What Chip Kelly Means for the NFL - jmik58's Blog

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What Chip Kelly Means for the NFL Stuck

Posted on January 16, 2013 at 01:05 PM.

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Does Chip Kelly's 2012 performance against Stanford give us the best picture of how his offense will translate to the NFL?

While watching NFL teams rack up major yards and big-time points during the two-minute drill I've often thought to myself, "Why don't teams do that all the time?!"

I may finally get my answer with the hiring of former Oregon Ducks head coach, Chip Kelly, to the same post for the Philadelphia Eagles.

While Kelly's offense was never complex in its scheme, the hurry-up execution is what helped produce arcade-like points for the Ducks throughout his tenure. In reality, Kelly doesn't bring that much new to the NFL. His scheme is run out of shotgun with the bread-and-butter foundation of the read option, dive, inside zone, outside zone, and play action off of those.

The success in 2012 of quarterbacks like Colin Kaepernick, Russell Wilson, and Robert Griffin III show that such a scheme can work in the NFL -- but does Kelly's blur concept -- or hurry up tempo -- translate to an advantage in the pros?

Recently I discussed the thriving read option attacks of the NFL and how they differ from the triple option or wildcat fads. The read option offers a sophisticated play action passing game while forcing linebackers to play passively, which opens up run lanes and subsequently passing zones in the intermediate. The problem with the wildcat and triple option in the NFL is that they both require the defense to make mental mistakes and to be physically outmatched -- things that don't happen nearly as often in the pro game versus college or lower.

Much like the triple option and wildcat, the hurry-up relies on the same advantages, except the physical aspect relates to fatigue while the mental is still alignment. Schematically, the hurry-up also forces coaches and players to play passively, a large advantage to any offense. But don't expect the mental mistakes of misalignment and mismatch issues to translate to the NFL to the extent of the college game.

Chip Kelly and his Oregon offense thrived on running more plays than the competition and on big-yardage plays. The most intelligent opponent of Oregon each year was the Stanford Cardinal -- not a surprise -- and that very team was the one who made the least mental mistakes and was able to take down the Ducks in 2012.

If you want to get an idea of what the Eagles offense will look like under Chip Kelly, think San Francisco, Seattle, or Washington run at a two-minute pace. But don't picture the 80-point explosions full of 70-yard touchdowns that you witnessed against the likes of Colorado.

Instead, think Stanford versus Oregon. Think 17-14. But also think of how much fun they'll be to watch.

Sound Off: What impact do you think Chip Kelly will have on the Eagles and the NFL?

Justin Mikels is a staff writer for Operation Sports. Give him hell in the comments or on Twitter: @long_snapper

Comments

# 1 kackle85 @ Jan 16

The days of the NFL being resistant to change are slowly coming to an end. Pure pocket passers are a thing of the past. There is more than one way to skin a cat and Chip Kelly is about to prove that to the NFL.

# 2 brza37 @ Jan 16

Chip Kelly hung 626 yards and 52 points on Jim Harbaugh’s 9th ranked Stanford in 2010.
In 2012 they also put up 62 points and 730 yards on Dallas' new DC Monte Kiffin.
I'm not saying they will be putting up 50 regularly but the 17-14 Stanford game this year was an outlier. They have also had success against pro-style defenses during Kelly's tenure.

# 3 volstopfan14 @ Jan 16

Oregon snapped the ball every 21 seconds under Kelly. The Patriots snapped the ball every 25 seconds this past season. An up-tempo offense can work in the NFL.

# 4 Kentucky_Wildcat23 @ Jan 16

Tebow could be a good fit in the Eagles offense if they run the same one that the Ducks have been. It will be interesting to see what they do with the QB position in Philly for sure!

# 5 bccards13 @ Jan 16

@JerseySuave4 I disagree. While pocket passers will never go away the running quarterback will become a staple of the NFL. Mobile quarterbacks are not a new thing. Steve Young made a career of dual threat capability. The difference between Young and several of the scrambling quarterback's we've seen is that Young could throw and keep himself in the pocket and succeed behind his line. RG III and Russell Wilson both have the potential to develop a well rounded passing game with a rushing threat out of the read option.

