Nick Foles Gets It
Posted: May 31st, 2014 | Author: Tommy Lawlor | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 134 Comments »Nick Foles blew everyone away with his 2013 season. He tied an NFL record with 7 TD passes in a game. He posted one of the highest QB ratings in NFL history. Foles finished with 27 TDs and just 2 INTs. That was truly a great season.
We don’t know how Foles will play in 2014. Teams will adjust to him. Foles will make adjustments of his own. And so on.
One thing we do know is that Foles gets it.
Listen to this radio interview with Foles. He says all the right things, but not in a contrived “I’m talking to the media” way. Foles seems to really mean the things he says. He comes across as genuine. This is critical for a QB. Foles mentions in the interview that you have to be yourself. If you put on a fake personality, those around you will see through that and won’t take you seriously.
Foles doesn’t have a fiery, in-your-face personality. He doesn’t try to fake it and act like that. He understands the importance of being a natural leader. And make no mistake…Foles is the leader. He talks in the interview about knowing players are watching him. How does he act after a TD? Or an INT?
QB just isn’t any old position. You’re the face of the franchise and the leader of the team. Foles gets that and he’s doing and saying the right things. I think part of the reason Mark Sanchez failed with the Jets is that he didn’t get the big picture. He was doing GQ photo shoots and going to Broadway plays. Re-watch the old Jets Hard Knocks episodes. You’ll see Sanchez being a prankster with the other QBs in their meeting room.
Bill Parcells tried to break Tony Romo of this type stuff before he left Dallas. Tuna explained to Romo that you can’t be the class clown and the team leader. You can have some fun, but it has to be secondary to a business-like attitude.
Foles absolutely has the mental and emotional makeup to be a franchise QB. This season we’ll find out more about whether he is a franchise QB on the field as well.
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Megan Fox as an Eagles cheerleader? Sort of.
Does this mean we were destined for each other?
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I missed Jeff McLane’s practice notes from the other day. This tidbit was interesting.
— While Kelly agreed that he has a better understanding of his players in terms of the depth chart this time of the offseason as opposed to a year when he said it was more of a seating chart, there was still plenty of shuffling of personnel within the first, second and teams. Joe Kruger, for instance, took a number of repetitions at left defensive end with the first unit in place of Cedric Thornton. Kruger spent all of his rookie season on IR last year. Rookie wide receiver Josh Huff was on the field with the starting offense for a number of plays.
Kruger is a player I liked quite a bit for the 2013 draft, but he was very young and struggled at times as he adjusted to the NFL and playing in the 3-4. He had shoulder surgery and then spent the season on IR. It would be a big help to the defense if Kruger took a big step forward and proved to be a good backup DE.
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Okay, playing pranks and doing GQ photo shoots – I agree those are things that your starting QB doesn’t need to do. Going to a play? What’s wrong with that?
He wasn’t just going to a play. He was going to a lot of musicals. He became a presenter at the Tony Awards. It seemed like it became more than just a distraction from football.
Foles said in a recent interview that he likes to watch crime shows on TV. It’s sure a heck of a lot easier to watch a few episodes of Law & Order SVU than to go to Broadway shows on a regular basis.
Sanchez always felt like a guy who enjoyed the spotlight. Those players make me nervous. I’d rather have a grinder.
Well said.
Yeah but that show sucks. If you’d have gone with True Detective I could have given you the upvote that every author of a blog seeks when he replies to a random poster’s question.
Nick can’t afford HBO. He’s still on his rookie deal.
Nice, except his dad is worth some serious coin back home. He probably fronted Nick some cash for an awesome entertainment center setup in his man cave, complete with the latest edition Sega Genesis, or whatever the kids have these days. I assume his dad has some interactions with press in Austin and I’ve wondered if coming from that background gives him certain advantages that someone from humbler roots wouldn’t have.
I prefer your version of Nick. Sparse furnishings, maybe a second hand futon. No distractions, just a team issued iPad preloaded with hours and hours of video to prep for training camp.
Your commitment to the birds has come into question lately bud.. To shut people up, you might have to make the switch to Funyan Smoothies… 🙂
You mean PBR smoothies
It’s a smoothie. You don’t have to choose just one ingredient!
“I had a dream”(in my most elegant Martin Luther King Jr Voice): I had a dream, that blooming onions shall be breaded using Funyun bread crumbs!!! Damn you igglesblitz! Damn you 🙂
I concur. Think about Romo recently going to basketball games. Sure, it’s offseason, but when you think about it, look at the fiasco it’s caused: He’s being blamed as a curse for showing up because the home team or team he’s supporting mostly loses the games.
Imagine that during football season.
I don’t know about all that to be honest. Chip said it’s all about having fun out there. I’m fine with fun, prank-like personalities. It doesn’t have to be business and seriousness. As long as you put in hard work and do what the team wants you to do I don’t think you have to be “professional”. Not a dick per se, but not seriously either.
Disagree. We had this discussion the other day,.. Need a Brady like leader, who demands excellence and holds players accountable… The blame gets placed on QBs shoulders, so QB needs to make his team mates understand that he will give them everything, and work his but off for them, but he will not tolerate failing because team mates aren’t doing Their job.
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Obviously there is plenty of time to joke around…but when it’s business time, your QB needs to hold the team accountable
Hear hear. No dancing in the tunnel before a playoff game.
