The Philadelphia Eagles appear to have their offense set outside of needing another wide receiver to replace Jeremy Maclin. Now the team simply needs to determine their depth chart. After acquiring Sam Bradford in a trade and DeMarco Murray in free agency, where do both Mark Sanchez and Ryan Mathews fit in to Chip Kelly's scheme for 2015?
The Eagles won the Murray sweepstakes on Thursday after the running back called Chip Kelly and requested a visit. The Eagles had been turned down by Frank Gore while Mathews waited in the wings, but in the end Murray was the favored back with a contract that includes $42 million with $21 million of that being guaranteed. Murray told the media that he opted to sign with the Eagles because he was confident he could win a Super bowl with the team. Kelly was shocked the deal was done.
"I got a chance to reach out to him and spent a little time talking to him," Kelly said, via ESPN. "He kind of shared his vision of what he wants and what he's looking for. I know he was offered more money in other places, but he decided he really wanted to be a part of what we were doing here. I thought he would be out of our price range."
Murray will be the starting running back in 2015, but Mathews will remain as his backup. The former San Diego Chargers running back was thought to be gone after Murray agreed to his deal, but the running back is staying put on a three-year contract as Kelly favors the two-back system.
"When you have a physical, downhill runner," Kelly said, "you'd better have two of them, because they're going to take a lot of physical shots. We want to be able to spread out the carries. We were real fortunate, and it's a credit to LeSean for the last two years; we had our fingers crossed that he wouldn't get injured. Knowing the style that those guys have, distributing the carries with two guys is what we're looking to do."
There is also the question of who starts between Bradford and Sanchez. Kelly has made it very clear that Marcus Mariota is not getting drafted by the team meaning Bradford, Sanchez and Matt Barkley are the remaining options. Sanchez started for the Eagles last year while Bradford was supposed to be the franchise guy for St. Louis. Still recovering from a season-ending knee injury, it is unknown who gets the nod Week 1.
