Is Nick Foles Really The 15th Best NFL Quarterback?
PHILADELPHIA, PA (CBS) -- Following his surprising output in 2013, it is no shocker that Nick Foles is garnering attention in regard to where he fits in with his fellow NFL quarterbacks. There seems to be a divide in Philadelphia between those who see him as the answer for this team while others are in a "show me again," mode.
National pundits appear more on the side of those asking to see Foles do replicate his impressive 2013 performance again.
Mike Sando of ESPN ranked the NFL's top quarterbacks using a tier system that included five quarterbacks in Tier 1, 10 quarterbacks in Tier 2, nine in Tier 3 and eight in Tier 4 . Foles was listed as the 15 best signal-caller in the league as he fell into Tier 2.
Sando polled 26 league members and asked them to evaluate the projected starting quarterbacks based on a 1-5 scale with one being the best and five being the worst. Sando broke down the group as "eight general managers, two former GMs, four pro personnel evaluators, seven coordinators, two head coaches, two position coaches and a top executive."
Foles average score was 2.56. The Eagles leader fell just ahead of Carolina quarterback, Cam Newton, and just behind San Francisco's Colin Kaepernick.
Here is what Sando's study had to say about Foles.
Foles just made the bottom of the second tier, even though three evaluators put him in the fourth tier, including one GM who called him "a four who played like a two" last season.
Another GM boldly placed Foles in the first tier based on what he saw last season. He kept Foles there upon additional reflection, but his was an outlying view.
Most wanted to see more. We've seen Matt Cassel and other QBs flash for a season or two before fading away. Still, the evaluators most familiar with Foles liked his future. When asked about the Cassel comparison, they thought Foles had a much better arm. But others wondered if part of one season wasn't enough to go on. "Foles could be like a Kerry Collins or Jake Delhomme, a three who plays like a two or four," one evaluator said.
The full list of quarterbacks that finished ahead of Foles is as follows:
T1) Tom Brady (1.04)
T1) Peyton Manning (1.04)
T1) Aaron Rodgers (1.04)
T1) Drew Brees (1.04)
5) Andrew Luck (1.50)
6) Philip Rivers (1.77)
7) Ben Roethlisberger (1.85)
T8) Matt Ryan (2.23)
T8) Tony Romo (2.23)
T8) Russell Wilson (2.23)
T8) Eli Manning (2.23)
12) Joe Flacco (2.31)
13) Matthew Stafford (2.38)
14) Colin Kaepernick (2.50)
The harsh take for Foles is something that is being echoed by several experts. Pete Prisco of CBSSports.com called Nick Foles the most overrated player on the Eagles earlier this week and came on 94WIP's Afternoon Show to defend his take on Foles and to talk about why he views Tony Romo as one of the leagues most underrated talents.
It appears that Foles still has some work to do to prove to the NFL that he deserves to be mentioned among the best quarterbacks in the NFL. His pro-bowl season and 27-2 touchdown to interception ratio will not matter much if he does not progress in his first full season as a starting quarterback.
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