That rule should be tattooed on the wrist of every QB that comes play in philly…Thou shall not play the air guitar or dance in the tunnel before games!!
All leaders have different styles, but they have to be leaders. RW has that — feel like he leads that team, even on a team w/ All-Pro guys, he just comes off as a leader.
I don’t disagree. Wilson has always been known for strong intangibles..
You can have fun while playing football, but it has to be business first. Lift your weights. Study your playbook. Etc. That’s work. You can have a smile on your face while you do it, but that is work.
Clowning around and being silly is very different. There is room for a bit of that in football, but too much can hurt a team.
Brett Favre.
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Unless Brett Favre was playing with Photoshop in meetings and the weight room I fail to see the counterpoint you are making.
The point, or counterpoint, is that Favre is known for goofing around sometimes, carrying his receivers around on his shoulders, for example, even had a coach praise him for not being too grim about football and life. Yet he is also known for SI’s Sportsman of the Year and you surely can see, in the sports jacket pic, what he is holding in his hand! Not Photoshopped.
Re: Quarterback Witnesses
So far, when Foles speaks he projects honesty and spontaneity. Real genuineness.
When I listen to Brady and PManning, for the past few years at least, they are talking cliches for the media. They have nothing to prove to anyone anymore. And good for them.
As much as I liked McNabb, I never heard genuineness in his words. He was talking to the press. Always disappointed me that we couldn’t get behind his front.
Foles is a very likable witness.
You get the feeling he’s saying what we want to hear because he believes what we believe.
I like the way you put that. He’s believable because he values what we as fans value in our players.
I like McNabb as well, but he was never a natural leader. Best way to know: he was constantly telling us he was the leader. Foles seems much more natural in the role.
I think Foles has a good year this year and solidifies his role going forward, assuming they can come up with a “reasonable” contract extension after the year. But, I can’t see the birds management committing 18 to 20M per year to him no matter what he does. I’m hoping that 12 to 15M per year gets it done, maybe with a lot of guaranteed money. Otherwise, Chip might just try to show that he can tailor the offense to whoever his QB is.
15 per year for 6 years with an 18 million signing bonus works out to 18 per year. I think his 2014 performance can add or subtract 2 million per year from that number.
Not many teams have been successful after paying their QB 18M per year. Interesting to see whether the Eagles think they can be. Will also be very interesting to see what Kaepernick gets this year and Wilson gets after this year. (But unless Foles gets us to the Super Bowl this year, he will be less “accomplished” than the other two regardless of what his stats are).
I’ll generalize your comment as referring to large contracts in general, since salaries are constantly going up, looking at 1 number isn’t particularly meaningful. In that light, I think you may be exhibiting some recency bias, putting too much emphasis on the success of Seattle and San Fran, and the failures of Baltimore and Atlanta.
But then, I don’t have any numbers to back up my guess either, so your guess is as good as mine. I think it’d be a good topic for some data mining, but there’d need to be some kind of consensus as to what defines “successful” and what a good success rate is.
In terms of wins and playoffs, sure. But those are team accomplishments, not individual accomplishments. It’s important for the players to put all the emphasis on team accomplishments, but folly for agents, front offices or fans to do that when considering a player’s worth. Is Trent Dilfer more accomplished than Dan Marino?
So as not to be misconstrued, I’m not taking a stance as to how Nick will be paid relative to those other two. Ask me again after the season. Or better yet, after he signs his extension.
I think there was a growing consensus in the past that QBs make the team, brady / brees / rodgers (more recently) / manning all lead perennial playoff teams and w/ respect to brady and manning they don’t always have great “teams” behind them. Look at the Pats this year. The Colts always had a sort of lopsided team.
Hard to think of an SB champ without a marquee SB — except for SEA (maybe G-men, but Eli holds the record for most 4th quarter comebacks in a season)
And just because Wilson isn’t paid like a marquee qb yet doesn’t mean he isn’t one.
Seems very much like Brady at the beginning of his career in the sense that his team really relies on the running game and defense, but when it’s time for him to do his thing, he does, and he does it well.
Problem is.. If a QB shows any type of promise, he is getting PAID when his contract expires…
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RG3, Kapernick, Cam, FOles, Wilson, Luck, Tannahill… Someone will pay each and every one of these guys a lot of money…. Yet, maybe half will deserve the money they get.
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Take the Bengals for example. Dalton has looked decent, yet the have a major decision on their hands. Keep him, or let him go… QB is so important that there is no grey area. They either want to proceed with dalton long term, in which case they will have to pay him big bucks, or they don’t feel he Is good enough and they let him go…. There really isn’t a grey area of, we like you, but not at 18mil, because teams are so QB starved that the player knows he can probably get someone else to pay up.
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Bout 20-24’QBs get paid big money… How many are actually worth it? 12? 14?
Alex smith will ask for more than 15mil
The salary cap is probably going to go up rapidly the next couple of years; salaries will increase accordingly. $18 million a year has been a lot of money in the past, but I suspect that will become the payment level for good (not great) QBs and the better ones will start getting 20+.
Exactly Oaks! The cap will be @ $150 million in 2016, so paying a QB $18 million that year is the same as having paid a QB $15 million in 2013.
