I will say, it will be interesting to see what Kaepernick can do in a Chip Kelly offense. The guy had smoldering elephant dung at QB all three years in Philly. Now he has a QB that might actually fit what he wants to do. So, how about some Pros and Cons?
Pros
We might actually finally score some points
We have an athletic QB that could really excel in Kelly's quick-strike offense
We have a good young RB in El Guapo
Torrey Smith seems tailor-made for Kelly's offense at WR
Hopefully, with personnel responsibilities removed, Kelly can concentrate on what he's good at, COACHING, and get better from the lessons he learned in Philly
We have a TON of cap space to fill the numerous holes on this roster
We have a bunch of draft picks, too
Cons
Kaep isn't the best decision-maker, and him in a quick-read offense could be...um...combustible
If Kelly turns Kaep's legs loose again, he will always be an injury risk
We still have Trent Baalke making roster decisions, so that cap room and those draft choices could easily be pissed away
The defense. Oh God, the defense
Philly players didn't seem to...um...like Kelly
Kelly has a rather large ego. The last guy with one of those got ran out of town.
So, bottom line? Kelly took over a 4-12 team and went 10-6 with Nick fucking Foles at QB his first year. He won 20 games his first two years. The guy knows a little something about football. I'm excited/intrigued to see some offense. Something this franchise has lacked basically since the Mooch days. Harbaugh's team in 2012 is the best they've had since those days, and it was good, not great. I worry about the stress Kelly's offense puts on his defense. It will be a problem. As such, I don't know that this is a hire that will allow them to "hang banners", but I do think it will be marginally successful. Bottom line; with Jed York and Trent Baalke, they aren't attracting championship coaches. This front-office is toxic. Hopefully Kelly learned something in Philly and can improve in his second go-round. Going into 2015, most people still thought of him as a pretty damn good coach. Clearly he's not a personnel guy, and he won't be given that responsibility here.
My pipe-dream was Sean Payton. That would have been a home run. I think Chip Kelly is the best they could hope for, and I'm glad they got him. He expressed interest in the job, so he wants to be here...and that's something. At least they didn't go the geriatric route and hire somebody based on (distant) past glory. I was nervous as hell it was going to be Shanahan, Coughlin, or Holmgren. That would have sucked, and been boring.
I'm much more excited about 2016 than I was an hour ago. If nothing else, they'll be interesting again. 2015 was an unmitigated disaster from start to finish. This year HAS to be better.
