Random Off-Season Discussion

[NC_Eagle]

Defense seems to be a strong point with this year's FAs, depending on re-signings of course. WR and K look weak, may be best to address those with the draft? No stand out FA QB either.

[Rome]

lol at foles bashing

im not even so much looking at foles thru my eyes....im trying to put put myself in chippers shoes....you cant tell me he isnt sitting in his office at 1am every wednesday scheming his gameplan and saying damn i wish i had more to work with here...before chipper even begins to formulate anything foles takes away an important aspect of his offense....i think he wants more


elsewhere this offseason id look at upgrading defensive coordinator....i wouldnt fire billy davis and start an open search...but if theres maybe an up and coming defensive mind or just someone you really like target them and make an upgrade

You trash Foles every chance you get just like you trashed Kelly from the moment the Eagles hired him.   

You were wrong about both.

[hbionic]

While both sides have a valid point, no one is saying how Foles will learn from the mistakes this season and improve on those. He made very few mistakes and taking sacks were a lot of those few mistakes. Chipper will also learn to not call an obvious pass on first down every farging drive. Brady, Manning, Rodgers don't give away sacks. Foles will get there too. For all the intangibles Foles lacks, he makes up for them with his decision making. With this season under his belt, he will improve on it this season and the game will slow down for him that much more. It's becasue of his decision making we all felt if we got the ball back last night they would have scored.

[Sgt PSN]

lol at foles bashing

im not even so much looking at foles thru my eyes....im trying to put put myself in chippers shoes....you cant tell me he isnt sitting in his office at 1am every wednesday scheming his gameplan and saying damn i wish i had more to work with here...before chipper even begins to formulate anything foles takes away an important aspect of his offense....i think he wants more

I don't disagree with this. I don't think Chip is ready to tie himself to Foles long term, but I also think that Foles the 1 thing that's keeping Chip's offense from being an NFL bust. Having a QB run as much as Chip wants to in the NFL will get your QB killed.  Before Vick got hurt, this offense really only played about 6 immpressive quarters of football.  It's great for college, esp the PAC 12 where teams aren't loaded with NFL talent at every position on defense, but it just won't work in the pros.

elsewhere this offseason id look at upgrading defensive coordinator....i wouldnt fire billy davis and start an open search...but if theres maybe an up and coming defensive mind or just someone you really like target them and make an upgrade

Agreed. I'm "ok" with him coming back.  He shouldn't be fired simply for the sake of firing him.

I won't dump my girl and start looking for a new one, but if Jessica Beil ever returns my call and wants to hook up, then I'm dropping Squaw back off on the Rez. 

[ice grillin you]

lol at foles bashing

im not even so much looking at foles thru my eyes....im trying to put put myself in chippers shoes....you cant tell me he isnt sitting in his office at 1am every wednesday scheming his gameplan and saying damn i wish i had more to work with here...before chipper even begins to formulate anything foles takes away an important aspect of his offense....i think he wants more


elsewhere this offseason id look at upgrading defensive coordinator....i wouldnt fire billy davis and start an open search...but if theres maybe an up and coming defensive mind or just someone you really like target them and make an upgrade

You trash Foles every chance you get just like you trashed Kelly from the moment the Eagles hired him.   

You were wrong about both.

lol....three months of games and the eagles have vince lombardi coaching up joe montana....i love homers

lol at foles bashing

im not even so much looking at foles thru my eyes....im trying to put put myself in chippers shoes....you cant tell me he isnt sitting in his office at 1am every wednesday scheming his gameplan and saying damn i wish i had more to work with here...before chipper even begins to formulate anything foles takes away an important aspect of his offense....i think he wants more

I don't disagree with this. I don't think Chip is ready to tie himself to Foles long term, but I also think that Foles the 1 thing that's keeping Chip's offense from being an NFL bust. Having a QB run as much as Chip wants to in the NFL will get your QB killed.  Before Vick got hurt, this offense really only played about 6 immpressive quarters of football.  It's great for college, esp the PAC 12 where teams aren't loaded with NFL talent at every position on defense, but it just won't work in the pros.   

vick is a pos...he cant play qb...and i dont think chipper necessarily wants a running qb but for his offense to run at top speed needs a qb who can run...foles is a ZERO threat

and again not just chipper but any coach wants personnel to allow them to run their system...but when you are specifically talking about a guy like chip who doesnt run a pro set but is a football junkie innovator type hes always looking for new wrinkles and foles prevents some of that...i mean christ you can even roll him out

[TexasEagle]

the system will make a lot of people better than they are.

You say this based on what?

foles is good...will do fine if hes the qb long term, might even win a title, who knows. but the offense would go to a different level if it had a kaepernick, wilson type....or even someone with a little bit of mobility like luck and rodgers

People have been talking about "Chip's system" and "what Chip wants" ever since the guy was hired and people continue to ignore the fact that the only one that knows 100% what's Chip's system is and what he wants is Chip Kelly himself. And he has actually said, time and time again that he doesn't need a running QB to run his offense. That has been proven over the course of this year and yet people continue to hold on this ridiculous narrative for some reason.