Definitely a genuineness about him, even though he uses cliches as well. He seems to have quiet a fire and poise that makes him effective. He comes off as a likable guy that you trust will do whatever it takes to maximize his ability to help the team win. I wanted the Eagles to get Russell Wilson, but I really like Foles.
Reminds me of something that was said a while back but doesn’t get brought up often. One of the players was commenting on how competitive Nick is. He may seem humble, but he’s burning to be the best.
It was complementary towards Nick, so I’m assuming Maclin said it.
Kid definitely has a fire,,,you see his face when he is throwing before games on the sideline and dude is all business… Love when we get to hear him miked up… He keeps it short, but he is always encouraging guys like.. When he was telling his linemen “time to go fast, Ricky Bobby”…
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Dude is a serious competitor. I love the quiet, but obvious fire
I saw just that clip on NFL network, Sound FX yesterday. I got a chuckle. I also loved hearing Chip yelling into the headset, Come on Nick, let’s get these guys going faster(paraphrase). As if, it could ever be fast enough for Chip. Especially funny since one of the earlier clips showed what looked like Chad Greenway telling Evan Mathis how brutal the Eagles tempo was on the Vikes D.
Yeah…you are talking about FOles top 100 video.. Great stuff isn’t it? Greenway talking to Mathis was funny..it’s like he was chatting up Mathis and Evan didn’t even wanna talk to him…he was like “yeah whatever dude” while greenway was talking about how brutal our pace was and saying how Mathis must be in great shape..
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Like when FOles was on the sideline and he was like “legs go JP” and him and peters slapped hands and did the quick bro hug… We know Peters as this Giant man, yet he doesn’t dwarf our QB.., I love having a Big Ben type of QB…
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In Iike 5 different clips Chip was flipping out trying to get everyone to go faster lol. I don’t think we saw anything yet in terms of how fast he plans on having us play… Expecting the tempo package to reach new heights this year….. Which should be our great equalizer against top teams like Seattle and San Fran
Actually I haven’t seen his Top 100 clip yet. It was just some random episode of Sound FX from last season(who watches this ish in the offseason?). I’m sure the just reuse the same footage tho. They showed Greenway talking to Mathis and to the other DL on their bench, so you know he wasn’t just blowing smoke to an opponent. I can’t wait to see how much faster we can go in year 2.
Dude… It’s your duty to go to PhiladelphiaEagles.com and go to go to the video section,,and watch the top 100 player videos of Peters, Mathis and FOles… They are so awesome!!!! You really get to hear what team mates, and playes around the league think of our guys
Ha. Duly noted. I don’t know why I haven’t made time to watch them yet.
It ok,.,you have 3 extra videos of new content more than me… I had to watch them like 3 times each lol…
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They are counting down from 100 and all our players are under rated. JP,FOles and Mathis all were ranked between 88-68… But the shady video is going to,be released in the upcoming days..if he isn’t ranked in the top 10 then something’s wrong…
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Shame the videos are only like 3 minutes long.. But it’s fun to hear our rivals talk about how awesome we are,,,
Maybe the videos for the top-10 will be longer.
HOPE SO!!!
I think they are. I think they split the top ten into two shows. 6-10 and 1-5.
What a breath of fresh air..
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Honestly, I think in terms of press conferences(communicating to the public).. The Andy/McNabb era was rock bottom. It can’t get any worse than that coach/QB combo… Andy’s press concern are the equivalent of “HODOR” and McNabb was unbearable,, it’s one thing to be coached up on what to say, but being coached up at all times AND fake is the worst combination possible,,. Think it would have been much easier to love McNabb if we literally NEVER let him say a word to the media…
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Then came Vick…and as a man, there are few I respect more than Vick. The guy had one of the nasties falls from grace, but picked himself up, rehabilitated himself as well as ANYONE in the history of mankind…
With that said, I don’t like his press conferences either…but for different reasons. Vick MASTERED the art of knowing exactly what this fanbase wanted to hear. His answers were always PERFECT..but his actions too often fell short of backing up his words..so after a while, hearing the perfect answers got annoying when you started to feel like it was hollow promises…
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So far, a QB can’t possibly carry himself better than FOles has..good times and bad times, he has handled every situation as well as you could ever possibly hope for. Seems always truthful, and Truly “GETS IT”…. And we all know what it’s like going from Andy’s “times yours” to chips press conferences,,.
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We have come a long was as a franchise..
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Suffered thru dirty Banner, to now what seems Like a much more honest Howie
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Andy’s horrendous press conferences to Chips informative Wit
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McNabbs FAKE,generic,BS to Nicks honesty!!
And you are one of the idiots who did get that McNabb wasnt fake, it was how he was, he was like that in college, he was like that early and he is like that now even after he isnt playing anymore.
Well I happen to agree with Geagle and I couldn’t wait for that blowhard Mcnabb and fatboy to get out of town, Andy was successful because of J.J. and the defensive players that were left over from the last regime, which allowed him to play his style of offense. Also Mcnabb was a product of a pass happy offense, he wasn’t near the player Cunningham was.
Andy can be a successful coach, and Mcnabb is one of the best QBs we ever had, but that doesn’t mean that they weren’t abysmally horrible as leaders, and dealing with the media…
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I think it’s fair game to criticize leadership, when we were consistently one of the best teams in the NFL, usually one of the best in terms of odds to win the Super Bowl, yet your record against top opposition is a complete JOKE…
How do you know McNabb was a horrible leader? Because of his “fake” smile?
