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Eagles fans alike sat in anticipation at 8 pm Thursday night, impatiently waiting to hear if Eagles coach Chip Kelly can pull another move out his back pocket and acquire his quarterback from his prior coaching gig, Oregon’s Marcus Mariota. Rumors were swirling, twitter opinions coming every second. Approximately 25 minutes later, the dream was crushed.
The Tennessee Titans held on to their 2nd overall pick in the NFL draft and selected Mariota, and the dreams of Kelly & Mariota vanished just like that. After months of speculation, rumors on rumors on rumors, and a complete change of the Eagles roster, Chip Kelly couldn’t make a lot of Eagles fans fantasies come true.
But as much as Eagles fans alike wanted the quarterback, either the Titans held him for ransom, or the Eagles couldn’t generate enough assets to give to move up.
The Eagles stuck to their 20th overall pick and went with wide receiver Nelson Agholor out of University of Southern California. A versatile wide receiver who can play inside or outside (over 100 catches last season) and a menace punt returner. To compare him to a former Eagles player, it would be for the player he is replacing, Jeremy Maclin (same exact size coming out of college).
Now we sit back and over analyze, and wait to see if Mariota is a good as Chip Kelly claimed, and hold our breathe every snap when watching the new injury prone quarterback Sam Bradford. This is year 3 out of 5 for Chip Kelly’s contract, and this moment can define his era. If Mariota turns out to be what he’s expected, Eagles fans will rant for years that they didn’t do enough to get him. If Bradford crumbles, then we are going into year 4 without a quarterback, which could be the determining factor to whether Kelly’s experiment in the NFL continues, or he packs up and heads back to college.
Only time will tell, and a lot of Eagles fans are tired of that (60 years without ever winning a Super Bowl). But until the rest of it unfolds, and Kelly’s direction is more defined, check out some highlights from the newest edition to your 2015 Philadelphia Eagles, Nelson Agholor!
