Nick Foles Era, Eagles Youth Movement Could Be Temporary

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The other day, friend of the Level John Gonzalez wrote a
piece on Nick Foles entitled, “How will Foles perform as permanent starter?

Permanent? I realize that wasn’t in the sense that Foles
will still be quarterbacking the Eagles for the remainder of the team’s
existence, but there is nothing “permanent” about the final four games of the
season, either – not for Bryce Brown, Fletcher Cox, or any other rookie, not
for anybody on the current roster for that matter. When Andy Reid is inevitably
replaced this January, there is going to be a culture change in Philadelphia,
and that means no one is safe.

(Except Alex Henery. Henery is safe. That dude's a baller, and I don't think anybody is that fanatical about place kickers.)

Is that something of a melodramatic viewpoint to have? Look,
I don’t expect the next head coach to come in and gut the roster just for the
sake of gutting it. Foles will be here next year, as will Brown, Cox, Mychal
Kendricks, Dennis Kelly, etc. They will have opportunities to become the
building blocks of the future like we all hoped they would.

Forgive me though if I don’t get overly excited about
anything I see from these kids over the next four games. With a new head coach
comes new schemes, and one thing about the NFL is not every player is a fit for
every system. Not every head coach has patience with the players he was given
when “his guys” are available.

Foles is hardly what I would call in any type of permanent
situation. He’s auditioning, not necessarily even for the job of starting
quarterback, but for the right to compete for the job in 2013. What are the odds
somebody waltzes in here and declares Foles is the future based on these eight
games, before they’ve had so much as a conversation? Keep in mind this is a
third-round pick, so it’s not an investment on the same level of an Andrew Luck
or Robert Griffin.

The next head coach is probably going to hold a competition.
Foles will participate, as will a veteran most likely, somebody who knows whatever
system is installed – who knows, maybe it’s Michael Vick. Depending on how
things go, there could even be another rookie in the mix. How Foles performs the
rest of the way will probably have a lot to do with the quality of competition
brought in, but unless he is dramatically improved, it’s difficult to see him
being handed the reins.

The same could go for some of these other guys as well. Kelly is the
latest rook to garner praise since he took over at right tackle. Howard
Mudd will be gone at the end of the year though, and his blocking scheme could
go with him. Will Kelly struggle to adjust to a new scheme?

In all likelihood, the Eagles will try to make a coaching
hire that would keep a 4-3 defense in place, because that’s what fits their
current personnel. Should they land on somebody who feels strongly about a 3-4
however, that mean huge role changes for Cox and Kendricks?

Maybe some are versatile enough to make the jump, maybe some
are not. Without knowing who will be coaching the Eagles next season, we can
assume nothing about how this team will be shaped moving forward. No matter how much promise and potential the class of 2012 demonstrates, every one of them has to prove themselves again next year.

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