Five Big-Picture Takeaways From Eagles Week 12 Loss Vs Lions
By Somers Price
2.) Disregarding the QB Position in the Draft Has Left No Margin for Error with Acquisitions
One of the narratives of Chip Kelly’s tenure in Philadelphia will be that he was working at a disadvantage having not been able to work with a franchise quarterback. While there is merit to that, Kelly only did so much to try and acquire such a talent. I do believe he made a spirited effort to try to trade up for Marcus Mariota in the 2015 Draft. That said, Mariota is clearly a special talent and it appears as if there was nothing the Eagles could offer to Tennessee to get the deal done. Trading for Sam Bradford was a spirited attempt at resolving the solution, but the former 1st overall pick came with a well-documented track record of underperforming and injuries.
When Kelly came aboard in Philadelphia, I was under the impression that he would be the type of coach that drafted a quarterback every season. The Eagles did take Matt Barkley in the 2013 Draft, but have failed to bring in any other young options at the position through the draft since. The selection of Barkley was a perplexing one, given the fact that he had arguably already reached his ceiling at the collegiate level. The Eagles did not even give themselves a chance to hit the veritable QB lottery, simply because they did not draft a young player to learn under Kelly. Every quarterback that has taken snaps in Philadelphia had already rooted himself, to some extent, to another offensive philosophy at the NFL level.
Even after having seen Mark Sanchez’s limitations in 2014, Kelly brought him back for more in 2015. Instead of using a mid-round pick on a quarterback he could possibly groom as a successor to Bradford, Kelly put a cap on the potential of the position and gave it almost no future. Save for Bradford somehow realizing his ceiling as a 1st overall pick and magically having a clean bill of health, there was no viable option beyond 2015 at the most important position in sports. If Kelly stays, this offseason will likely be highlighted by the acquisition of another re-tread that was cut loose from his old team for good reason. That’s a formula for failure, as we’ve seen.
The Eagles have not had stability under center since Donovan McNabb’s time in Philadelphia came to an end. With how important the position is and how few top-end players are capable of playing it, teams around the league go to great lengths to maximize their potential of finding a diamond in the rough. As it stands, the Eagles don’t even have a reasonable stop-gap option to grow within the offense. Whoever is taking snaps next season, unless it’s somehow Bradford or Sanchez, will have had to un-learn everything he had at the NFL level and try to get a grip of Kelly’s offense. Given that it took Sam Bradford almost half a season to do so, it’s hard to get excited about the prospect of watching that again.