Eagles Wake-Up Call: Kelly’s Preferences Will Affect Draft Board

INDIANAPOLIS — Chip Kelly has told Howie Roseman and the Eagles’ personnel staff exactly what kinds of players he wants on his roster.

And by all accounts, he’s been extremely specific.

We touched on the topic last month at the Senior Bowl. The gist is that Kelly has particular measurables for certain positions. He’s not quite ready to share the details with us, but they do exist.

“I’d say there’s a little bit more of a stress going forward on some height, weight, speed,” Roseman said Thursday at the Combine.

“He told us examples of things that were important to him by position. We got our position specifics out to our scouts. They’re very much on board. They know what we’re looking for at each position. We’re on board, we’re rolling.”

The Eagles’ draft board is pretty much set, but it could see more changes than usual this year because of Kelly’s requirements. Roseman admitted that there are certain deal-breakers with players.

“I hope not drastically different,” Roseman said, when asked how his draft board now would compare to the one he’ll use in April. “Now that doesn’t mean that you won’t have a particular position where a certain height, weight, speed characteristic is really important and their characteristic is too low on that that you’re going to have to move them down or even off the board. But basically, it shouldn’t change drastically.”

Roseman and Jeffrey Lurie have said multiple times that the Eagles are a coach-centric organization, meaning the personnel department’s job is to cater to Kelly and give him what he needs. That means Roseman and the scouting department will undergo an adjustment period from how Andy Reid ran things.

“In terms of position priorities, they believe in the same things. I think that’s one of the things that was appealing. We had a lot of success with Coach Reid,” Roseman said. “And so, the things that were important to Coach Reid are important to Coach Kelly.

“At the same time, there are going to be other things that he stresses that he’s looking for in particular positions that we have to adjust to, and we did that when he had our scouts in at the meetings. And we’ll continue to discuss that as we’re here.”

WHAT YOU MISSED

Kelly said he wants to coach Nick Foles. But will he get the chance to?

Kelly and Roseman had nothing positive to say about Nnamdi Asomugha. Does that mean the veteran corner is gone? What about DeMeco Ryans? The latest here.

49ers GM Trent Baalke explains why he let Tom Gamble join the Eagles.

Focusing in on the key questions surrounding a potential Foles trade.

WHAT THEY’RE SAYING

SI.com’s Don Banks doesn’t see any reason for rushing a Foles trade:

Unless he’s 100 percent certain Foles can’t run his fast-break style of offense, why should he ship him away and limit his options at the game’s most crucial position in year one of his Philadelphia tenure? You don’t want to be the next 1992 Atlanta Falcons, making a Brett Favre mistake that you’ll have to live with for the next couple decades. In this case, I’d rather make a Foles deal a year too late rather than a year too early.

Andy Reid is open to trading the No. 1 pick. But chances are, the Chiefs won’t have a lot of suitors:

“Listen, yeah, we’re going to evaluate everything,” Reid said. “We’re just not going to give it away. So we’d have to see what people throw our way. It’s a pretty valuable pick, I’d say.”

COMING UP

Much more from Indy. Hoping to catch up with some potential Eagles targets today. Stay tuned.

Follow Sheil Kapadia on Twitter and e-mail him at skapadia@phillymag.com.
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