The Nick Foles era?

QBs, Michael Vick & Nick Foles

    

        After the Eagles lost against the Saints, the mood was apathetic. The players, nor the fans seemed interested in whether they won or lost anymore. The 2012 season is a wash, just as the 2011 season was a wash. Eagles fans, like myself, aren't used to their season being over in early November. After the Eagles lost for the fifth straight game, this time to the also abysmal Cowboys, the fans got a glimpse of excitement. When Michael Vick went down with a concussion, rookie Nick Foles got his chance. Foles came out to a standing ovation, as the obviously frustrated Eagles fans were dying for something different, anything different than the mediocrity (at best) the Eagles have been putting on the field these past two years.

        In the offseason, Jeffrey Lurie put Andy Reid in the spotlight, and Lurie let him know that average results were not acceptable. With each embarrassing defeat, the reality becomes clearer. If Lurie, the Eagles owner, remains a man of his word, Reid will out of a job in Philadelphia. The Eagles are now 3-6, and again were sloppy, undisciplined, and underachieving. These are plenty of signs of bad coaching, and that Reid has lost his locker room. After Reid fired defensive coordinator Juan Castillo, which one of the team's decision-makers described the move to the paper as a "miscalculation", the unit has only gotten worse. Reid is widely-respected as a great football mind, and a great leader and coach. The past two seasons, this no longer seems to be the case. His time management, and play-calling that he and Marty Mornhinweg construct has been criticized for years. The players' commitment has never been a question until the Eagles went out and signed a bunch of marquee free-agents. These guys don't bleed Eagles green, they're here for a paycheck. The Eagles no longer work with home-grown talent. This is why Reid's messages don't seem to get though anymore.

        One of the main reasons the Eagles are having a lot of issues is their lack of depth, and lack of chemistry. This is due, in large part, to their poor drafts the past three years. In 2010, the Eagles drafted DE Brandon Graham 13th overall. Graham has been injury prone, and has showed little impact. This season he has probably been the most consistent pass rusher, especially considering his lack of snaps, however he can safely be considered a bust as of now. This is especially true, when you consider the two Pro-Bowlers that were taken with the 14th and 15th picks. I remembering being so excited that Texas safety, Earl Thomas, fell to our pick at 13. I figured they would draft him, a legitimate intimidating safety, one that we have not had since Brian Dawkins. If they were going to go with the d-line, I figured they would pick up DE Jason Pierre-Paul. Instead they drafted Graham who has 4.5 career sacks, while Pierre-Paul has 27.5. The Eagles drafted Nate Allen to fill that void at safety, but he has been injury prone, and just average during his 3-year career. The rest of the Eagles 2010 draft class has done nothing to impress. DE Daniel Te'o-Neshiem was the 3rd round pick, he was cut to the practice squad last season. The rest of the draft was OK, with guys like Trevard Lindley, Clay Harbor, Riley Cooper and Kurt Coleman at least getting playing time. The 2011 draft was again, underwhelming. Drafting the fireman-turned football player, Danny Watkins, in the first round, he has been largely inconsistent. 2nd-round pick, Jaiquawn Jarrett has already been cut. Curtis Marsh has barely been on the field, and Casey Matthews is more known for his last name and long hair than his play. The 2012 draft does look relatively good so far. DT Fletcher Cox has a boatload of potential, and has had decent results for a rookie. Mychal Kendricks has been inconsistent this season, but still is stand-out rookie so far. 2nd round pick, DE Vinny Curry, has yet to be active this season. Nick Foles is, of course, a work in progress, but he did beat out Mike Kafka for the back-up QB position. CB Brandon Boykin has impressed for a rookie so far this season, and RB Bryce Brown seems to be a 7th round steal.

       However, due to poor drafts in recent years, the Eagles have had to look elsewhere for talent. The past two years, Philadelphia went out and singed big-market guys like Nnamndi Asomugha, Jason Babin, Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, DeMeco Ryans, and Cullen Jenkins for their defense. These players have all been good at different times of the past two seasons, however there has been no chemistry or consistency. These guys haven't made up for the lack of talent and depth at safety, linebacker, and most importantly for this team, the offensive-line. It's tough to get an offense rolling when 4/5 of your offensive-line is injured. However, guys like Demetress Bell and King Dunlap are payed to be effective as backups, and they have looked awful and sometimes just plain embarrassing.

        When they let go of Donovan McNabb, and put the team in the hands of Kevin Kolb, the Eagles were in the mindset of rebuilding, and getting younger. However, after Kolb went down with a concussion in week 1, Vick lit-up the NFL in the 2010 season. The Eagles thought that they had a great chance to win right away again. They abandoned their rebuilding strategy, traded Kolb, and went out and got free-agent talent, instead of letting their young draft-picks get their experience.
  
        This put the team in Michael Vick's hands. Regardless of a terrible offensive-line, there is a plethora of talent on this team, especially on the offensive side of the ball. Vick has yet to produce after his career year, and his big payday. Vick's athleticism and constant big-play potential have overshadowed the flaws in his game for most of his career. He's never been smart with pre-snap decisions and audibles, which is something you would have to expect when you openly admit that you hate to watch game film. Vick's pocket awareness is also a negative; he has an weird knack of running into pressure or running away from pressure that isn't even there. At his peak, he could outrun a lot of his mistakes, but at this stage of his career, that no longer seems to be the case. After he shocked the NFL in 2010, Vick seems to have gone back to his usual turnover-prone, underachieving self. Looking at Vick's career numbers, their mostly underwhelming. If you've never seen his highlight tapes, you would wonder why he's a starting QB. 2010 was a great season, but also a huge anomaly for Vick in his career. He's never made it to 22 touchdown passes in any season. He's played 16 games just once, and only once has he had more than eight wins in a season. In a pass-happy league, a 56.3 career completion %, and 80.7 career QB rating just doesn't cut it.

        So now, the Eagles seem to be going in the direction of the Nick Foles era. We're not sure that Foles can be an effective starter in the NFL. These last seven games will tell a glimpse of the story. It won't tell the whole story, however. It's tough to judge a quarterback when you're in your rookie season, and you're thrown in front of a swiss cheese offensive line. The Eagles will be happy to see progression, and good decision making for the rest of the season. Michael Vick's contract will likely not be picked up, and he'll be released. Vick never became the pocket quarterback that Reid was hoping he could develop him into. He's improved from his career in Atlanta, however he just hasn't been good enough. There needs to be changes made, and given the talent on this roster, that's a reflection of both the mental toughness of the players and the coaching overall.

        Andy Reid will try and keep his job in Philadelphia. He'll go to Jeff Lurie and Howie Roseman and say, 'Let's go with Foles, and let me guide him through the transition of the next era.' I'm just not sure if Lurie is ready to go back on his word that mediocrity is unacceptable for Reid. Andy Reid and Michal Vick had their chance to succeed together in Philadelphia; they failed. It's time for the Nick Foles era to begin for the Eagles, and after the season, it's time for a new coach to lead him through.

Will either have a job next season? Anywhere?