By: Jason Williams & Kevin Moylett
Sports Editor & asst. Sports Editor
Kevin’s Point of View
There are a lot of rumors flying around that the Philadelphia Eagles are strongly interested in trading up from the 20th overall pick to the 1st overall pick in the upcoming NFL Draft. If these rumors are true it would only be for one reason and that reason’s name is Marcus Mariota.
Now that Kelly has brought his fast pace spread offense to Philly it would seem that Mariota would be the perfect fit. Don’t forget that Mariota once was recruited by Kelly to run the same offense at Oregon. He certainly shined in that offense as he went on to win the Heisman this past year.
The Eagles would have to give up a lot to be in a position to
Draft Mariota. In 2012 the Washington Redskins traded three first-round picks and one second-round pick to the St. Louis Rams for the second overall pick in that draft. The Redskins took Robert Griffin III with that pick. After a great rookie season things have only gone downhill for RG3. He can’t seem to stay healthy and when he is he shows poor accuracy and a lack for reading defenses.
There is no doubt the Eagles would have to be willing to trade even more to get the first overall pick than what the Redskins traded to get the second overall pick in 2012. That is a lot to invest in a guy who has never played a professional snap of football.
The Eagles should stick with Nick Foles at quarterback and build a great defense through the draft and free agency. Foles is 14-4 as a starting quarterback since Kelly was hired as the head coach after Foles’ rookie season.
Jason’s Point of View
Another NFL season has come and gone, with the upcoming Super Bowl game, which will be played by the New England Patriots and the Seattle Seahawks. With another season in the books, to no one’s suprise the Philadelphia Eagles have yet again let down their Philly faithful. With another year gone for the Eagles the team and organization now look to the offseason to gain new pieces that will hopefully make their team into a top contender.
This offseason the Eagles are rumored to be in the market to move up in the NFL draft for 2014 Heisman winner and former Oregon star quarterback Marcus Mariota. The Philadelphia Eagles at the moment now have the 20th overall pick, and Mariota is projected to be a top 5-10 overall pick. The Eagles are in multiple talks to move up in the draft to snag highly touted Mariota.
Mariota, who was a standout at Oregon, where at one point in time he was coached by now Eagles head coach Chip Kelly. Since the end of the Eagles season, Kelly was given the keys to the driver seat, Kelly is now in control of the Eagles player personnel departments. Sources close to Kelly say that, Kelly will do anything to get Mariota.
The Eagles high powered spread option offense, which was brought over from Oregon with Kelly, has been missinga key component and that component is a mobile quarterback.
While the Eagles offense has been successful at points, the offense has not reached its full potential. With starting QB Nick Foles, the Eagles have gone 15-9 with Foles starting and they have made it to the playoffs one time. The Eagles fast paced offense has been a top 10 offense in the NFL and is one of the most dangerous offenses in the game, but the Eagles offense has not reached its full potential as of yet.
Due to the scrambling inability of QB Nick Foles, the Eagles are missing out on a big portion of their offense, by Foles not being a dual threat QB, teams do not have to worry about Foles on running back read option plays. This handicaps the offense, because it doesn’t let the offense work to its full potential.
The Eagles need to do whatever they need to do to move up to the top three picks. If that means giving up multiple players or picks, so be it. If the Birds ever want to fly high and make over that everlasting road block which is the super bowl, the Eagles need to do whatever they need to do to get Marcus Mariota. With Chip Kelly and Marcus Mariota the Eagles will be a force to reckon with.
@kevinmoylett and
@Jason_LWilliams
