The San Francisco 49ers have hired Chip Kelly as their new head coach and heading into 2016 the team could look at adding some new personnel to fit Kelly's offense. The team has a top 10 draft pick and could look at players like Laquon Treadwell, Paxton Lynch or Carson Wentz, while Colin Kaepernick could get a clean slate after a down season in 2015.
Kelly comes in after working three years with the Eagles and the 49ers are hoping he can turn things around after a bad 2015 season. The 49ers took major steps back and fired Jim Tomsula and now Kelly comes in to try and clean up the mess. Things did not go quite how Kelly wanted in Philly, but he has proven that he has a strong offensive mind and that is likely one of the main reasons why the team decided to hire him.
Kelly also could be the key to seeing whether Colin Kaepernick still has the chance to be a starting NFL quarterback in San Francisco. According to Jason Cole at Bleacher Report, this was a big reason why the 49ers opted to bring in Kelly over Mike Shanahan. Cole said on a BR video that the "deciding factor" with Shanahan and Kelly was that Shanahan did "not want to keep Kaepernick as a quarterback" and that the team should "move on."
Cole said that the front office thought that Shanahan would want to draft a QB with a high draft pick and that he did not want to keep Kaepernick. Cole later said that the 49ers are not quite ready to move on from Kaepernick and that he could "improve under Chip Kelly."
While that doesn't mean the 49ers will not go after a quarterback, it could mean that they wait until the later rounds to pick one to develop behind Kaepernick. That could lead the team to go after someone like Laquon Treadwell, who could immediately add playmaking ability and a potential number one receiver to the mix in San Francisco. CBS Sports and Mel Kiper at ESPN have Treadwell going to the 49ers in mock drafts and that is one area that Kelly could focus on.
Players like Paxton Lynch or Carson Wentz could be QB options in the draft for Kelly if they last into the middle rounds, but at this point it's unlikely the team will go after a QB with the number seven pick. Kaepernick could be a nice fit for Kelly's offense, but he needs to improve his accuracy and is also coming off of multiple major surgeries from last year. Kelly also could potentially go after Sam Bradford after trading for him in Philadelphia, but if the 49ers plan on trying to turn things around with Kaepernick, a move like that is unlikely.