How Kellen Moore found a unique role for Will Shipley in rookie’s NFL debut originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
Will Shipley didn’t touch the ball on offense in his NFL debut and he played just four snaps outside of his 17 on special teams.
But it was still an encouraging start for the fourth-round pick out of Clemson.
And offensive coordinator Kellen Moore found a unique way to use Shipley in the Eagles’ 34-29 win over the Packers on São Paulo, Brazil.
“It felt awesome,” Shipley said after the game. “Great to get out there. Preseason is preseason. To get out there for my first game and for it to be in Brazil, I don’t think I could have drew it up much better. So blessed.”
All four of Shipley’s offensive snaps in this game — three in the 2nd quarter and one in the 3rd — came as the second running back in 21 personnel. All four of them came with the game’s MVP Saquon Barkley on the field with him.
The Eagles used just 25 total plays in 21 personnel in 2023. But after seeing them use that package this summer, they had success with it on Friday night.
“I think it can be a huge part (of the offense),” Shipley said. “Also something that we had in the game plan going into the week. We knew that we were going to utilize it. We were ready for it. I think as we continue throughout the season, we’re going to continue to expand it and just see where it goes from there.
“But any opportunity I get, I’m going to try to take advantage of it. Especially just learning from the two guys above me. You saw what Saquon did today. Just all opportunities, make the most of them.”
Three of Shipley’s plays came back-to-back-to-back in the second quarter:
Shipley first got on the field at the 8:04 mark in the second quarter on a 2nd-and-9. He lined up out wide right and ran an orbit motion to the left side of the field. As A.J. Brown ran a clear-out route, Shipley drew coverage from the nickel in the flat and also froze the linebacker. Jalen Hurts hit DeVonta Smith for a 25-yard gain.
On the next snap, Shipley lined up out left and ran orbit motion to the other side of the field. Hurts hit Barkley for a 5-yard gain in the left flat.
On the third snap, Hurts ran for 4 yards on 2nd-and-5 (the Eagles then picked up the first down with a tush push on 3rd down). Shipley and Barkley were next to Hurts in shotgun before Shipley’s motion cleared out a linebacker from the middle of the field to help Hurts find some room.
On all four of his offensive plays, Shipley was put in motion before the snap. The Eagles used a bunch of motion in this game after ranking dead last in that category in Nick Sirianni’s offense a season ago.
Being in motion is something that Shipley enjoys.
“Yeah, I love it,” he said. “That will shake the defense up a little bit. Once I’m able to produce a little bit from the motions, it’ll cause the defenses to respect me, maybe open up things a little bit more. But I think I did a good job of moving around tonight. We were able to convert. Our 21 package, we drove pretty much straight down the field. Looked really good. We got the playmakers the ball. I was really impressed with it.”
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