Chip Kelly, Eagles Offense Fueled by Use of Tight Ends

Upon hiring Chip Kelly in 2013, the Philadelphia Eagles wasted little time providing their new head coach with an array of talent at the tight end position. With Brent Celek already in-house, the front office signed James Casey to a free-agent contract and spent a second-round draft pick on Zach Ertz during that first offseason.

While the position hasn’t quite been the key to Kelly’s offense the way it appeared it would at the time, its influence is undeniable nonetheless. Even though Philadelphia’s tight ends aren’t often the focal point of the passing attack, they’ve played a huge role in paving the way for All-Pro running back LeSean McCoy.

Then again, as Celek, Casey and Ertz showed the New York Giants on Sunday night, they can certainly beat opponents through the air as well.

PLAYER	REC	YDS	AVG	TD
Zach Ertz	3	47	15.7	1
Brent Celek	4	45	11.3	0
James Casey	1	26	26.0	1

Tight ends powered the offense during the Eagles' 27-0 Week 6 victory over their division rivals to the north. The trio’s eight receptions for 118 yards accounted for nearly half of Nick Foles’ production through the air, while the unit pulled down both of the quarterback’s touchdown passes.

Ertz, a rising star in the NFL, made a gorgeous diving grab on a 15-yard rainbow to come up with his second score of the season and seventh in his past 15 games—and with cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie draped all over him, no less.

Matt Rourke/Associated Press

Ertz helped open up the field on Foles’ second TD pass as well, dragging defenders on an underneath route while Casey slipped into the secondary. Normally called on to block, Casey surprised the defense, as the third-string tight end was wide open for six from 26 yards out.

It wasn’t the biggest of nights for Celek, but he did lead the group in receptions with four for 45 yards. He was also in pass protection on Casey's touchdown.

That's right. Three tight ends on the field at the same time.

That didn't show up in the box score. What didn’t necessarily show up in the box score, either—at least not next to the names Ertz, Casey or Celek—were Philadelphia’s 203 yards on the ground. McCoy carried 22 times for 149 yards, and Darren Sproles added seven rushes for 39 yards and a touchdown, big efforts that were aided by the tight ends’ blocking efforts.

Make no mistake, they have been integral to that phase, particularly Celek. Metrics site Pro Football Focus (subscription required) awarded Celek the second-highest cumulative run-blocking grade of any tight end in the NFL in 2013, which, not coincidentally, ended with McCoy leading the league in rushing.

Despite playing only 153 snaps last season, Casey was ranked 13th on the same list. While it’s not considered his forte, Ertz finished 25th.

The only negative is there aren’t enough snaps to go around.

PLAYER	2014 SNAPS	2014 %	2013 SNAPS	2013 %
Brent Celek	304	69.2	864	76.6
Zach Ertz	248	56.5	459	40.7
James Casey	70	16.0	157	13.9

Celek still maintains the lead in snap counts most weeks, largely due to his unique combination of blocking prowess and receiving skill. At 6’5”, 250 pounds with a reported 4.76 40-time, according to NFL.com, Ertz is the purest receiver of the bunch and can create mismatches against just about any defender—and is still improving. Casey has never emerged as a major threat in the passing attack but is arguably the best blocker of the three and contributes on special teams.

Between the three of them, the Eagles have every conceivable skill at the tight end position skill covered, and covered well. The combinations with other personnel or in multiple tight-end sets is nearly endless.

With 19 receptions for 306 yards and two touchdowns, Ertz is on the verge of a breakout season, those numbers putting the 23-year-old on pace for 60, 979 and six in 2014. Celek's numbers are way down (10 REC, 75 YDS, 0 TD), yet that's largely because injuries to the offensive line have required more work in the trenches. And Casey's TD was just his second catch of the season, but the former Houston Texan is making his presence felt with a blocked punt and four special teams tackles.

Games like the one Celek, Ertz and Casey had against the Giants on Sunday make it obvious how much talent Philadelphia has at the tight end position. Even when it doesn’t show up on the scoresheet, though, chances are one or all of these players is having a massive impact on just about everything the offense does.