Philadelphia Eagles head coach Chip Kelly is going to be mentioned in connection with Marcus Mariota until the NFL draft in 2015, as many have speculated that the former Oregon coach could trade up with the Buccaneers or another team to acquire his former QB to start over Nick Foles and one report suggests that he could use LeSean McCoy to get a deal done.
The draft is still months away, but with Mariota declared and Kelly recently taking over as the head of personnel for the Eagles, some reporters and columnists have started to connect the dots. Kelly was given more power over personnel this offseason after what some called a "power struggle" in the front office after Tom Gamble was pushed out. Howie Roseman was general manager before and him and Kelly did not always see eye to eye, but now Jeffrey Lurie has put Roseman in charge of the business side, while Kelly has power over personnel.
Andrew Brandt and Peter King at the MMQB have described Kelly as being one of the most valuable assets in the league, as he was brought in from Oregon with a specific vision and now he has the chance to implement it. Kelly's offense has translated well to the NFL, but he has not yet been able to get his own legitimate selection of quarterback to run it. According to John Canzano at The Oregonian, who covered Kelly for years in college, Kelly now has the chance to get the "perfect" quarterback for his system.
Some scouts see Winston as the better professional prospect and that may be true, but Mariota is a great fit for Kelly because if the offense he runs. Nick Foles did a fine job over the past two seasons under Kelly, going 14-4 in his system and taking the team to the playoffs, but he threw far too many picks this past season and had his year cut short by an injury. Tony Kornheiser mentioned on PTI that Mariota is the type of quarterback that Kelly built his system for and that he should do "all he can" to trade up for him.
While going after Mariota will cost a lot (and be sure, it will cost a ton to move up anywhere between picks one and eight), but if he is the "right" quarterback, the payoff could be championships. Canzano writes that if Winston goes number one, there is a chance that Mariota could slip past the Titans, as they have Zach Mettenberger, and he also could get past the Jaguars and Raiders in the top four. If that happens things will get interesting, as Washington is at five, but they have RG3, while the Jets are sixth and would likely want Mariota.
The Eagles likely would have to jump the Jets to get Mariota and now Kelly has the power to make that decision if he wants. The team has all of their draft picks this year and Canzano writes that they also have a big chip to use in the form of LeSean McCoy. While McCoy is an All-Pro talent at receiver, Canzano writes that Kelly has long been successful with a stable of different backs with the Ducks, including LeGarrette Blount, LaMichael James and Kenjon Barner, and he also mentions the presence of Darren Sproles and other backs of that size that could be options for Kelly to replace McCoy if he is traded.
