Chip Kelly talks 3 TE sets with Eagles draft pick Zach Ertz

To listen to Chip Kelly, is to love the man. He's plain spoken, he's self confident and wants to play the kind of football that fans want to see. He wants to outthink the competition, outwork them and dominate them.

Zach Ertz will be a key part of doing just that.

The Eagles raised a few eyebrows with the selection of Stanford TE Zach Ertz with their top pick in the 2nd round. After all, they already have one solid TE in Brent Celek and added another in free agency with James Casey. So did they really need another TE?

To do what Chip Kelly wants, the answer is yes.

"I've always been a heavy tight end guy," explained Kelly. "We don't play with a fullback, we really use that second tight end and now, a third tight end. So, he'll go in with [TE] Brent Celek and [TE] James Casey and add to the mix of what we can do and present a lot of problems for people."

And exactly what will be those problems you present?

"If you want to go big and put linebackers on the field, we believe we have pass mismatches for you. If you want to go small and put DB's on the field, I think we have a mismatch in the run game. It's a great weapon, a great tool to have and a quality individual."

The TE will clearly be a key component of Kelly's NFL offense. He explained how he plans to use all three at once.

"Yeah. You go like that (holds three fingers in the air) and three tight ends go in the game. We are going to go three tight ends in a game. Now, if they go three linebackers, we spread them out and if they go DB's, we smash you. So, pick your poison."

Like I said, I love this man.

Kelly has also talked a lot this offseason about the importance of versatility for all his players. Ertz, he says, typifies that as well as anyone on the roster right now.

"He did everything. That's the thing about him-they used him as a single receiver on the trip set and he was by himself isolated by the DB. They used him as a tight end, they used him as an H-back, they used him as a move guy. They moved him all over the place. You could never isolate him into one spot and whenever they got the mismatch he created, he made plays. That's what he's done his entire career. I didn't relish against coaching him and I'm very, very happy that he is on our side now."

Ertz says he's excited to play in what has become a golden age for TEs in the NFL.

"It's great," he told reporters. "I think you see some of these guys like [Falcons tight end] Tony Gonzalez, [Cowboys tight end] Jason Witten, some of those guys being complete tight ends and being huge mismatches in the passing game. I'm really looking forward to showing off what I can do at the next level."

He says specifically that Jason Witten is a guy that he models his game after.

"I think one of the tight ends I kind of replicate my game after is Jason Witten just because I think he truly is a really good run blocker as well as a pass catcher. They use him in a variety of ways and I think the Eagles will do the same with me."