Also 2001 we face a very good Rams team, 2002 we faced a historic good defense, in 2003 we faced a team full of cheaters (several Panthers DL was taken for Roids after) and 2004 we again faced a team who got caught cheating later.
In 2008 it was actually Dawkins, JJ etc who choked and couldnt stop Warner at all.
Because everyone of his team mates besides Westbrook basically said so.. Guys who love Mcnabb, respect him. And don’t even want to bash him, have admitted to leadship not being his strong suit… And I’ll take their word for it over whoever you can point to that disputes it, like Wilma mcnabb
Who? TO?
No, I said team mates who respect him and don’t like bashing him have all admitted it multiple time:
Iike Reese
Tank,Hollis Thomas
Trotter
Hugh
Dawkins puts a positive spin on everything, so he hasn’t admitted it yet
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Not sure if Westbrook admitted yet or not…
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Players who love him, and don’t want to diminish anything he accomplished can admit it, but you will fight to the death to dispute it? Lol
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Call Iike Reese tmrw morning and have a conversation on air with him about it, I’m just going off player intel..I personally haven’t had the privelege of sharing a huddle with the man
I agree. I like McNabb and in no way am I discounting what he achieved as a QB. But, the void in leadership became increasingly apparent as the true leaders moved on. Reid did a good job of surrounding him with strong leaders (mostly on defense), but once Trotter, Douglas, and then Dawkins moved on, the team never showed the same type of character they did previous to that.
Also are Peyton Manning a bad leader for “choking” against the Pats all those times? What about Jim Kelly or Dan Marino, was they bad leaders?
I don’t know McNabb personally, so I can’t say whether he was “fake” or not, but I can say that somebody being fake through college, pros and post-career doesn’t necessary mean he’s not fake.
What I can say is that I loved how Andy always took the blame in the early going, knowing he was just protecting his players, and I loved how McNabb always stayed positive on the sidelines and in the press-conferences, even when we got off to a slow start seemingly every year.
But as time went on and McNabb’s accuracy didn’t get better, as his pocket awareness seemed to regress, and as Andy just got worse and worse, hearing the same things became pretty much intolerable. But then, it wouldn’t really have mattered what they said at that point, as long as we kept seeing the same problems on the field.
I was ready to move on from McNabb in 2008, but the 2009 back to back humiliations to the Cowboys and the air guitar in the tunnel was beyond awful. The camel’s back was already broken, but at that point it was just completely obliterated, destroyed, slammed into another camel’s back composed of anti-matter.
And I hope no one is debating that most everything that has come out of McNabb’s mouth post-playing-career has been annoying, to put it kindly.
All that being said, I think it’s important to note that his good years make him the best QB to play for the Eagles during my fandom. Though I fully expect Nick to claim that title in time.
Think, only dopes judge a coach or player off of press conferences.. Andy and Mcnabb being rock bottom of press conferences! should diminish their place in the history of this franchise as one of the best coaches and QBs we had…
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But they were horrible with the media….I also used to love how Andy would protect his players..but I feel like if you are going to stay somewhere 11 years you have to evolve.. Even your best tactics will get stale after a while…so while it was great that he protected his players….maybe after 5 years of protecting them, he should have switched things up and started using the media as a motivational tool…. There are some LEGENDARY coaches who believe at times that its warranted to throw a certain player under the bus in the media, like Parcells or Phil Jackson. They don’t throw players under the bus because they are bad dudes, or to save their own ass.. They do it, as a motivational tool to light a fire under their ass…so while it’s great Andy protected guys,and it made players respect him and want to play for him..if he is going to stay somewhere 11 years, he probably should have tweaked and change his motivational approaches somewhere around year 6 or 7…
Eat a dick..no one is even discussing their QB play or coaching,.. Simply debating how they carried themselves.. And Donovan has NEVER been praised by anyone for strong intangibles… Ever hear how his pass team mates who respect him like Reese, Tank and Hugh, trott talk about him… Great player, but that wasn’t even Debated.. In terms of leadership, leaves much to be desired and the majority of players who played with him and transitioned to media will attest to that…… Save your personal attacks for someone who gives a fuck. Spent more time than talking on that idiot than he deserves… Our “leader” who pointed at the division banners hanging in the rafters when the city is starved for a Super Bowl lol.. Yeah, He “gets it” hahaha
I couldn’t agree more. Foles is a humble guy. Someone who is gonna always tell you that he could do something better or work harder to eliminate weaknesses. He’s not an in your face kind of guy and he’s not a sunshine blower. I see him as a guy that would rather go to 3 Super Bowls than 8 Pro-Bowls. I also agree that McNabb was a guy that you could see right through. Foles temperament is very reminiscent of many hockey players. He’d rather just show up and do his job than bask in the limelight.
It’s probably why his linemen love him. Show up, do your job, the only opinions that matter are those at Novacare and your teammates and they see what you are doing. Ultimate OL mentality.
Not to mention he doesn’t get in their faces or get pissy about linemen getting beat. There’s nothing worse, from a lineman perspective, than a QB who gets pissed at his linemen for playing poorly on one play or series.
