Chip Kelly ran one of the most deadly offenses in college football during his six seasons as offensive coordinator and head coach at Oregon. Now, all eyes will be on him at the start of the NFL’s regular season to see if that same style of offense can work at the professional level.
Former Eagles quarterback Ron Jaworski does not see that happening.
“It’s going to be interesting to see if this style of offense projects to the NFL,” Jaws told Harry Mayes and Nick Kayal on 97.5 The Fanatic earlier this week, via PhillyMag.com. “I’m going to say no. I just don’t see NFL passing concepts in this offense. It’s a movement offense by the quarterback, off the run-action, off the read-action. A lot of short, quick passes, dart routes, bubble screens. Very few plays down the field with NFL passing concepts.”
A lot of people feel that Kelly’s offense could make some noise at the NFL level, especially since he has arguably the most athletic quarterback in the league at his disposal in Michael Vick. Vick is certainly excited about the possibilities under Kelly, as evidenced by the claim he made earlier this offseason. But Jaws, not so much.
“The NFL is a different league with fast players that have all week to prepare for you,” Jaworski said. “At the collegiate level, you have 20 hours to prepare for that Oregon offense. Take out three hours of game time. You’ve got 17 hours in the course of a week to practice and prepare for that style of offense. It kills you in college. But in the NFL, these guys work 17 hours a day. A day, not a week – 17 hours a day getting ready, so there’s no secrets.”
Jaws certainly makes some valid points, and I think there are more people who would agree with him than disagree. For all we know, Kelly could be planning to break out a much different offense from the one he ran with the Ducks. Whatever the case, the two-time PAC-10 Coach of the Year has plenty of critics to silence.
