Tight end plays important role in Kelly's offense

When all the Eagles have reported to camp and the first full-team practice takes place on Friday, seven tight ends will be trying to find some room on Chip Kelly's first NFL roster.

Who knows? Maybe they all will.

Not likely, but no position on offense will gain more importance in the Andy Reid-to-Kelly shift than tight end. With the Eagles, the tight end role is going to be transformed from a somewhat necessary afterthought to the most versatile cog of an offense that will be built on versatility.

Kelly might have been joking earlier in the year when he said he planned to use a lot of three-tight end formations, but maybe he wasn't joking entirely. The way he plans the offense to operate - without huddles and with players capable of performing a lot of different assignments - it would be a little surprising if the three-tight end alignment didn't happen sooner or later.

How could that possibly work?

"You go like that and three tight ends go into the game," Kelly said, holding up three fingers. "Do they go three linebackers? We split them out and throw passes. If they go three DBs, we smash you. Pick your poison. . . . They bring little guys in, you run the ball. They bring big guys in, you throw the ball."

That's a recurring theme of Kelly's discussions of his system, that the logic behind it is simple, even if it takes a complicated playbook to achieve it.

Kelly wants to create mismatches for the opposing defenses. He believes the best way to do so is to prevent them from substituting by going no-huddle and going with the personnel already on the field. If the offense substitutes, then the defense has to be given that opportunity as well before the ball is snapped.

For the speed he desires, Kelly needs players who can do it all, and no position better defines that kind of player than tight end. So, it's no surprise Kelly has assembled seven of them to sort through during training camp.

"Yeah, they're extremely important, and that's why he went out and got a few of them in the offseason," center Jason Kelce said. "Whether they line up at an H-back position or tight end or wherever, they have to run block, pass block, or catch passes. They have to do everything an offensive lineman does and everything a receiver does, and those are pretty drastic differences."

The Eagles have Brent Celek, Clay Harbor, and Emil Igwenagu back from last season, and made two big additions to the position in second-round draft pick Zach Ertz from Stanford and veteran James Casey, a former Houston Texan who was signed on the first day of free agency. They also have Derek Carrier, who was on the practice squad last year, and added undrafted free agent Will Shaw from Youngstown State. That's a lot of tight ends.

"I've never been a part of anything with that many players at the position," Casey said. "They're all good players and all fighting for a spot and fighting for positioning on the depth chart. I thought coming here was a perfect fit for me with Coach Kelly's system and his style. Since I was a free agent, I got to talk about it with Chip and find out what we're going to do. We're going to keep taking what they give us, move the ball down the field and score a lot of points."

At least that's the idea. Celek is considered a blocking tight end, but Ertz and Casey are considered primarily receivers. Kelly can split them wide, put them in the slot, put them in the backfield, or line them up tight to the line.

"I don't think this could have been a better scenario for me personally," Ertz said. "He's got a heck of an offensive mind, and I know he'll put us in position to be successful, whether we've got three tight ends or four receivers or whatever. He's going to do whatever he thinks will win the game."

So far, it's obvious he thinks his system will win more games if he has two or three great tight ends, in order to utilize their versatility and keep the defense from loading up against either the pass or the run.

"I'm as curious as anyone else," Casey said. "I know there's going to be a lot of competition and that this is a new system for everyone. I'm prepared for anything. I've played fullback, tight end. I've split wide and I'm comfortable in the slot. There's a lot of excitement in the building. It's like the first day of school."

Class began Monday at training camp and will remain in session for the next six weeks. By the end, if the Eagles graduate, Kelly plans to have them ready to win football games. And it might be most interesting to see how many tight ends are still around to get their degrees.

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