What to Make of the Eagles QB Situation

            This offseason, newly hired head coach Chip Kelly has been keeping many of his plans for the upcoming season very close to vest.  The only real training development that has surfaced is Chip’s infatuation with sleep monitors and proper dieting, which hardly satiates the fans’ desire to know what the Chip regime will look like.  We want to know how the offense is going to operate, what schemes the defense is going to unveil, and especially who will be starting under center.  Since Chip hasn’t let on much about who will be the starting quarterback, let’s reason through the possibilities for the upcoming season.

            The favorite for the job seems to be the incumbent starter, Michael Vick.  Vick has been one of the premier dual-threat quarterbacks of our generation and still has the potential to display flashes of greatness.  That, coupled with the fact that he now knows how to properly hold a football, seems to make him the most logical choice to start out the season.  I’m still mystified as to how Vick never learned how to properly hold a football in Pop Warner like the rest of us, but that’s neither here nor there.

            The competitors to dethrone Vick at the moment are our two Pac-12 pocket passers, Nick Foles and Matt Barkley.  Foles showed some promise at the position in place of the oft-injured Vick, but is still an unproven talent under center.  Not many expect Barkley to do much besides hold Chip’s index-cards-on-steroids in his rookie season, but he certainly has the talent to develop into a starter down the road.  We must remember that he was a potential Heisman candidate until he led a team with enough talent to contend with the Jacksonville Jaguars to a dismal 7-6 finish and an appearance in the lowly Sun Bowl.  Still, if he is given time to develop, he could become the best starter from USC since… holy crap is Mark Sanchez the best USC quarterback in the NFL right now?

            Can any of us honestly believe that Coach Kelly would honestly start anyone but Vick in the first game?  We have to assume the Eagles’ new offense will resemble his offense from Oregon, and that offense always ran at its best when a dual-threat QB was at the helm.  Why would Chip start an unproven pocket passer when he has arguably the most experienced dual-threat quarterback in the league?  I personally would be shocked to see anyone but Vick under center at the start of the season.  No matter what happens, at least we won’t be seeing Mark Sanchez at the helm of our offense, so at least we have that going for us.

By Steve Rozman 
(Not Ben, we just haven't gotten Steve hooked up with the login credentials yet)