It has become apparent to me that Philadelphia Eagles coach Chip Kelly really is a football genius. Either that or he is making a superb effort to get fired so he can return to the more relaxing world of college football. During his time in Philly he has shipped off the team’s best receiver in DeSean Jackson, traded away the very productive LeSean McCoy, and swapped promising young QB Nick Foles for a guy with a bad knee.
Kelly appears to believe he can win with any guy as long as the player does what he says. He took his genius or madness a step further when he signed Tim Tebow last week. Tebow has been out of real action since 2012 when he was barely used by the Jets. Out of all 32 NFL teams there has been very little interest in signing a quarterback that is simply not what NFL head coaches are looking for in a passer. No one questions Tebow’s leadership or drive. It’s his ability to be a consistent passer that has been the issue.
According to Mark Sanchez, who ran Philly’s offense most of last year, Tebow is just in camp to provide a warm body to toss the ball around. That seems strange since there are a ton of QBs available that wouldn’t draw a bunch of extra media attention like Tebow does. Thinking Tebow could actually make the roster is even stranger however. If this guy couldn’t find a niche with the Patriots back when he had a shot before the 2013 season, then I don’t see any other coaching staff figuring a way to use him. But maybe Chip Kelly is just enough of a loon to make it happen for the former Heisman Trophy winner.
Tebow has never given up on his goal of being an NFL quarterback. Let’s not forget that he would possibly still be Denver’s quarterback had Peyton Manning not been available as a free agent the season after Tebow mania took off in the Mile High city. John Elway would have had a difficult time getting rid of Tebow, though flawed as a passer, who led his team to several memorable wins including a playoff victory over the Steelers. Manning fell into Elway’s lap so that was all she wrote for Tim Tebow as a Bronco. Even though he spent the past year working for The SEC Network, Tebow has still been working out with a QB coach to improve his mechanics.
Do I believe Tebow can still play? No doubt, but he’d have to be willing to play another position ultimately. There is no future for him as a starting quarterback. Too many teams have passed on that possibility. He isn’t suddenly going to become the prototypical NFL passer. And the switching up QBs thing simply doesn’t work like teams tried with the Wildcat offense a few years ago. You can’t trick a defense by running a guy in off the bench for certain situations. That only confuses your own offense and makes it all seem gimmicky. Tebow has stated in the past that he has no interest in playing another position, so if he never plays meaningful games in the NFL again that is of his own doing. This guy is a hell of a football player and could make a real impact, just not from behind center.
This season in Philadelphia will be interesting to watch unfold. The NFL Draft is still yet to go down. Who knows what moves Kelly will make right before and during that event. Chip Kelly is like a mad scientist mixing different concoctions together just to see what happens. Signing Tim Tebow would have been more shocking to the football world had Kelly not already sent so many stars packing. Tebow was just the latest in wacky moves by the former Oregon coach.
The Eagles had a good year last season until the very end when things just fell apart as they missed the playoffs. The team that takes the field in September of 2015 will look a lot different than the one that started 2014. The win loss column will show us if Kelly knew what he was doing when he shuffled the deck with his roster. I would love to see Tebow make the team just to see how Kelly would use a guy that the rest of the league simply has no use for whatsoever.