Like I said though pocket passers will never leave the game. A quarterback like RG III is great but he'll never replace a Peyton Manning or Tom Brady in a passing offense.

# 6 willIam9387 @ Jan 16

Chip Kelly is going to have to adapt his offense to the NFL level. It's going to be interesting to see how he utilizes McCoy and who the quarterback is. I would say Foles played pretty well towards the end of the season and should get a fair shake. I think if he excludes Foles and instead installs that spread offense of his, it won't work. Colin Kapernick, RGIII, Russell Wilson work because they are just as dangerous through the air as they are on the ground. I think Troy Aikman discounted RGIII too much in that divisional game as not being a good pocket passer. It's tough to throw on a knee that was shot. But these three guys can throw and can throw well when they need to.

Chip Kelly's spread offense can only be effective as long as he is able to get a quarterback that has all the tools and can make good decisions. A dennis Dixon, Darron Thomas type won't succeed at the pro level as there arms weren't above average for the college level.

I would like to see Kelly try to adapt to the NFL. Bringing in his offense from Oregon unchanged will not work. But some of his concepts will.

# 7 bccards13 @ Jan 16

@JerseySuave Yes but that is why you see guys like Rodgers succeeding. That's been the problem with past dual threat quarterbacks. They rely too much on running and not enough on passing.

On the option being the new wildcat I don't see that. The problem is the read option can be a run or a pass which causes linebackers to have to hesitate. The wildcat is 99% of the time a run play which negates it's effectiveness. But when you give a quarterback with speed and passing ability an option to hand it off or pass it that brings a new level of play to it. Add to it the option of the quarterback running and now the linebackers and linemen have to adjust which can't be perfect every time that's why play action still works. Besides, defensive coordinators can't reliably stop the Patriots, Falcons, or Broncos offense even though it's just a pass first style offense.

The read option isn't going away anytime soon. Offensive linemen are becoming more agile and better at making blocks on these monstrosities that are defensive linemen today. Quarterbacks are becoming more mobile thus plays like the read option will become useful for fooling defenses.

# 8 elgreazy1 @ Jan 16

Don't underestimate Defense Coordinators and the extreme talent of the defenders in the NFL. While the read option does allow for a lot of trickery and false steps when trying to read the offense, DCs have always shown abilities to dissect and attack new offensive wrinkles, especially with an offseason under their belt. Defenders adapt to new rules and schemes all the time, especially in the last few years with new rules that basically make secondaries play the equivalent of 7-on-7 drills.

I'm sure you'll see defenses next year assign a player specifically play the read option. I could see a combination of the ROLB+MLB (4-3) and the 2 ILBs (3-4) being used to read and shut down the option with one player being used as the hammer to blow it up with the other as the clean up guy. There is always a counter to everything schematic and that's why football is such a beautiful sport.

# 9 gsize19 @ Jan 17

It means another lying coach who told his players he was staying to only leave with more money on the table and not having to sit out a year like players would have to if they wanted to transfer to another division 1 school... I will say at least it isn't for another college position but look at Brian kelly, Butch Jones as two examples, Brian kelly told UC players straight to their faces he wasn't leaving, left before the bowl game to Notre Shame, he and every college coach should be on the same plateau, if you are under contract and leave, while the contract still has years, you must sit out one year or you could take a lesser job at a division 2 school or lower and coach right away...

# 10 BlackRome @ Jan 17

Here is video that actually shows you what Stanford did. They ran mostly a 3-4 and 3-3-5.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9HHp0cMkQ_M

The Eagles are horrible. He's going to find out he has one player on offense. The Rb. Jackson is in the studio rapping more than he looks at film. Fast WR like him only have a 4 year shelf life anyway. Moped one year broken ribs the next. He's paid. Football just isn't that important.

Maclin maybe the only coward playing in the NFL. He's terrified of getting hit. I swear if their was a stat that showed how many INT's a QB throws that hits the WR hands and he pops it up in the air. He would be leading since he came in the league. Neither one of them is catching a ball anywhere inside the numbers.

The Oline is in shambles and your hoping two guys can come back from injury. One an Achilles.

