The Eagles Traded Dennis Kelly for Dorial Green-Beckham

The Eagles have traded useless offensive tackle Dennis Kelly for Titans second-year wide receiver Dorial Green-Beckham – DGB – in a surprise move.

From the Eagles:

The Eagles made a move to shake up their wide receivers corps on Tuesday, acquiring second-year pro Dorial Green-Beckham from the Tennessee Titans. In exchange, the Eagles sent veteran offensive lineman Dennis Kelly to Tennessee.

Green-Beckham, the 40th-overall selection in the 2015 NFL Draft, caught 32 passes for 549 yards and four touchdowns in his rookie season with the Titans.

Standing tall at 6-5, 237 pounds, Green-Beckham played his college football at the University of Missouri, racking up 1,278 yards and 17 touchdowns in his first two seasons. After being dismissed from the team due to an off-the-field incident, the receiver transferred to Oklahoma, but had to sit out the 2014 season due to NCAA transfer rules. After that season concluded, Green-Beckham decided to declare for the NFL Draft.

A gifted athlete, Green-Beckham was the top overall recruit in the nation coming out of Hillcrest High School (Missouri) in 2011. At the 2015 NFL Scouting Combine, he ran a 4.49 40-yard dash and recorded a 33.5 inch vertical jump.

Instant reaction: Most Eagles folks on Twitter are initially shocked by the move, because Dennis Kelly genuinely sucks. DGB was the Titans’ second round draft pick last year and had first round talent, but some were concerned with his character. So much for culture is a popular reaction from the pundits, most notably Sheil Kapadia:

DGB may already be one of the Eagles’ best receivers, and Dave Spadaro*, whose name may soon have to be blocked from the comments, is right when he calls the move low-risk, high-reward— losing Kelly hurts offensive line depth, but the upside of a talented wide receiver is more important at the moment. Players like Kelly seemingly fall of trees.

*Spadaro had a lengthy piece ready to go so the Eagles could control the narrative on this.

A second round draft pick in 2015, DGB is a staggering 6’5″, 237 lbs. He ran a 4.49 40-yard-dash in the scouting combine before last year’s draft. In his rookie season, DGB caught 32 passes for 549 yards and (17.2 yards per reception) four touchdowns, while being targeted 67 times. Here’s everyone one of them– interesting song selection:

DGB led the NFL in percentage of catches that resulted in a first down at 93.8% (30 of his 32 receptions). He’d been earning first team reps in Titans camp this year, and told the Titans website that he’s expecting “bigger things” this year. But, there’s a she-said version to the story:

DGB has also had off-the-field issues. In 2012, he was arrested on a weed charge at the University of Missouri, which resulted in a one-game suspension from the team. In 2014, he was again arrested on a weed charge – though evidence later showed it wasn’t his. A couple of months later, he was dismissed from Mizzou after he pushed a woman down some stairs:

Green-Beckham was the subject of an investigation by Columbia, Mo., police this week after an 18-year-old Missouri student said the receiver forced open her apartment door at 2:30 a.m. Sunday while trying to see his girlfriend, a friend of the alleged victim.

The woman said Green-Beckham pushed her down at least four stairs.

Another roommate told police the 6-foot-6, 225-pound athlete pushed the first woman with two hands to the chest. Later that night, the two told a detective they didn’t want to press charges, and police closed the case Thursday without an arrest, citing reluctant witnesses fearing retaliation.

At the time of the incident, DGB said he was going to enter counseling. He sat out the 2014 season, transferred to the University of Oklahoma, and spent his entire season on the scout team before entering the NFL draft.