Eagles notes: Birds decided to move on from DeSean Jackson over a month ago

In the last week or so, trade talks for DeSean Jackson have escalated. However, the Eagles decided to move on from Jackson well over a month ago, and possibly earlier. It is absolutely not something they decided to do over the last week or two. That of course, should not come as a surprise, but it is something we can confirm via a source close to the team.

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Since Chip Kelly took over as Eagles head coach, whenever the prospect of the Eagles acquiring a player arises, the first thing we look for is height and weight. After all, "bigger people beat up little people." However, that philosophy may apply more heavily to some positions than others. The reality is that we are still learning what Chip Kelly truly values at each position.

At Oregon, Kelly's weapons on offense were not physically imposing. Here is a list of all the receivers who had over 400 receiving yards in a single season when Kelly was the head coach. To note, De'Anthony Thomas' actual position is a bit of a gray area, so we'll include him too.

Lavasier Tuinei was the only player on that list who was over 6'1, and he only had 599 receiving yards in his best season at Oregon.

It is also noteworthy that Kelly's TEs were all on the smaller side. Here are all the TEs under Kelly at Oregon who had over 350 receiving yards in one season:

None of Chip's performing TEs were over 6'4, and they were all under 250 pounds. While the above numbers certainly don't conclusively prove anything, they are indicators that Kelly may not value size as much when it comes to his offensive skill players.

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Amid the #Jaccpocalypse, Chip Kelly has caught fire for seemingly being the driving force behind getting DeSean Jackson off the roster. If you are opposed to that decision, this will soften your temporary anger with him:

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As we try to make sense of the DeSean Jackson trade talks, a number of interesting theories on why the Eagles might be better off on the field have emerged.

While there may be defensible 'off the field' reasons (salary, character stuff, etc.) for moving on from DeSean Jackson, and maybe even some 'future on the field concerns' (when will his elite speed erode?), let's not get this twisted -- The Eagles are a better team on the field in 2014 with DeSean Jackson on the roster. Let's not try to justify anything different.

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