Thursday, January 17, 2013
The Eagles' next QB
By Tim Kavanagh
Following Wednesday's somewhat surprising development of Chip Kelly being hired as the new HC of the Philadelphia Eagles, we pondered who his QB would be. The good news is that this is a discussion that's been going on since Kelly was first a rumored candidate for the job, so we've got some well-formed arguments for the various options available. The bad news is that it doesn't seem like we're getting many hints out of the men that'll be making the actual decision.
During his introductory press conference, Kelly was asked about Michael Vick, and he responded, "There's nothing that's on the board, there's nothing that's off the board," according to Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer. The decision on Vick will need to be made within days after the Super Bowl, when a bonus will kick in. Though some believe a healthy, full-strength Michael Vick would be the perfect fit for Kelly's offense, we haven't seen that version of Vick in a while; his performance in Week 17 against the Giants certainly didn't do him any favors in this regard.
As for Nick Foles -- the rookie who came on as the starter late in the season -- Kelly quipped, "I'm a huge fan." Whether this fandom will entail working with Foles as the starter remains to be seen.
There are other potential outside options as well, including Alex Smith, Matt Flynn, Terrelle Pryor, Joe Webb, and Dennis Dixon, as broken down by ESPN Insider's Chris Sprow in a column from Wednesday afternoon. And of course, there's the draft; though it would seem unlikely the Eagles would use their first-round pick on the position, a later round selection would seem worthwhile.
