Tim Tebow Will Add Something To Chip Kelly’s Offense

Let’s try to make some sense of Chip Kelly’s thinking in the signing of former Heisman Trophy winner.Tim Tebow.  We already know that Kelly doesn’t have a problem with bringing the circus to town.  This team is going to be in the spotlight even more with Tebow around.

First of all from a football aspect, before Kelly signed Tebow, he didn’t have one running quarterback amongst the group that has a chance of making the football team.  His running offense was designed to put the defense in a situation, where it didn’t have enough defensive players on the field to stop his attack.  The read option is much more effective when you have a quarterback who is a threat as a runner.  When the quarterback gets on the perimeter with the ball in his hands, his has to be a run threat or it lessens the effectiveness of the attack.

Kelly says being able to run is not a prerequisite for being a quarterback in his offense, but having a running quarterback adds another dimension to the offense.  Yes, it’s not a must but it’s something that he would like to have in his arsenal.

That’s why Kelly would love to get his hands on Marcus Mariota, but I don’t think that’s possible.  Y0u know Chip Kelly hurts when he sees Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson execute the read option and take off on those 40-yard scampers where he runs downfield untouched.  You know he would like to see a quarterback in an Eagles uniform doing the same thing, but other than Tebow, the Birds don’t have a quarterback who can run.

The starting quarterback Sam Bradford can’t run.  He’s missed the majority of his team’s games. in the last two seasons due to two ACL surgeries, so the last thing they want to do is ask him to run with the football and put him in a situation where he can get hit.

The second-team quarterback Mark Sanchez isn’t much of a runner, either.  When and if Sanchez plays, it will likely be because Bradford has gotten injured.  Kelly and his staff will do everything they can to keep Sanchez healthy, so asking him to run is the last thing they will ask him to do.

Last year’s third string quarterback Matt Barkley, can’t run either.  He’ll be competing with Tebow for that third quarterback spot.  Kelly doesn’t seem to have much confidence in Barkley’s ability to execute the offense.  I think Barkley best chance to make it in the NFL is in the West Coast offense.  In the West Coast offense you need to be a quick decision-maker and you must have an accurate arm.

Tebow hasn’t proven he can operate a passing offense in the National Football League, but he has proven he can run with the football.  Not only can he run with the football, but he would be an ideal quarterback in Chip Kelly’s short yardage and goal line attack.  He’s big and physical, which would be perfect for the short yardage and goal line power football running attack.

I don’t think Kelly feels Barkley can do the job for him at the quarterback position, so adding Tebow instead of him isn’t a loss.

He is by far the only quarterback on the Eagles roster, who adds that running quarterback aspect to the offense.  Opposing defenses will have to spend quality time preparing for Tebow being used as the quarterback at times during the game.  His threat to run with the football will force defensive coordinators to prepare for him.  Without Tebow on the roster, opposing team dare the Eagles quarterbacks to run with the football.  It’s the reason I think he’ll be on the football team in September.

Tebow’s ability or inability to operate the Birds passing attack is still a question mark at this point.  He’s been working on his throwing motion and his release for more than a year now.  During the off-season Eagles mini-camps, we’ll get the chance to see if Tebow has fixed his passing techniques.