Without actually contradicting Tommy’s sentiment, I will just mention that there have always been young quarterbacks who’ve said the right things. Teams put a pretty high value on positive media events, and there is always a degree of manufacture involved. Ultimately actions speak louder than words, but we all know that, right?
And Foles has acted congruous with his words, right?
There’s Eeyore again. Poor shah – just can’t be happy about anything. You fit perfectly in Philly!
It’s not just that you say the right things, though. It’s how authentic you are. It’s how your actions on and off the field reflect what you are saying. It’s how much your teammates believe you when you say these things. It’s in how much you trust them and how much they trust you.
It helps that Foles’ actions do not strike anyone as self-serving and self-centered.
But sure, he has to continue to deliver on the field.
I’m mostly remembering how Ponder got his love, even when he was dating and marrying reporters while the games were actually being played. I got to truly hating this sort of thing when Matt Ryan came to Atlanta, because it was just…so faux, and so much about people hating Vick rather than people loving Ryan for what he could do. Matty Ice? Icck. And don’t talk to me about Andrew Luck. And as far back as I can remember, it generally takes a real asshole to not get this press. So Foles’ media events are pretty par for the course.
Another reason I’m always cynical is that the best people often aren’t getting good press, and they don’t give a bleep. Michael Jordan is not a very nice person or a good guy, but he can play one on TV. Kirby Puckett gave all sorts of smiling press, with good phrases, but he was a violently abusive person in private. On the other hand, guys like Barry Bonds and Albert Belle often had a fairly unpleasant public persona, but it apparently, the word is that they are pretty upstanding people in private. Just like you can’t really know whether Aaron Hernandez really would kill you over a spilled shot of gin, or that Josh Freeman is almost certain to have some sort of serious issue, until enough has happened in public. Michael Vick got involved in the dog fighting business, which said bad things about Vick. However, he’s actually kept his nose clean since then, and I can watch other people show him a genuine warmth that’s beyond any sort of professionalism. I then infer that Vick probably does have good personal character. All of this takes time though. And one is advised to let the initial honeymoon warmth flow over and past, and let it all play out.
Agreed, but the way I see it Foles has delivered on and off the field.
His consistent accuracy and his poise helped our team get to 10 wins last season and he was still a little green.(no pun intended).
I think his play reaches another level this season with having another year in Chips system.
The question is how great can Foles become? Stay tuned…..
Of course they do, but in a city where we’ve had two very talented quarterbacks who failed in the team leadership department, McNabb and Cunningham, it’s nice to know that if Fole’s talent is up to the task we don’t have to worry about gold tipped shoelaces and Michael Jackson dance steps in the tunnel.
taking all the fun out of the game
The game is the fun.
No sarcasm font for anon?
Foles is like having Andy of Mayberry as the Eagles`s QB
When has Kruger gotten the chance to struggle adjusting to the NFL? Kids up to 290lb, fans will be pleasantly surprised.
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I’m getting tired of people diminishing Vinny curry(general rant). I’m not ready to say he can never develop into a decent two gapper, but even if he doesn’t, I don’t think people get how valuable,he can be. getting pass,rush,from your interior Dlinemen is pretty darn rare. Teams simply don’t have a handful of DTs that can pressure QBs,,. To have an interior pass rusher that looks this disruptive is extremely valuable. 4-3DEs and 3-4OLBs are the players counted on to provide pass rush.. Edge rushers if you will… QB pressure is so important that teams value Nickle edge rushers all the time. In other words a player who does nothing but rush the passer in obvious passing situations…
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To have an interior pass rushing terror is NOT a luxury many teams get to enjoy….Vinny has proven that he is capable of beating Guards and centers on his way to terrorizing QBs…He will only get better at it….. We get to go into our 4man Nickle lines, and not only will we get the pass rush from the edge with BG,Barwin!Marcus!Cole rotating in…but pairing Cox and Curry as the 4-3DTs gives us as much pass rush potential as any interior tandem in the league..
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I expect our pass rush to be much improved this season..and I’m not even counting on Marcus smith… Curry and Cox should both take their game to that next level and I expect them to grow into one of the best interior pass rushing tandems in the NFL this year… With Kruger having some nice pass rush potential, capable of winning one of the backup interior lineman roles in Nickle..
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I doubt too many teams will be getting better QB pressure out of their DTs than we will be getting out of Cox and Curry.
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It is NOT easy to find interior lineman that can consistently pressure QBs..people need to stop worrying about “fit” with Curry, and realize what a rare weapon he can be on our defense
I agree. I’m optimistic about a potential “jump” in his 2nd year in this system. If he can get some pressure playing within the confines of the system, he could be a really valuable 3rd down DE, and valuable depth on the line.
3rd down DT… Then again, that depends on how you think we will line up on 3rd… I’m expecting mostly 4man lines, in which case Vinny plays DT next to Cox with our OLBs putting their hands in the dirt and playing 4-3DE…
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Really wonder how many DTs can provide the type of pass rush Curry can in the interior… Don’t think people understand just how valuable he can be…..I mean, In terms of interior pass rusher, Vinny is closer to. JJ Watts than Ced Thornton…
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Vinny brings that rare interior pass rush you see in guys like JJ, And Aaron Donald…IMO, what Curry can DO, is way more important than what he can’t do…and as for what he can’t do, he is still developing so I’m not ready to rule out him improving in his weak areas..
