That settles that … At a somewhat impromptu meeting with reporters earlier today, Philadelphia head coach and de facto GM Chip Kelly said it was never his plan to try and trade up in the 2015 draft in order to acquire Oregon QB Marcus Mariota, his old college QB. Kelly called Mariota ´the best QB in this year’s draft’ but said he would never have mortgaged the Eagles future in order to move up from the 20th pick to what would likely have been a top selection. Instead, Kelly and the Eagles rolled the dice on veteran QB sam Bradford whom they acquired in a deal with St. Louis yesterday. Bradford, the first player selected at the 2010 draft, obviously has talent – although its not clear that he’s necessarily a great fit with the spread offense the Eagles run – but he has a long injury history including two torn ACLs. And by definition, Kelly ruled out any possibility – if in fact there actually was any – that the Eagles would pursue Mariota prior to the draft. The Eagles, though, were not the only team that had apparently expressed some interest in moving up to acquire Mariota. Cleveland, with those two first round picks this year, for example, is still out there lurking, while it would be hard to imagine that a team like the Jets, who have already made a couple of bold moves this off-season in trading for WR Brandon Marshall and signing star CB Darelle Revis back from New England, is going to be all that comfortable going forward with Geno Smith and Ryan Fitzpatrick as their QBs. There is also a quiet buzz that Washington, which picks one selection ahead of the Jets at #5 will be taking a long look at Mariota at his pro day workout tomorrow. Whatever, with Jameis Winston apparently headed to Tampa Bay with the first pick this year, the ´real´draft this year figures to start with the second pick where Tennessee could take Mariota for themselves or start fielding calls about a potential trade. Stay tuned!
