Foles on Parade

More thoughts on Nick Foles. (cbssports.com)

Growing up in the burbs of Philadelphia, my life has been nestled in the warmth of Philly sports for as long as I've been alive. They're my passion, but for fantasy football purposes/writing something a lot of people want to read it doesn't make sense to breakdown every fleeting moment or hot topic story that goes on in the City of Brotherly Love. However, I'm going to indulge myself a bit with some Nick Foles thoughts. Thoughts which I've shared the past two weeks so this will be a third.

Trying to understand Foles to this point has been an impossibility. One week he looks to be collapsing under the pressure of a starting quarterback, while the next time he takes the field he's throwing 7 touchdown passes in a game. There really is no way to compute that in your brain. To rectify that this is the same person in both instances. A player with a 7.5 QBR one week and in his next start tallys a 99.1 QBR. Once more and for a final time, my stance on Foles is that he has the ability - through his accuracy, ability to protect the football, and quick decision making - to serve as a league average quarterback in this league, but I'm not sure he has the elite skill level to elevate to a Top 5 QB in the NFL. If he can become one of those 27 TD 4 INT type guys, then that is a huge win for him as a player. 

Clearly, hardly anyone knows what they have in Foles. What he needs to do is prove he can play week in and week out in the NFL. These sporadic performances won't fly, especially when it's against lesser opponents in games that don't matter or don't have a lot of pressure going into them. At that point, the Eagles will have a better idea about how to move forward.

Watching the game yesterday, if it's easy to pick apart a 7 TD performance, you probably can with Foles. The Raiders looked horrible both on the pass rush (give some kudos to the Eagles' o-line) and in the secondary. Two of Foles' TD's came off of Raider players falling down, and LeSean McCoy's TD catch appeared to  be the result of the Raiders not covering him and then not really feeling like tackling him as he scampered 25 yards for another touchdown, but hey, there's still 4 really nice scoring throws Foles made as well as other deep and intermediate routes. Foles has more to prove, but after that disastrous Cowboys performance, he did all he could to get right back in the driver's seat next week against Green Bay.

What the main takeaway from this game should be is a huge boost of support behind Chip Kelly. It's amusing that the most vociferous critics come out after two weeks in which Kelly started an injured Michael Vick and Matt Barkley. Scoring zero touchdowns is never acceptable, but I think Kelly deserved a bit more of a break than he was getting. Trotting those two quarterbacks out there in the condition they were in is basically sabotaging your own team. 

Locally, the build up during the week has been that people have been losing faith in Kelly. Rumors start churning, skeptics get big mouths, and it's an easy argument to win based on the past couple of games, but the video shows that there are opportunities created in this offense. The main priority is making the right decisions when those opportunities show themselves. Foles was able to do that and the team won despite losing time of possession and the Raiders racking up more total yards (the former is part of the plan and the latter is due to the Raiders playing catch-up most of the game).

The main issues moving forward with Kelly are more involved with his in-game coaching/decision making (play calling, replay review, time management, adjustments, etc.) that come along with being a head coach with zero NFL experience and his personnel decisions. His system is effective. It works. It's not tricks or magic, it's about creating mismatches out of a base offense and personnel on the field. Running a hurry up offense with versatile players that can line-up as needed to best expose those advantages his system creates (a must-read at Grantland). 

Ultimately, if Foles can become more consistent then he can play in the NFL. The Eagles won't have a top 10 pick in this year's draft and with so many holes on this team maybe going for a mid-range quarterback in the draft isn't necessary. Foles can function for the time being as the other weaker areas of the team are addressed. But if a quarterback the Eagles really want does fall to them in the upcoming draft, I wouldn't be surprised if they pulled the trigger. Like throwing passes, making a move for a franchise quarterback is best made when the play develops as it should and not forced under pressure.

FAABulous: Fantasy Football Pick-ups Week 2

Anquan Boldin made a lot of new fans on Sunday. A lot. (mmbq.si.com)

FAABulous will recap the week of football activity and point fantasy owners where to spend their hard earned (not really) FAAB or waiver priority. Players will be owned in at most 50% of Yahoo! FFL. This is the one time where mo' money probably wouldn't mean mo' problems.

