Cowboys last season. How much of Murray’s success was down to the Cowboys’ impressive offensive line? Equally, Mathews struggled a little towards the end of his run with the San Diego Chargers. Can Kelly and the Philadelphia Eagles coaching staff reignite the talent that is clearly there?

The offense also lost their number one receiver in Jeremy Maclin, who joined the Kansas City Chiefs in free agency. A lot is expected of second year receiver Jordan Matthews. The Philadelphia Eagles will be hoping that he doesn’t get a case of the “sophomore slump” that can hit new players to the league, particularly as he will now be likely to face better cornerbacks as a top receiver, when he gets a chance to line up outside. Rookie receiver Nelson Agholor is promising, but again, he’s new to the league. There’s no guarantee that he will produce at the level that the Philadelphia Eagles hope.

In the defense, new star cornerback Byron Maxwell has never been a number one cornerback. Safety Walter Thurmond is learning a new position. Linebacker Kiko Alonso is also coming off a big injury, after being acquired from Buffalo in a trade for LeSean McCoy.

At the moment, all is well in the Philadelphia Eagles world. The team are rightly being praised for an off season overhaul that has resulted in incredible preseason results and performances. However, it wouldn’t take much for the wheels to fall off. Injuries to key players could easily start to see the vultures circle around Kelly, as people would say that injuries to Bradford, Alonso et al were foreseeable and that Kelly placed too much faith in his fabled sports science.

There’s no doubt that Chip Kelly is a wiser man than me. I hope that my faith in him turns out to be correctly placed and that these players stay on the field until February. If not, there may be a lot of questions to answer.

Next: Eagles 2014 Draft Class needs to step up

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