Chip Kelly Wanted To Draft Dak Prescott, But Is That Really All That Surprising?

Wow, Chip Kelly and other inside #49ers org reportedly wanted to draft Dak Prescott but GM Trent Baalke didnt want him. h/t Mike Garafolo

— NFL Draft Insider (@NFLDraftInsider) January 2, 2017

Is this really worthy of a "wow"? I can see why some would instinctually think it's big news that one of the worst teams in the entire NFL almost drafted the quarterback that eventually helped lead the team that did draft him to a first round bye, but - as far as I am concerned - this is much ado about nothing. We are talking about a versatile prospect that happens to play the most sought after position on the field and had no shortage of collegiate success. By the time Dak Prescott had slipped well into the middle of the 4th round I would venture to guess that his name had extensively come up in about 66% of the war rooms around the league. Obviously we won't hear from those other franchises that missed the boat because they don't have recently dismissed head coaches that fancy themselves revolutionary offensive geniuses and claim their records are solely a product of their surroundings, but there's little to no doubt Chip Kelly wasn't the only guy that viewed Dak Prescott as a great value pick.

There's also little to no doubt that we wouldn't hold Dak Prescott in such high regard if he were drafted by the San Francisco 49ers instead of being kept fresher and cleaner than Outkast in their prime while playing behind the best offensive line in all of football. If Chip Kelly got his way then his job security might have - in a perfect world - been given a slight bump. That said, in the non-perfect world we all live in there's far more of a possibility that a 4th round pick rides the bench at least until the team is out of contention and a complete dumpster fire. You might be able to name the 49er's leading receiver but you damn sure can't do so with any certainty. Carlos Hyde might be good for gobbling up yardage, but he ain't eating like the new all time rookie rushing leader. So let's stop short of having our minds blown and satisfying Chip Kelly by saying management put him in a "can't win" situation just because they potentially cost him a quarterback that ended up in a "can't lose" situation that only became possible due to injury and necessity.