Temple Coach Matt Rhule Says Foles Over Bridgewater
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – Temple head football coach Matt Rhule got an up close look at Louisville quarterback Teddy Bridgewater this year. Though Bridgewater has been impressive, and at this point is widely considered to be the first quarterback taken in the 2014 NFL Draft if he makes himself available, Rhule says he'd still take Nick Foles.
"This is no disrespect to Teddy, but I'll say Nick Foles," Rhule told the 94WIP Morning Show when they asked him what his preference would be if he had his choice. "I think you have to have accuracy and decision making and he [Nick Foles] has those two things. I think, what is it, 16 touchdowns right now? So he's been able to get the ball in people's hands. Now, the difference with when you're not a running quarterback---when you're a running quarterback people are much more afraid to play man-to-man because there's not someone for Michael Vick. So with Nick, now they're going to play a little more man-to-man. He has to be accurate enough to hit Riley Cooper, he has to be accurate to hit DeSean [Jackson]. He has to make more throws than maybe a running quarterback does. "
Foles has thrown 16 touchdowns without an interception this season, including a seven touchdown performance against the Oakland Raiders. The success has been contrary to the notion that Chip Kelly needs a more mobile quarterback to run his offense.
"He's [Chip Kelly] has always changed his offense based upon the quarterback he had. When he had Dennis Dixon it was different than [Marcus] Mariota. When he was at New Hampshire, the kid's name escaped me, but it's always changed. The only thing it had it common, is it's always worked. It's always been a good offense," Rhule said. "We tried it here at Temple [to get players to play at the pace] and we've studied from it. We're not doing it quite as much because it takes about a year of off season, of training, of getting those 320 pound lineman to be able to put their hand back down 18 seconds later and playing. It hasn't worked out great for us to be quite honest, not as well as it has for Chip. It will take me a full year to get it done right, but he's gotten it done at a higher level."
Another quarterback who may be available next year's draft is Texas A&M's Johnny Manziel.
"I've watched him [Manziel] on tape, he might be short, he's not---he makes most of his plays running around, which makes you a little nervous of how it translates, but I'll tell you what, he's something," Rhule said. "He single-handedly takes over games in the way that no one else has. I don't know where he'll play, or what he'll do, but he'll do something special in the NFL."