Right; DE that slides inside on a 4 man line to DT. Not sure if I’d put him in JJ Watt territory, tho. But, he can definitely penetrate and make the QB uncomfortable. If our front “4” can get pressure on 3rd down without having to blitz constantly, I think our defensive backfield will look a whole lot better this year.
JJ is a future hall of famer.. Vinny isn’t in that league…but interior pass rushers are rare.. Which is why the few that have emerged got paid BIGTIME like Albert haynsworth fleecing Snyder for 100m…..
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Just think back to the Jimmy Johnson era. We boasted some top ranked defense, And we played a 4 man line..yet we never really got any type of special pass rush from anyone on the interior. Who was the best DT at pressuring QBs? Corey Simon? Who else?
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Getting pass rush from the interior is one of the hardest things to find. That’s why typically a 5-10 sack year from a DT is a great year, where as top DEs usually start at 11 sacks per year…. Would anyone be THAT shocked if curry has a 6-10 sack season?
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He isn’t JJ Watt…but on 3rd down, the tandem of Curry/Cox have a chance to form into an elite pass rush FORCE!
Does Jerome Brown count?
Andy Harmon
That’s how rare it is… We got Corey Simon. Jerome and Harmon,,,in like 3 decades, we came up with 3 names…
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And dudes worry that Curry isn’t the ideal two gap fit, in his first year making such a drastic change of position? Kid has some really special talent..
Reggie White lined up at D-Tackle for a lot of snaps. He got a little pass rush.
So does Trent Cole and Brandon Graham
Midnight Greenville….are you in SC?
Yep. You?
Anderson. Moved here 15 years ago from upstate NY (near Lake Placid). I’ve followed the Eagles as long as I can remember.
Been here 8 after living most of my life in Suburban Philly. Had a shared season ticket plan, but haven’t been back for a game since 2008 (44-6 game). Keep waiting to play the panthers in Charlotte but last couple (including this year) have been in Philly. By looking at car decals we are just some of many birds fans around here.
Didn’t I read somewhere they were looking to be in more 3-3-5 on 3rd down as opposed to 4-2-5 this year?
Saw that… I’m sure we see plenty of both,,,
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We are a Multi front defense… If we just played a 3-4 and a 3-3-5 we wouldn’t be a Multi front defense. I don’t think we will ever NOT see some 4 man lines
People worry about “fit” with Curry because when you have a guy that talented he is not going to be content with being a situational player. His agent was sending signals about wanting a trade less than a year ago, so people aren’t making this stuff up.
Same with Brandon Graham… I hope he does well and I wish the best for him, but he’s gone after this year. Nobody should get too attached to him.
We have Curry for two more seasons. Hopefully he contributes and plays great. But unless he becomes a starter here, he’ll be gone after 2016 to a team where he can start.
In fairness. His agent wanted a trade because he wasn’t dressing for games…
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We tr
Tom Brady was doing GQ shoots and hoisting the Lombardi. One thing doesn’t preclude the other.
Going to see “Wicked” on the other hand…
Think you are missing the point
Exactly. If you take “Defying Gravity” as a metaphor for the Tween audience’s impending steps away from their parents, it’s a sad, sweet and stirring duet.
Wait, what?
What are you….a comedian or something?? ….Ooops
Brady didn’t go all GQ on us until after the superbowl era. As Tommy likes to say on here, first he got the rings, then he got the supermodel wife.
And honestly, I think we would have all been better off if the GQ thing never happened anyhow.
You aren’t a fan of the “Uggs era”?
1,000 years in the future anthropologists will point to “Uggz” as the nadir of fashion evolution.
We’ll all be dead in 1,000 years so it doesn’t really matter.
Not Nick FOles.. He still has 999 more years as eagles QB
Not when they have Crocs to compare them to…
Let’s consider Foles has a season nearly as good.per game.as the one he just had. won’t he have to be considered to be a top 5 QB?
By whom? I mean, these types of lists are generally so subjective that they’re not meaningful at all.
If we can get a 4000 yard, 100+ QB rating, 65% passing, 36 TD / 12 INT season out of Foles (so a slight decrease from last years numbers) I’d have him high, but not top 5.
Figure:
1) Peyton Manning
2) Aaron Rodgers
3) Tom Brady
4) Drew Brees
5) Phil Rivers
6) Big Ben
7) Andrew Luck
8) Foles
Yeah 1 or two seasons of high level play, won’t get you to leap hall of famers like Brees, Rogers, manning, Uggs boy…
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I would like to see FOles overthrow Andrew luck… Luck is an awesome QB, but hate how he has already been ANNOINTED…ATleast I trust crowning him more than I trust the crowning of frauds like RGme…
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Nick is going to Indianapolis in week two, he will out duel the “neck beard” and lead us to a road win, in Lucks house! I KNOW FOles will outplay luck in week two… I just feel it
Hypothetically speaking, what if Foles puts up these same numbers you mention, but wins the Superbowl as well.
Where would you rank him then?
I would put him at 5 maybe even 4 on your list.
