San Francisco 49ers: Predicting Risers & Fallers in Chip Kelly’s Offense
By Peter Panacy
New San Francisco 49ers head coach Chip Kelly will usher in numerous changes for the team’s offense in 2016. While the unit expects to be better this season, which players may rise or fall from Kelly’s unique game plan?
2016 will be a new era in San Francisco 49ers football as head coach Chip Kelly takes over what was the league’s lowest-scoring offense and tries to turn things around for a Niners team still in transition from the Jim Harbaugh era.
Kelly is an offensive mindset. His unique approach from the University of Oregon and the Philadelphia Eagles will be back on display in the Bay Area, and it will be up to the head coach and general manager Trent Baalke to formulate a roster and put the offense back into a position to succeed.
We won’t get into too much detail about how Kelly’s offense works as that may take up a semester’s worth of your time. But Field Yates of ESPN already pointed out a lot of the traits back when Kelly was at the helm of the Eagles. So you may want to start there.
What’s more important to recognize is that Kelly’s approach tends to focus more on tempo — not just all-out, uptempo rhythm — and how to best put opposing defenses out of position and off balance.
Still, the NFL is a players league. The talent on the field ultimately dictates how successful any one coach’s scheme or approach will work.
San Francisco lacks talent. But that will change with free agency and the NFL draft this offseason.
Yet Kelly will likely be asked to adjust his scheme to a certain extent based on the team formulated around him by Baalke.
Regardless of that outcome, there will be risers and fallers from within Kelly’s offense.
Let’s try to predict who they might be.
Next: Faller: Bruce Miller