“Now can I get an encore, do you want more?” You may be asking yourself what do JAY Z lyrics have to do with football.
Many fans around the league, especially Eagles fans, are wondering if quarterback Nick Foles will have an encore of last season. When Michael Vick suffered a hamstring injury in week five, it officially became Foles’s show as he would start the last ten games of regular season. Foles had a historic year as he threw 27 touchdowns and only two interceptions as a starter.
Some analysts believe that he will not put up those kinds of numbers this season. Yesterday on Fanatic 97.5, former Philadelphia Eagles quarterback and FOX Sports 1 analyst Donovan McNabb said that Foles is not a franchise quarterback. But if he can play well this season and have 25 plus touchdowns and between 5-10 interceptions, can he then be considered a franchise quarterback?
I understand why the jury is out on Foles as 27 touchdowns and two interceptions is unheard of in today’s game. There were many of times where Foles got lucky and capitalized on those opportunities. For example, he completed a long touchdown pass to DeSean Jackson against the Green Bay Packers in which he under threw Jackson. Many people feel that those opportunities will not be there for him because Pro Bowl wide receiver DeSean Jackson is not with the team anymore. Jackson is now teamed up quarterback Robert Griffin III in Washington.
Now you can argue that because Jackson along with LeSean McCoy helped open up the offense. Jackson had a solid year. He had 82 receptions for 1,332 yards and nine touchdowns. Jackson averaged 16.2 receiving yards per reception. He also helped Riley Cooper during his career year. Jackson drew coverage to his side, allowing Cooper to see more passes thrown his way. Last season, Cooper had 47 receptions for 835 yards and eight touchdowns. He also averaged 17.8 yards per reception. Both wide receivers benefited from Foles’ strong play.
This season, the Eagles will try to replace Jackson’s production with Jeremy Maclin, Jordan Matthews, Josh Huff and Darren Sproles. There should be no doubt in any Eagles fans’ mind that these four players can match Jackson’s production. In fact, having four more weapons to use may also make Foles a better quarterback.
Last season, Foles had a 64 percent completion percentage and a 119.2 quarterback rating. When you look at his completion percentage, last season, he had six games in which his percentage was 60 percent or more, three games when it was 70 percent or more, one game when 80 percent or more, another game when it was 50 percent or more and a game where it was 30 percent or more.
Additionally, Foles did not throw his first interception until Week 13. Week 13 was the snow game against the Detroit Lions where Foles looked for Riley Cooper through the snow and in the process, overthrew him and was picked off by Lions cornerback Chris Houston. He would proceed to throw another interception the following week versus the Minnesota Vikings, but in the last two weeks of the season, he threw four touchdowns and zero interceptions.
The elephant in the room still is what can he do for an encore this season. He will throw for more touchdowns than interceptions and don’t be surprised if he throws 30 plus touchdowns and only less than 10 interceptions. Foles is a very efficient quarterback and in Chip Kelly’s offense, he is put in a position to succeed.
With Chip Kelly last season, Foles only threw the ball 24.5 times per game in comparison to Andy Reid; he threw the ball 37.8 times per game. That is a difference of 13 which is a lot in the game of football.
We should expect Nick Foles to have another solid season which means the Eagles will go far. Will it be Pro Bowl caliber? Yes and as long as Chip Kelly and Pat Shurmur are here, he is going to be the guy going forward.
[Photo: Daniel Wallace/Tampa Bay Times/MCT]Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