Defense. They need an entire new secondary. Yet if they cut Namde they take a big hit. With all the roster holes can they afford that. LB's are nothing special. D Line is even worst. Their best player had 5 sacks this year. That kept him from being labeled a 1st round bust around here. LOL. 5 sacks and he had his best season. Sounds like a bust to me.

He has nothing to work with in Philly. This QB draft class is better than next years. So if Geno falls he better get him. Not to run the read option but to have any type of QB.

Otherwise he's looking at two years of Foles.

# 11 Jistic @ Jan 18

Wanna know how well the spread option will work in the NFL? See RGIII's knee. Professional football is a mans game. No owner is going to give a guy 50 mil guaranteed to have him beaten 8-10 carries a game and watch his investment go down the tubes. In college they don't care because they will have a new QB next year. NFL, different world. On top of that defenses will adjust...they always do. This is not different than the Run N Shoot prognostications of the early 90's.

# 12 TreFacTor @ Jan 18

The read option is a really good offense for a Qb that can get a few yards when you need it. You don't have to be overly mobile to use it either. My guess is that the Eagles retain Vick at least for one year

-no qb's in this years draft
-teach Foles

Kelly can take the time to teach his up tempo style and let the other coaches handle the rest. He better have some damn good coaches because our line stinks and we have huge problems at corner and safety.

# 13 mattynokes @ Jan 19

I've had this debate a few times and it's really simple. QBs that run 80-90 times, or even more, in as season don't last in the NFL. They can be very exciting to watch, maybe even have a few great seasons, but histroy has shown running that much will lead to injuries and not finishing most of their seasons. Randall Cunningham and Mike Vick are prime examples. They both have led their teams to the playoffs and have been Pro Bowl bound. However, racking up consistent full-season performances year after year was (for Cunningham) and is (for Vick) a struggle.

Steve Young really doesn't fall into that category since I believe he only had one season of over 75 rush attempts. I also remember some of his concussions were due to sacks (much like Troy Aikman) - something no quarterback can avoid. And those stating Aaron Rodgers might want to take a look at his stats again. He doesn't run as often as some people think. He falls into the category of what I'd call a mobile quarterback. Scrambling isn't something Rodgers is thinking of doing pre-snap like a running quarterback is probably thinking. It's the mentality of players. Guys like Vick are thinking, "get as many yards as possible." While guys like Rodgers are thinking, "get a few yards instead of taking a sack."

# 14 C_Bailey24 @ Jan 21

Exscuse me if i sound a little biased or sensitive but i'm a Skins fan and when RGIII hurt his knee in the Ravens game he was SLIDING to the ground and his leg whipped up in the air as a result. He wasn't dancing around and juking. He wasn't fighting for extra yards. It was a fluke play resulting in an injury. When he hurt it in the playoff game, AGAIN, he was running out of bounds and wasn't even hit. On BOTH plays his running was a result of no one being open not an overuse of the Read Option.

Secondly, RGIII HAS to be apart of the Skins running game at this point because the O-line is simply not very good. Giving defenses TWO running threats to worry about made it so much easier for the run game to click. This is the same O-line that last year were average at best at run blocking and couldn't keep DE's off Grossman at all. Couple that with having one legit WR (Garcon),his real number one target (Fred Davis) being out for the season and u can chalk his injury up to lack of talent around him and not simply the scheme. You think Rodgers or Steve Young wouldn't have run more if they had the Skins recievers instead of Pro Bowlers? Please. Once he get's a better O-line and one or two more legit WR's RGIII will run less because he CAN throw accurately unlike the Tebow's, Vince Young's and Vick's. And to the original point of the Read Option it isn't going anywhere because it is not a gimmick like the Wildcat, and when you have a QB who CAN throw accurately like an RGIII, Wilson and Kapernak the scheme as a whole is balanced and operates within the fundamentals of football just like the systems of the "pocket" QB's.

# 15 djmtott @ Jan 31

Oregon benefited from having the Nike backing, which in turn allowed them to recruit a damned track team on offense. They were successful because they were so much faster than most teams they faced.
In the NFL you're not going to have that disparity.