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No. A coach shouldn't do that, but you're working with hindsight in your favor, aren't you?
It's not like Nick Foles shone in 2012 is it? He had a QBR of around 40 and fumbled almost once a game, which having a 1:1 td/int ratio. And to use your metric, he was 1-5 as a starter IIRC.
Of course hindsight is 20/20.
Yes, Nick Foles had a good rookie season
http://blogs.mcall.com/eagles/2013/0...ie-season.html
Here is some of the article if you don't want to go to that site.
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• Foles appeared in 7 games last season. In those games, the opposing QBs had a combined passer rating of an astounding 138.6. The single season record for passer rating was Aaron Rodgers in 2011, at 122.5. The next two guys on the list are Peyton Manning in 2004, at 121.1, and Tom Brady in 2007, at 117.2. In the seasons in which Rodgers, Manning, and Brady put up those numbers, they combined for a record of 43-5, or a winning percentage of 0.896. Because the Eagles' defense couldn't stop anyone last year, particularly in the games in which Foles appearred, Foles was playing against the equivalent of some sort of infalliable QB that can only be created in a video game.
• Because the defense couldn't stop anyone, Foles was asked to throw the ball at an absurd rate for a rookie. In the 6 games he started, Foles threw 233 passes, for an average of 38.3 per game. He also threw 32 passes in 2.5 quarters against the Cowboys, in relief of Michael Vick, to bring his total on the season to 265. By comparison, Russell Wilson threw 393 passes in 16 starts, or 24.6 per game. Not to take anything away from Wilson, who was tremendous last year, but when you have the #1 ranked defense in points allowed, the #4 ranked defense for yards allowed, the #3 ranked rush offense, and the lowest run
ass ratio (42% pass : 58% run) in the NFL, that tends to make things a lot easier on a QB.
• Key offensive players who did not play in the games Foles started:
Redskins: Jason Peters, Jason Kelce, Todd Herremans, Jason Avant.
Panthers: Jason Peters, Jason Kelce, Todd Herremans, Jason Avant, LeSean McCoy.
Cowboys: Jason Peters, Jason Kelce, Todd Herremans, LeSean McCoy.
Buccaneers: Jason Peters, Jason Kelce, Todd Herremans, LeSean McCoy, DeSean Jackson, Brent Celek (played 1 snap).
Bengals: Jason Peters, Jason Kelce, Todd Herremans, LeSean McCoy, DeSean Jackson, Brent Celek.
Redskins: Jason Peters, Jason Kelce, Todd Herremans, DeSean Jackson.
The sum all of that up succinctly, Foles was playing without 3 of his 4 best offensive linemen as well as his best skill position players, and was being asked to chuck the ball 40 times per game while playing from behind because opposing offenses were slicing through Philly's defense like a hot knife through butter.
And yet, among all QBs in the NFL who threw as many passes as Foles last season, only 5 threw fewer INTs per attempt than Nick Foles. They were Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers, Joe Flacco, Ben Roethlisberger, and Robert Griffin III.
Nick Foles does not have a laser rocket arm, and his foot speed is not going to remind anyone of Usain Bolt. But he's smart, from what I can see his teammates respect him, his pocket presence is exceptional, he's accurate, and he'll step into passes while taking hits and keep coming back. Additionally, from what I've seen of him beginning with the 2012 Senior Bowl practices before he was even an Eagle, all the way through until the Eagles' most recent minicamp, he has steadily continued to get better.
If we're comparing Nick Foles to guys like Robert Griffin III and Colin Kaepernick, then yes, he is absolutely "meh." But if we're looking realistically at where he should be heading into his 2nd season as a pro, I'd say it's perfectly fine to have some level of optimism about Nick Foles.
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As far as the last paragraph goes, the article was posted on June 17, 2013. Hindsight is 20/20.
Last edited by Abstinence; 01-30-2015 at 04:19 PM.