Can Chip Kelly Improve The Lesser-Used 49ers Offensive Players?

The San Francisco 49ers officially introduced Chip Kelly today as the 19th head coach in franchise history. Depending on what offensive scheme Kelly decides to employ, will it utilize the lesser-used 49ers offensive players to get them to improve their production?

The San Francisco 49ers have certain offensive stars: wide receiver Anquan Boldin, running back Carlos Hyde and left tackle Joe Staley.

Then they have good mid-level players such as center Daniel Kilgore, RB Shaun Draughn, tight end Garrett Celek and WR Torrey Smith.

Most of the questions now reside with several of the lower-tier players, and these include players who have several years of experience with the team: WRs Quinton Patton and Bruce Ellington, RBs DuJuan Harris and Jarryd Hayne, and TEs Vance McDonald and Blake Bell.

How can Kelly implement these players better and get them on the field to produce at a higher level than they have before?

The most obvious question (and we won’t have an answer to this for a while) is what type of offensive scheme Kelly intends to run with this team. Will he keep the high-octane, no-huddle offense he utilized in Philadelphia? Will he keep a variant of this with more run-heavy schemes mixed in? Would he be willing to go to a mix of the no-huddle and a huddle offense?

In any case, a higher emphasis will be placed on the passing game. In 2015, the 49ers finished a disastrous 29th in the NFL in passing offense and last in points scored (238). The 49ers offense could not get the ball down the field, especially on third down when throwing short of the first-down marker became an art form.

Per 49ers radio play-by-play man Ted Robinson (h/t Taylor Price of 49ers.com), the 49ers hiring of Kelly will mean a new emphasis on the passing game:

“As the NFL moves forward and continues to break records each year in passing games, pass yardage and receiving yardage, the 49ers haven’t been participating quite as much in that,” Robinson said. “(They’ve had) a very strong run game for much of the time, but not really a pass game. That’s what this hire, to me, means.”

The ball will be thrown down the field more in 2016, whoever the QB ends up being. As Price notes, in 2015 the Eagles had the fourth-most passing plays of over 25 yards (109). The 49ers already have their deep threat in Smith (three TD catches of over 70 yards in 2015). But what can be done with Patton, Ellington, Hayne, McDonald and Bell?

Patton and Ellington have flashed some good play in their 49ers tenure so far, but they remain perennial disappointments. In 2015, these guys combined for 43 catches, 547 receiving yards and one TD. Between them they have five years of NFL experience. These numbers are pathetic.

The coaching certainly has not aided their performance. They have had to deal with firstly, Greg Roman, who preferred a run-first offense, and then Geep Chryst, who was simply out of his depth running an NFL offense. Now with Kelly calling the plays (per Matt Maiocco of CSN Bay Area), the time is now for these guys to step up in 2016 and want to become an integral part of Kelly’s offense.

They both have the quickness to be successful receivers, but they have to improve their route-running and not drop as many balls. The Kelly offense is based on speed, and they can use this to their advantage. Additionally, a better offensive structure could help these guys. Former 49ers TE Brent Jones said on KNBR radio (h/t CSN Bay Area) the 49ers offense has not had a structure for the last year:

"He’s gonna bring structure to the team. Let’s face it, for the last year, year and a half, we haven’t had any structure. It didn’t feel like much discipline. We were rag-tag. There were games where it didn’t look like we were putting forth 100 percent effort. I don’t think you’re gonna get that with Chip Kelly."

Patton and Ellington will get a chance to get to know Kelly and what their roles will be during the off-season program, and then likely a chance to compete during training camp.

Will Hayne get more of a chance in 2016? Hayne showed promise in the return game in the 2015 preseason, but early nerves and fumbles sent him to the practice squad. He returned at the end of the season, but wasn’t given much of chance to do much.

Hayne has shown the ability to make plays in space, and make the first tackler miss, which is critical as a returner. These skills could also be utilized in the passing game if the scheme is right and the coach uses him to match his skill set. Kelly has the intelligence to best use Hayne to add to the offensive production, and Hayne realizes this:

As David Fucillo of Niners Nation notes, the 49ers coaches never gave him much of a chance to succeed.

“All that being said, it did feel at times like the 49ers coaching staff was not all that interested in experimenting with Hayne,” Fucillo wrote. “While we have no idea what kind of career Hayne will end up having in the NFL, he strikes me as the kind of weapon that Chip Kelly will have some fun with this coming season. Whether it works out remains to be seen, but the potential use of Hayne is intriguing to consider.”

It would be a shock to not see Hayne have some sort of prominent offensive role in 2016.

And lastly, what can we expect from the TEs McDonald and Bell?

McDonald has been a bust since he was drafted. Considered to be the new coming of Mike Ditka, McDonald has shown more hands of stone than ability to be a game-changing TE. In 2015, he had just three games of over 60 yards receiving, and a mere three TDs. One week he looked like he had turned the corner against the Arizona Cardinals, and then two weeks later against the Cincinnati Bengals he literally handed the Bengals two INTs with stone-handed tips.

It remains to be seen if this blocking-first TE has a place on Kelly’s team. There is a good chance that he could be released or traded at some point during the off-season. If he does stay, he has to catch the football.

For Bell, he had a very average first year in the league, but he wasn’t used well enough by Chryst. At 6’6″ and 263 pounds, Bell has terrific size and good hands for the position, and he has a chance to flourish in Kelly’s system. He has flashed some good ability, and with a better offensive scheme and some trust thrown his way, 2016 could be a big year for him.

Matt Miller of Bleacher Report believes this could be Bell’s year:

Next: San Francisco 49ers: Takeaways from Head Coach Chip Kelly's Introductory Press Conference

These 49ers offensive players each get a fresh start with Kelly as the new head coach, and will have a new offensive coordinator and new position coaches to work with as well.

You couldn’t ask for more after a disastrous 2015. These players need to find out what their role will be and what offensive scheme will be implemented. These players should be eager to get to work and get a new chance to shine.

All statistics, records and accolades courtesy of Pro-Football-Reference.com unless otherwise indicated.