Many assumed that when Chip Kelly signed on to become the next coach of the Philadelphia Eagles that his starting quarterback was not currently on the team’s roster. Many also assumed that Kelly would want to add a familiar face to the depth chart to help implement some variation of his high-octane offense at the NFL level. While it remains to be seen if Nick Foles (maybe) or Mike Vick (no shot) will start for Kelly next season, it appears that the first-year head coach will bring aboard current Ravens practice squad quarterback Dennis Dixon, according to Geoff Mosher of CSNPhilly.com.

Dixon starred under Kelly during their time together at the University of Oregon. According to Mosher, Kelly would have likely reached out to Dixon sooner had the Ravens not advanced to the Super Bowl. Teams cannot sign players off the practice squad of playoff participants until that team has been eliminated.

Says Mosher:

There are strong indications that Kelly won’t waste too much time after the Super Bowl before reaching out to Ravens practice squad quarterback Dennis Dixon and bringing him to Philadelphia. Dixon, who engineered Kelly’s offense to near perfection at Oregon and had his Heisman candidacy in 2007 derailed by a knee injury, is the only NFL quarterback that knows the coach’s system inside-out and wouldn’t be starting from Square 1.

Dixon, a 2007 fifth-round draft pick of the Pittsburgh Steelers, has played sparingly at the professional level, starting only three games in four seasons. Still, Dixon possesses the skill set and knowledge necessary to succeed in Kelly’s offense.