Eagles future QB not on team

Nick Foles dud of a start against the Dallas Cowboys Sunday has kept the Eagles starting QB position interesting.  Foles left with a concussion in the third quarter after doing little to keep his team in the game in a 17-3 loss at home.  

The Eagles are 3-4 with Vick and Foles this season.

Foles got the nod at QB after Michael Vick missed the last two games with a pulled hamstring. With Foles out indefinitely, Vick took first-team practice reps Tuesday and is expected to start this Sunday against the New York Giants.

Two weeks ago, Foles strong performance against Tampa Bay had beat writers hailing him as the answer for the Eagles.  They feared Kelly might have been wrong on Foles after he lost the starting job to Vick in training camp this past summer.

Jimmy Kempski of Philly.com aggregated Eagles beat writers’ opinions after Foles dominant start against the Buccaneers. The majority of them overwhelmingly supported him.

“Foles not only got the job done, he left little to criticize. He got rid of the ball, threw it accurately, avoided or withstood pressure when necessary, and ran the offense at pretty close to the pace the coach desires. All of that will make Kelly's decision easier if Vick is a coin flip to return from his hamstring injury by next Sunday's home game against the Cowboys,” Bob Ford of the Philly Inquirer wrote.

After his performance last Sunday, fewer had praise for the second-year QB.

Bleeding Green Nation Writer Brandon Gowton thought Foles played abysmally.  In his day-after ruminations on Pro Football Focus grades on player performance, Gowton discovered Foles' numbers justified beat writer's knee-jerk reaction back to Vick. He had one of the worst QB performances of 2013.

“Nick Foles' -7.3 PFF grade is the 2nd worst QB grade for a game in 2013. Only Matt Schaub, in week 5, was worse (-8.9). Foles threw for a mere 80 yards on 11/29 passing. He just looked awful. He also held onto the ball for way too long. In fact, out of the 20 quarterbacks who played on Sunday, Nick Foles held the ball longer than anyone. He averaged 3.51 seconds to throw,” Gowton wrote on Monday.

ESPN Writer Phil Sheridan now thinks the Eagles’ future franchise QB isn’t on the team yet.

“The Eagles are 3-4 with Vick and Foles. Right now, it is hard to imagine either of them being the Eagles’ long-term answer at quarterback,” Sheridan wrote on Monday.

Sheridan is right.

Vick is 33 years old and only signed through this season.  In the playing time Foles received, he has shown bursts of talent, but has never been able to seize the opportunities afforded to him by Vick’s injuries.

His 11-29 passing performance for a paltry 8o yards against Dallas is the latest example, when brilliance would’ve secured him a starting job.

The problem is writers are writing off Foles too soon and proclaiming Vick a savior to hastily.  How easily we forget Vick hasn't led the team to the playoffs since 2010, while Foles only has three starts with the first-team offense on the field.

McNabb wasn't written off after his questionable rookie campaign. Foles will need time.

But the truth is Chip Kelly will likely bring in his own guy in the upcoming draft instead of working with Andy Reid’s leftovers.  With a class that includes Teddy Bridgewater, Tahj Boyd, Marcus Mariota and Johhny Manziel; Kelly we’ll have plenty of options of securing the Eagles franchise quarterback with his first-round pick. 

Now making sure that pick pans out before the city runs Kelly out of town will be the next hurdle.