Broadway plays MAYBE says “OK I’m a cultured person” Possibly even offers a not so subtle explanation for those über femmy hairbands he wears that I HATE. however, GQ shoots as well as hiring sherrif departments to run security for his “Jets camp West” (that no fans crazy or otherwise attended) smacks of “I’m a diva with an ego that’d make Jerry Jones blush. Butt fumble away those opportunities to stroke said ego & love of publicity in good Diva driven conscience?? “For who? For what??” 🙂
Lol….what I do like about the butt fumbling frat boy, is that he is really really seasoned with the media, he handles them as well as anyone… At his introductory press conference our “vultures” were trying to bait him into saying things that would have been twisted into some drama, and he was basically laughing at them, like “nice try, but Yous are junior varsity compared to what I’m used to”.
LMAO Good point man. In general however, where it comes to the subject of “butt fumbling” in all public forums with all possible connotations, it has become much easier now on all fronts. It’s a brave new world GEAGS!! : )
Lol yes sir..
That was great. I just pictured Eskin trying to sell me a hamburger. Too funny.
[…] Nick Foles Gets It – Tommy Lawlor, Iggles BlitzNick Foles blew everyone away with his 2013 season. He tied an NFL record with 7 TD passes in a game. He posted one of the highest QB ratings in NFL history. Foles finished with 27 TDs and just 2 INTs. That was truly a great season. We don’t know how Foles will play in 2014. Teams will adjust to him. Foles will make adjustments of his own. And so on. One thing we do know is that Foles gets it. […]
I listened to the Foles interview while I was doing something else and I recall something about his style is not to get in front of other peoples’ faces and embarrassing them publicly. Was that a shot at Bill Lazor for their little “scuffle” last year? Just wonderin’…
Or B!tch-nell the WR coach.
Nah, I just don’t think he handles himself that way. He seems like the type of guy that won’t kick you when your down. Instead of throwing a temper tantrum like Tom Brady, he would rather confront a player face to face like a man and go over what the player did wrong and make sure that the problem is corrected. He’s sounds like someone who is stern but does not see the any benefit to berating a player who’s not on the same page and embarrassing him. In other words, he’s mature beyond his years.
Foles, if he has another pro bowl season this year, is 100% an $18 million dollar a year QB. Foles can get a new deal at the end of the year and the Eagles should sign him to that deal BEFORE Wilson and Luck reset the QB market at a higher number.
Foles should get 6 years $108 million added to his contract. That would add 2016 through 2021 as years he’s under control by the team. He’s still under contract for 2015 as the 4th year of his rookie dead. I’d structure the deal as follows:
$48 million in guarentees, $27 million roster bonus for 2015 and a $21 million signing bonus.
Compensation structured as such:
2015: 2nd round draft pick salary + $48 mil is assorted bonus money. (Cap hit of appx $31 mil – salary + $27 mil roster bonus + $3 mil pro rated signing bonus)
2016: $ 3 million salary + $3 mil pro rate ($ 6 mil cap hit)
2017: $ 6 million salary + $3 mil pro rate ($9 mil cap hit)
2018: $ 9 mil salary + $3 mil pro rate ($12 mil cap hit)
2019: $ 11 mil salary + $3 mil pro rate ($14 mil cap hit)
2020 $ 14 mil salary + $ 3 mil pro rate ($17 mil cap hit)
2021 $ 17 mil salary + $3 mil pro rate ($20 mil cap hit)
The way I’m paying for this in 2015 is through:
– rolling over 2014 extra cap space (appx $15 million)
– they’re $17 million under an anticipated cap in 2015 of $140 million ($32 million total)
– Bye bye time to Trent Cole ($8.3 million), Cary Williams ($6.5 million), DeMeco ($6.8 million), Herremans ($2.8 million), and Celek ($4.8 million. That would total $29 million back vs. the cap.
That would put the Eagles $61 million under the cap. The new Foles deal would take away $31 million of that. That would leave them a cool $30 million to resign any of the guys I want cut at lower salaries, re-sign Cox, Boykins, and/or Kendricks, and add a free agent in a key spot or two.
And they’d be playing Foles so little in 2016 that they’d be in very good shape vs. and anticipated 2016 cap of $150 million.
I think that kind of deal is unlikely because front loading the contract in the new CBA does not achieve anything since you can roll your CAP year to year, and the eagles front office like contracts you can get out of after 3 years.
My thinking is a contract around $92m 5 year extension with a $25m signing bonus (remember signing bonus’s are spread over 5 years) to give a contact like:
$25 Million Signing bonus
2015 $800k -$5.8m (cap hit)
2016 $8m -(8m guaranteed) $13m(cap hit)
2017 $8m -(8m guaranteed) $13m (cap hit)
2018 $13m -$18m (cap hit)
2019 $18m – $23m (cap hit)
2020 $20m – $20m (cap hit)
If they cut Nick in 2018 they take a $10m dead money hit, but will have only paid $41m out for 2016-17 rights so will feel able to cut bait at that point.
2019 they would be able to cut at $5m dead money cost and will have paid out $54m, which would work out to be exactly $18mil a year.
They can add extra years to the contract to make it bigger, could easily see a year 2021 at $25m, to inflate the numbers if Foles camp wanted it, but at its heart this is a 3yr extension deal at $54m, with team options at $18m and $20m for the following 2 years.
How is Cary Williams not everyone’s favorite player? I friggin ADORE this kid!!! Super Bowl ring two years ago, yet it’s June and he is already foaming at the mouth.mDude is soo hungry! We talked about leaders who demand excellence, and it think Cary is a huge part of our defensive locker room.
