Jenkins: McCoy Trade Didn’t Surprise Players

Malcolm Jenkins stopped by the NFL Network on Wednesday morning to offer his thoughts on the wild offseason the Eagles have experienced so far. He claimed the players in the locker room were not surprised by the trading of LeSean McCoy, but rather what they got in return for him.

“When you talk about what you can get for — if you are looking to acquire more talent — I just think Shady’s cap number and what we were able to get in return for Shady, I think made sense,” Jenkins said. “And some guys in the locker room who kind of know what’s going on weren’t surprised by it.

“In the locker room a lot of guys weren’t surprised by the trade, what we were more surprised of was that it was just a player-for-player trade. I think everybody thought we would have gotten more — Kiko [Alonso], plus a couple draft picks, you know, somebody else.”

Jenkins believes that the motivation for the trade stems from McCoy not being a perfect fit for Chip Kelly’s offense.

“You look at the style of runner that Chip wants in his offense and even though Shady is one of the best backs in the league, he’s not necessarily what Chip is looking for all the time,” Jenkins said. “Chip thinks he’s a great running back, he knows his talent is there, but our [system] is really predicated on downhill, somebody who is going to hit the hole every time. It’s about getting up in the defender’s face as fast as you can and that’s not necessarily Shady’s running style.”

Jenkins was quick to point out that the offense experienced great success with McCoy running the ball, noting his 2013 rushing title and 1,300 yards in 2014, but suggested his running style is not exactly what Kelly is looking for. Jeffery Lurie made similar comments when speaking to reporters at the owners meetings.

“We’ve been talking about the asset value of LeSean for a long time because he wasn’t the style of runner that Chip prefers, but a great player,” Lurie said. “Getting players that fit more of what he’s all about in terms of their style of play. LeSean McCoy is a great running back — all-time franchise leader. Great guy in every way. To maximize his power spread offense, he’s always admired the one-cut runners.”

Kelly replaced the hole left by McCoy with 2014’s rushing champ DeMarco Murray and former San Diego Charger Ryan Mathews, both of whom are considered one-cut, downhill runners. It will be interesting to see how well the offense moves the ball in 2015 now that Chip has his desired style of runners in the backfield.