Wide receiver has been an interesting position for the Eagles ever since Andy Reid took over as coach in 1999. He made some interesting choices, from Na Brown to Freddie Mitchell to Terrell Owens to Hank Baskett to DeSean Jackson. Chip Kelly took over a couple of years ago and we’re still trying to figure out his thinking at WR.

Jeff McLane wrote an interesting piece on the subject. I can’t quote a snippet or two because you need to read the whole thing. I don’t want to take anything out of context.

McLane hints that Kelly may not value WR as much as other coaches, but does point out that Kelly was willing to pay almost $10M per year to Jeremy Maclin. He was trying to come away with a conclusion, but there really isn’t one to be had.

Kelly values “his guys”. DeSean Jackson wasn’t one and therefore he’s gone. I’m pretty sure that would have been the case at any position and not just WR. Kelly liked Maclin a lot. Mac is a very good player and a high character guy. You can hand him big money and trust him to do the right thing. Kelly very much wanted to re-sign Mac. But there was a financial line in the sand that got crossed and Kelly wouldn’t go there. I’d hardly read anything into that about devaluing WR.

Last year the Eagles were very interested in drafting Brandin Cooks. They may have even tried to trade up to get him. When the Eagles were on the clock, Kelly wanted to draft Jordan Matthews. Howie Roseman told Kelly they could wait until the 2nd round and get him. The Eagles ended up trading up in the 2nd round to make sure they didn’t miss him.

Kelly values WRs.

Seattle played in the Super Bowl with nothing but UDFA receivers. That’s a team that is willing to build a cheap WR corps.

Kelly will spend money…on his guys. McLane’s article is dead on the money when he talks about some of the things Kelly does value in a WR. Blocking isn’t an option. It is a necessity. Running crisp routes at full speed even when the ball isn’t coming to you is a necessity. Stats are part of the evaluation, but tape study is critical to see who played the way Kelly wants on an every-down basis.

The WR choices this offseason weren’t ideal for someone like Kelly. All the available guys had one issue or another. From Bowe to Crabtree to Harvin, all of them had something about them that made you not want to pay them big money. Mac was the one clean guy. Unfortunately, Andy Reid was willing to overpay for him. A few years of Dwayne Bowe will do that to you.

I still think the Eagles could sign a veteran WR to a cheap deal. If you don’t like how the guy fits in, you can cut him. And I do expect the Eagles to spend a couple of draft picks on receivers. Maybe one early and one late. Or maybe both mid-round picks. Heck, could be a pair of early picks.

Kelly can look at the WR depth chart and see that he needs help. He will go get some more talented pieces for Sam Bradford to throw the ball to.

We still don’t know exactly what Kelly wants in his WRs from a size/speed standpoint.

He said Odell Beckham Jr. (5-11, 198) was his personal favorite last year. They loved Cooks (5-10, 189). They drafted Matthews (6-3, 212) and Josh Huff (5-11, 206). Kelly still likes Riley Cooper (6-3, 215) a lot. We have this notion of Kelly coveting monster WRs, but I think he’s more open-minded than most realize. He wants guys that can get open and catch the ball. He wants guys that are tough and physical, but they don’t have to be huge. I don’t think you’ll ever have to worry about Todd Pinkston coming out of retirement to play for Kelly.

It will be interesting to see how all of this plays out in the next couple of months.

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