[ice grillin you]

chip is not going to admit that he needs a mobile qb to run his offense....that would alienate foles....but give him a bottle of truth serum and im quite certain what hed tell you

also too many people confuse "running qb" with a qb who can run....ben roethlesburger has won a ton of games in this league with his legs but hes not a running qb...altho that isnt exactly the kind of qb chippers offense would thrive on

no one is asking for mike vick....but his offense would be more explosive and would allow him to do many more of things he wants to with a qb who can run...thats not a shot at foles its just fact...the question is not whether the offense would be better....the question is how satisfied is chipper with having foles as his qb....that is the unknown...i dont discount the possibility that while not ideal he is fine with moving deep into the future with foles as his man

[Rome]

Kelly took a 4-12 last place team and turned them into a division winner.    Two months ago you were baying for his head like a scalded bitch.   Foles turned in one of the most impressive seasons in the history of the NFL and here you are again calling for someone else to QB the team.   It's unbelievably retarded.

Is this Joe Montana & Bill Walsh all over again?   I don't know.   Probably not but at least I'm willing to see what happens based on what I saw this season, though. 

[MDS]

chip kelly's offense would be better with a qb who isnt a complete statue is a fact...not an opinion

of course that qb shouldnt be someone who sucks but has legs like vick. you can find a ton of qbs who are mobile who couldnt put up half the production foles will and has.

no one is saying foles sucks or they should replace him. but watching this offense it makes you wonder how much better they could be if they had a qb who could, you know, move.

[NC_Eagle]

chip kelly's offense would be better with a qb who isnt a complete statue is a fact...not an opinion

of course that qb shouldnt be someone who sucks but has legs like vick. you can find a ton of qbs who are mobile who couldnt put up half the production foles will and has.

no one is saying foles sucks or they should replace him. but watching this offense it makes you wonder how much better they could be if they had a qb who could, you know, move.

Foles isn't the long term guy, but that there are much bigger holes to fill this off-season than QB. Yes he's slightly more mobile than Marino, but he doesn't turn the ball over, has good smarts and a decent arm. (He threw 40 yards in the air to Pimp rolling out to the sideline, and at least as far on the PI penalty play, he may not leave impressions of the ball in his receivers but that will get the job done on 90% of plays)

No QB in free agency would be half as good as, much less better than Foles. A few potentials in the draft but we'd have to give away half our picks to trade up high enough and the draft is always a crap shoot to begin with.

Could take a shot at somebody in the lower rounds, but honestly I don't know this year's QB class that deep.

[QB Eagles]

Unpredictable: That Nick Foles would become the starting QB, put up the second-highest passer rating of all time, throw fewer INTs all year than Andrew Luck throws in one playoff win, arguably outplay Drew Brees in a playoff game, and potentially receive some MVP votes.

Predictable: That hippos would still be obsessed with the idea of replacing him with an imaginary clone of 1990 Randall Cunningham.

[TexasEagle]

chip kelly's offense would be better with a qb who isnt a complete statue is a fact...not an opinion

Not to pick on you, but again, you say this based on what?

This is the first year and the first time that Chip has run his offense in the NFL and not only is it NOT the same as the one he ran in Oregon (by his own admission) but it set all sorts of records with Foles at the helm.

I can't help but wonder what more some of you guys are looking for.

[SD]

Chip can still go with whatever people like igy and mds think is his prototypical qb...the Eagles still have all their picks and Foles value will never be higher. Chip is innovative bough to fit a qb into whatever system he wants to run. Why draft Barkley instead of some mobile qb... Or not draft a qb at all? None of the elite qbs fit Chips system but he's not ditching th because of that.

[NC_Eagle]

Moving on, is Nick Foles the Eagles franchise quarterback?

Yes, yes, a hundred times yes. He has proven he can deliver with the game on the line, he has proven himself a winner, and he has proven himself worthy of the "quarterback-of-the-future" lapel pin. Drink the Collinsworth Kool-Aid if your thirsty for pessimism, but the basic truth is Foles is beyond adequate, and there's every reason to believe he will only improve.

Drafting another quarterback who may or may not prove more adequate is a waste of time, energy and resources.

Consider this when evaluating Foles: if he were drafted in the first round, would we even be having this debate?

After all, if you compare Foles stats this year to Donovan McNabb's from his second season, the Napoleon Dynamite lookalike presents a clear-cut better option. Foles had a higher completion percentage, more yards per attempt, more yards per game, more touchdowns, and fewer turnovers. Perhaps most notably (for all those drinking out of Chris Collinsworth's glass) he took less sacks.

And remember: In McNabb's second year he was coming off a full offseason as the starter, a luxury Foles didn't receive.

Foles statistics were freakishly good this year; so freakish they seem too rare for duplication. However there's every reason to believe #9 will come back in 2014 an even better quarterback. No matter who the Eagles could draft come April, it would most certainly be a downgrade. Let's get the hashtag started: #StickWithNick

So whats next for the Eagles?

New safeties, more pass rushers, special teams depth, and for the love-of-lard a kicker who looks like an actual football player. Most of the other weaknesses on this roster are manageable. Mychael Kendricks and DeMeco Ryans struggle against the pass, Cary Williams and Bradley Fletcher won't make someone disappear, and Jason Kelce and Evan Mathis can't crush through a D-Line when you need six inches. All of these roadblocks, however, can be driven around.

-Eric Marmon

[phattymatty]

other than riley's drop which i think would have been a game changer, all of those 5 yard QB sneaks by brees still make me the most angry.