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Guys need to hear over to CSN and check out his sit down with Micheal barkan…really quality interview, that just got me so jacked up for the future of this defense..talks a little about Jenkins and Marcus smith,,,,
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This year, we will really start to see signs of the top 10 defense we will eventually become… Check out that Cary interview and get back to me…
I need some more camp fights out of him. Punching Maclin in the face would be a good start.
Lol can’t wait to see him all feisty in Foxborogh for Patriots camp,,,
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I just adore him!! I think the leadership and nastiness he brings to our Defense is BIGTIME… Check out his interview, it’s good stuff
True, but I can’t think of anybody on the Pat’s O that I want to see punched in the face as much as Maclin.
Hahahaha that’s your whipping boy
True.
Even without the “un named source” comments, I can see why he would rub you the wrong way…. ATleast he sucks up to out young QB lol
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Very curious to see how he plays on his one year prove it deal….
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The news about Rejus Benn is a pleasant surprise. Hearing he is making plays at OTAs
Link?
CSN.com/eagkes
yeah he def won me over over the course of last year.. couldnt stand him this time last year.. now he turned sconces from a bad thing into a positive nickname!! and YES he is still sconces !!! lol
This interview with Foles was more telling to me than all the press releases about why we cut Desean.
The way I see it is Desean was putting other things ahead of the Eagles.
He had started rapping and devoted alot of himself to that endeavor and started his own record label and more of his time was spent on that. I really do not know how dedicated of a player he was to our team but the way in which he was released isn’t the same as it was for other players. We may never truly know the exact reasons for it but I have a feeling that Chip saw him as being more of a distracted player than somone who was fully committed like Foles.
Last year in training camp if you recall, Desean was running with the second
team which infuriated him. I think my assumption might have played a key factor.
I know this is all speculation but it does make sense.
I have nothing against a player preparing for his future after Football but again, I get a sense that Desean may have devoted more of himself to his other endeavors than he did to honing his craft and it sent a negative message to the entire team including Chip and Howie.
Oh yeah one more thing, that song Desean rapped,”Diamonds on my neck” was horrible. The worst rap song of our time, IMHO. LOL.
Of course this is a big part of it…. We are trying to have 53 of the most Commited players. Who will Sacrafice any individual glory so that we can be successful…..
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A guy Iike Desean, who will be asking for a new contract every other year is always going to be concerned with his stats,,if the plan is to have an offense like the old days where you only really use 2 outside WR, a TE, a RB and a slot WR every once in a while, you may be able to get away with a guy like Desean. But if you are trying to build a stacked, deep arsenal of weapons, so that on a weekly basis you can identify your opponents weakness and go in your arsenal and dust off the weapon that’s best suited to exploit a particular weakness, then you need guys who put team success ahead of all else… Can Desean be part of a stacked arsenal, and be happy being a decoy for a 3 week stretch, if we have matchups best suited for other players?
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Desean has basically been in a contract year since he has been here. Even when he doesn’t do anything wrong, like being asked about it after the playoff loss, he still can’t help himself from talking about it…
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Yet FOles is going into just an important of a contract year, unlike Desean he hasn’t seen millions yet.. This is a crucial year for FOles, and a million reporters are asking him about his awesome stats, and how does he respond? “Stats….Whatever” lol… Th KId GETS IT.. He understands that he doesn’t even have to worry about that. He doesn’t even have to think that way. he knows if he busts his ass every day and does whatever it takes to help this team win, everything takes care of itself contractually…
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Desean is a fantastic player, and as dangerous of a weapon as their is in the NFL. But I don’t care who you are, when you have the weapons we have, some weeks you aren’t getting 10 balls thrown your way…if Desean wasn’t the ideal team mate, wasn’t skipping around overjoyed this last year when he was getting PAID, having a career year, and was on an offense that featured him because he was playing with guys like Jason Avant….. How is he going to act in a contract year, when he has to Sacrafice some balls because he is playing with Shady,Sproles,a better Ertz, Coop, return of Mac, Celek? How the hell was Desean Jackson going to act when we spent two high picks on wide recievers?Dude never got over that we drafted Maclin, now Kelly wants to bring Jordan Mathews! and one of his former Ducks WR?
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Spectacular talent…but unless his mindset gets re-wired, their will always be a limit to the success a team has with players like that…this was the rude awakening that Desean could have grown from. His agent could have reached out to Patriots, Seattle, Niners, shown that it wasn’t just about the money… He could have fought to go to a great veteran team, took an incentive contract or a one year deal and show that he can be a quality addition to a top team… But he blew his chance,.he got paid and went to a team where the inmates will be running the asylum in no time. Desean needed to go to a locker room, so successful that they woulda put his ass in check,,, instead he went to a locker room where they look up to him lol… IMPLOSION in 3,2,1….
Chip Kelly said it all in January: “it’s not just about what a player can and will do for you. It’s also about what a player will Sacrafice”….
Dave Dameshek picks RGIII for his all NFCE team, doesn’t even present an argument for Foles. http://davedameshek.nfl.com/2014/05/27/ddfp-260-all-nfc-east-team-pierre-garcon/?campaign=Twitter_podcasts_shek
seems like we are STACKED at DE.