When you’re in a win-win circumstance, you can get away with saying a lot of things that may not necessarily be true.
Eagles Head Coach/GM Chip Kelly was recently asked a question regarding last year’s draft, who he wishes he could have chosen and what will be different this year. PFT reports,
“I said it a year ago: I thought Odell Beckham was the best player in the draft. I was right. We didn’t have a chance to get Odell Beckham, but a lot of it depends on where you’re selecting,” Kelly said.
Asked if he was disappointed not to get Beckham last year, Kelly noted that last year, Howie Roseman had final say in the draft room.
“I didn’t have final say so, I mean, you always defer to who’s in charge,” Kelly said.
The fact is Chip Kelly is now in total control of the Philadelphia Eagles roster, wholeheartedly. He runs the X’s and O’s on gameday, as well as the draft and all matters involving his personnel. He can diss the moves that were made previously, because there isn’t anyone in a position to get mad at him for saying it, its just Chip now.
But that also means he can’t get away with this talk after this year. The man has traded away huge chunks of his team for what he believes is in their best interest. Now he’s saying he would have drafted the next rookie phenom had he been given the chance, and nobody can doubt him even if he wouldn’t have.
He can get away with saying he knew Beckham was going to be the best player in the draft last year, because all of us can – hindsight is 20/20.
At this point next year, though, he’ll have no one to blame but himself if he misses out on that next guy.
The moves and quotes he’s provided this off-season have only added pressure to himself and on his team to perform this year. Only time will tell if his “vision” for his football team ultimately pays off, but Chip certainly sounds confident that he’s making (and would have made) all of the right moves.