During his three seasons with the Eagles, Chip Kelly constantly tinkered with the roster, trying to bring in more players who fit his system, and jettison players who didn’t fit. For the most part, that failed, and the Eagles’ offense got worse over the course of his tenure in Philadelphia.
But Kelly says he doesn’t need to tinker with the roster in San Francisco. Kelly says the kind of talent he needs is already in place. Kelly said the running backs, receivers, tight ends and offensive linemen are all the kinds of players he wants as building blocks of his team.
“Obviously, you look at what Carlos Hyde can do,” Kelly said, via CSNBayArea.com. “He’s one of the really good young running backs. There’s a bunch of guys at receiver, led by Torrey [Smith], and Torrey really has a skill set because he can run. He’s kind of a matchup problem for people.”
Kelly said the tight ends on the roster, Vance McDonald, Garrett Celek and Blake Bell, are a good collection of talent.
“That will be a fun group to work with, in terms of how you disperse them and try to figure out what’s going on,” Kelly said.
And although the 49ers’ offensive line struggled at times, Kelly thinks it will be in good shape.
“Obviously, the O-line, led by Joe Staley, there’s a lot of talent there, too,” Kelly said. “I think it’s a good group. . . . Joe Staley is one of the most fit, athletic big people you ever want,” Kelly said. “I met Joe about a week ago. He came in. He fits perfect. It fits to his skill set set. I’ve always been a big fan of big people. Somebody once told me, ‘Big people beat up little people.’ I think we fit philosophically.”
So Kelly has the players he wants everywhere -- except maybe at quarterback, where it remains unclear whether Colin Kaepernick, Blaine Gabbert or someone else will start Week One.