Chip Kelly is no hurry to name who the starting quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles will be in 2013. He has four quality players in the mix, but is in no rush to start creating depth charts in May. As the Eagles continue on with OTAs, the head coach intends on getting a good look at each option before ultimately says who will be under center Week 1.
In the second week of organized team activities, Michael Vick appears to be the frontrunner for the starting job. He has taken a majority of the snaps with the first-team offense. Kelly is not getting caught up in rep counts this early in the season.
"Why do we need to name a starting quarterback in May? I mean, we're going to take the full amount of time that we have to make a thorough evaluation of what we do. When you make big decisions like that, I don't think you want to make a rash decision. You want to give everybody the opportunity to see what they do," Kelly said.
As Kelly begins transitioning the Eagles into a different style of offense, he wants to see how each quarterback takes on the changes. Along with Vick, second-year, Nick Foles, rookie Matt Barkley and Dennis Dixon all have an equal chance a competing. Foles has also gotten his fair share of reps with the first team and Kelly plans on giving both Barkley and Dixon the same option.
Kelly wants the competition to play itself out. If they intend on Vick being the starter, the coaching staff is doing a great job of downplaying it.
"None of us have had any thoughts of hey, we've got to get a guy named by a certain point in time. It will play itself out," Kelly said.
Kelly is well known for prolonging naming a starting quarterback. In 2012, Kelly did not name Marcus Mariota the starting quarterback until one week prior to Oregon's opening game. He did the same in 2010 with Darron Thomas. The difference with the pros is that Kelly can evaluate preseason play. All quarterbacks will have a chance to play against other professional talent to see how they shape up.
It would not be a shock if Kelly waited until a week before the Eagles open against the Washington Redskins as a part of Monday Night Football. While Kelly wants the offense to begin meshing with a starting quarterback, he feels no sense of urgency, praising each player for what they bring to the team.