/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/2994609/152656448.0.jpg)
First off, if you've watched a game Jon Gruden has called or listened to him talk about almost anything, you'll know that he loves everyone. Amazingly, every game he sees contains a player who is "the best in the National Football League" at something.
So he's over all uber-positive guy and doesn't often call people out. But, he does know QBs. He started his career here in Philadelphia as a QB coach and did a nice job reviving the careers of the likes of Rich Gannon and Brand Johnson.
Sam Farmer of the LA Times got Gruden to sit down and offer his thoughts on the QB class of 2012. There are 5 currently starting in the league, but the 6th who Gruden thinks has starting potential is the Eagles own Nick Foles.
I had [Philadelphia's] Nick Foles in the preseason against New England. Michael Vick got hurt on the fifth or sixth play, and Foles went the distance, on the road in Foxborough. If you like prototype pocket passers with some functional mobility and a tremendous amount of toughness, Foles is interesting.
What really impressed me in the preseason was they weren't running generic formations. They ran about 30 different formations out of about eight different personnel groupings in successive plays. So I see him recognizing coverages. I see him getting to second and third receivers, just like you'd want a quarterback to do in that system, and I love his NFL size. He reminds me a lot of Brad Johnson, from his football character to his ability to decipher a lot quickly, and we won a championship with Brad.
I've always been of the mind that the only shot Michael Vick has of being here if Andy Reid is not is if the next coach were a guy like Gruden. Rehabbing veteran QBs has kind of been his MO. But if Gruden is actually a big Foles fan and not just paying lip service here, maybe he would be attracted to the Eagles job and would go with Foles as his QB.