Much to our chagrin, Lady luck hasn’t been shining down on our former Wildcat Nick Foles as much as we hoped. But, yesterday he signed with the Kansas City Chiefs. Was it the right move?
When Nick Foles asked, the Los Angeles Rams released their backup quarterback, they were unable to trade him. San Fransisco head coach Chip Kelly, Foles former coach in Philadelphia, passed on Foles. Then Dallas came out and said they weren’t interested and it was looking like there may be no home for Foles. Next thing we heard the Chiefs had a need for a good backup quarterback and signed Foles to fill the role.’
Some would say he chose a ‘comfortable’ position and he is satisfied to be a backup quarterback. Foles chose familiarity in returning to the coach who drafted him in 2012: the Kansas City Chiefs quarterbacks coach Andy Reed (formerly of the Philadelphia Eagles).
In addition to feeling comfortable with the coach, he is also familiar with the system. Foles is the Chiefs solid choice as the backup quarterback for KC. You have to wonder if Nick is satisfied with holding a clipboard and cheering on the starting QB, or if really wants to be a starting quarterback but has no other options but wait for an injury to get his chance.
While Foles was in negotiations with the Chiefs organization, the Dallas Cowboys suffered a huge loss in that their backup QB Kellen Moore went down for the season with a broken ankle. They find themselves with a desperate need for a solid backup all of the sudden, someone like Foles, but they had already screwed themselves by previous public statements saying they weren’t interested or looking at the former Wildcat.
ZonaZealots staff had a heated debate, and the consensus was that they would have preferred Bruce Arians pick him up in Arizona where he already has fans, and possibly more opportunity to play. We still wanted to see Foles as a starter and feel he got a bum rap after being traded, coming back from a severe season-ending injury (broken collarbone) and not performing well in the first part of the season for the then St. Louis Rams.
It was a new system for him, and not necessarily the best offensive line. Foles needs some time in the pocket; he is not the biggest rushing threat, and he was under a ton of pressure under center. Who knows if there was a chemistry issue between him and his coaches or his teammates, but after they sidelined him, he never had a chance with the organization. The Rams wanted to cut and run but couldn’t trade him since they just drafted the No. 1 pick in the NFL former Cal Bear Jared Goff.
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In Philadelphia, Foles had a record rookie season under Chip Kelly. In one game, he passed for seven touchdowns in just three quarters which got him into the NFL Hall of Fame. In his next season with the Eagles, Foles had taken the Philadelphia Eagles to a record of 6-2 before he got hurt. It seems everyone forgot.
Here’s an excerpt from the St. Louis Rams article on the stats the Ram’s organization assessed Nick Foles:
"In three years with the Eagles, Foles has played in 28 games, making 24 starts. Over the last two seasons, he complied a 14-4 record, leading Philadelphia to the playoffs in 2013. In that season, the 6-foot-5, 244-pound quarterback took over for Michael Vick full-time in Week 5 and finished with 27 touchdowns and only two interceptions. His 8.5 touchdown percentage, 9.1 yards per attempt, and 119.2 rating all topped the league among qualified passers."
The sports world has a short memory, and it seems folks who really don’t know Foles or haven’t watched him play, jump on the ‘anti-Foles’ bandwagon. Shame on them! The media has collectively formed an enormous dark cloud above our former quarterback, and it shouldn’t have ever happened. It seems these days athletes and coaches are only as good as their last performance.
Now that Foles has signed a contract in the NFL, media started praising him, but frankly, it’s a little too late. If Nick had waited just one more week maybe he would have been able to get more money, but maybe not. After all, his only competition on the market was his former aging teammate Michael Vick.
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We think Nick could have held out longer, and surely some team would come begging for his services because these days, it seems every week during the season another quarterback goes down to injury.
That said, it has had to be very difficult for him to be torn down by the media and ignored by the NFL, his former coach, and his teammates. We don’t blame him for opting for something familiar in a system he feels comfortable in for a guy who believes in him wholeheartedly and helped him reach heights he dreams of hitting once more.
In Foles own words, he never wavered, his goal was to play for his former coach, the man who had confidence in him from the very beginning (via ESPN).
“After we got the release done with the Rams … we had some time to think about everything,” Foles said. “It was always going to be an opportunity to be around someone I just respect and love. Coach Reid was the guy who drafted me as a rookie. He was a guy I always stayed in touch with, always thought the world of. As I sort of stepped away from the game for those few days, I was able to talk to him about how I felt and we just went through it.”
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We don’t want to hope for Alex Smith to go down, but it seems the only way Foles will be able to ‘secure the bag’ as Bronco’s safety Will Parks would say, is for Smith not to perform or get injured. We wish our Wildcat-for-life much success in his NFL career!