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In the last 24 hours I've heard the following suggestions from Eagles fans regarding the quarterback position for 2015:
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Do whatever it takes to go from No. 20 in the first round of April's draft and select Oregon's Heisman Trophy winner Marcus Mariota
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Bring back Michael Vick and see how he fares the second time around in Chip Kelly's offense
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Trade Nick Foles and a third-round draft pick to Cleveland and acquire Johnny Manziel
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Poke and prod and see if the Bears are interested in trading Jay Cutler
Now if any of these ideas strike you as, um, ludicrous, you have a good pulse on the irrationality that has gripped some Eagles fans. Michael Vick? Really? Johnny Football? Oh, please. Jay Cutler? How would that play out in Philadelphia?
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What about this suggestion: Get Nick Foles healthy and keep developing his game and tweaking the offensive scheme and improving the pieces throughout the rest of the offense? Is that such a crazy concept? Seems to me it's about the most realistic scenario, although I can't pretend to know what Kelly is thinking about his ideas at quarterback not only for 2015 but for the seasons to follow.
I just know this: A lot of teams in the NFL would like to have a quarterback heading into his fourth season who has won 14 of 18 starts, who is 6 feet 6, who works as hard as anyone and who has the temperament to command the respect of any locker room in the league.
Foles isn't the perfect quarterback. He threw too many interceptions in 2014 and he knows he made poor decisions and was inaccurate at times and that turning the football over as much as he did - 10 interceptions and three fumbles - is just unacceptable. Foles remains a work in progress.
But the Eagles, if they choose to go with Foles, can certainly win big with him. The offense has some areas it will address throughout the course of the offseason in an effort to convert more third-and-short runs, to score more touchdowns in the red zone and to stretch defenses with a deep passing game. It isn't just the quarterback position that must improve, because while the Eagles scored a lot of points and won 10 games, they also left far too many points on the field. Kelly is aware of that, and that's why he talks about challenging every position, not just the handful of spots that the fans and media have centered upon in these first few days since the season ended.
Foles is going to work to be the starter. That's his intention. What the coaching staff thinks, well, that's part of Kelly's process, his evaluation of everything that happened from August through December on the field for the Eagles.
Until free agency comes and goes and draft weekend passes, the quarterback talk is going to be rampant and the ideas are going to be as creative as they are zany. Have fun with it. Enjoy it if it helps pass the time in what promising to be a looooong several months ahead.
But deep down you know as well as I do that Foles is the most logical player to man the position next season, and that's a good thing looking at his body of work and room he still has to grow and develop his game.