You're Joe Flacco. You won a Super Bowl last year after one of the great playoff runs in NFL history. You signed a piece of paper that gave you $120M for that performance, so that's pretty nice. So come week 1 of the NFL season you pull a tough draw with a road game in Denver because your baseball team wouldn't reschedule their game against the Chicago White Sox of all teams. Then you proceed to get obliterated by Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos. Still reeling from such an embarrassing defeat, you try to take your mind off your game and just be a regular ... Joe and watch some football on Sunday. You happen to see your former teammate Anquan Boldin, now in San Francisco. Boldin was traded from the Ravens because they wanted to save $2M. Now, he's playing for one of the best teams in the NFL and happens to accounting for over 200 receiving yards. This is not good.

When that game is over, Boldin would have a line of 13 catches for 208 yards and a touchdown. Your entire wide receiver crew would only put up 15 catches for 215 yards and a touchdown (h/t MMQB). You are bummed.

You're Tom Brady. You just resigned in New England at another cut rate price so the Pats so they can, once again, presumably go get some big name players. Soon after, both of your star tight ends would be injured and incarcerated, and your other star receiver departed for your main AFC rivals for the Super Bowl due to not getting an acceptable contract from the Patriots. The same Patriots you gave a little more money to so they can build a team around you. Except now they've replaced Wes Welker with a version of Wes Welker that has trouble staying on the field. In the opening game against a rookie QB and a ragged team in Buffalo, you barely get out with a win. Your running back redeveloped his fumbling problem, the back up running back played great but fractured his wrist, your new Wes Welker battled through a groin strain all game, and the tight end everyone though you could just plug in had zero catches. You are not happy.

Meanwhile, the original Wes Welker was getting along great with his new buddy Peyton Manning. He hauled in two touchdowns in his typical Welker way. Cutting and moving and sprinting every which way. You are bummed.

There were a'plenty of fantasy points to go around this week, but the debut of some new faces in new places (yes, that means you Chip Kelly) really changed the scope of things already. No one wants to be overly reactionary to things, but next thing you know, Julian Edelman could have 32 touchdowns, or the Eagles may run plays to infinity or the opposing teams' defense just self-combusts on the field.

It's fun to dream, but what we saw was an extremely entertaining week 1 that could mean something as the year progresses, however as of right now, we just don't know.

Things might seem great if you're a LeSean McCoy owner, or you could be wondering if Tom Brady in the 6th was such a great deal when Colin Kaepernick was still on the board. Now is not the time for second guessing because there's nothing you can do about it. Everyone wants to live and die by week 1, but it's hardly written in stone how anything will play out.

Trading for Anquan Boldin may not be the most wise decision, just like cutting David Wilson robably isn't either. There are players that will emerge though. Before you go ahead and cut ties with your 2nd round pick, it's important to look to the waiver wire to see what players might keep this thing rolling and which may not. A season isn't wasted at least until a marquee player struggles for a month or an injury happens, but you can't predict that right now. Now it's best to take a breath before next week and claim some players.

From a mess of a game ... a fantasy star ... will rise. (rantsports.com)

DeAndre Hopkins, WR - HOU (49% owned) v TEN

Leonard Hankerson, WR - WAS (3%) +Green Bay Packers 

Brian Hartline, WR - MIA (46%) +Indianapolis Colts 

Regarding Hopkins, Hankerson and Hartline I could just refer you to my Sleeper WR picks I made a couple of weeks back for these two, but why? What could I possibly gain from doing that?

Alex Smith, QB - KC (40%) +Dallas Cowboys 

Andy Reid acquired Smith from San Francisco after he was displaced by a concussion, then Colin Kapernick. It appears both teams will be happy with their decision. Albeit against the Jaguars, Smith was his usual solid, but not spectacular self. He's definitely a safe play at this point, and with Jamaal Charles healthy and getting Dwayne Bowe more involved, he could have more good games than average ones.

Brent Celek, TE - PHI (21%) v SD

There isn't a great need out there for tight ends as this year's class is pretty deep, but there is reason to take note of Celek in Chip Kelly's offense. It's pretty clear that Celek is the preferred TE for the Eagles over James Casey and Zach Ertz. I'm not a big proponent of rookie tight ends coming in a making a big splash, as they're typically one of the positions with the highest learning curve in the NFL mainly due to pass blocking. Casey looked like he was supposed to take over the main receiving TE role, but injuries and ineffectiveness have left the free agent's status on the team cloudy. Let's face it, you want in on some aspect of this Philly offense.

Terrelle Pryor, QB - OAK (12%) v JAX

Hey, look who it is! It's the NFL's leading rusher after Week 1. Pryor took advantage of a completely underprepared Colts defense to scramble for 112 yards and toss 217 more. He did have two picks in a narrow defeat to the regressing Colts, but this game had all the makings of, "My first option and second option is covered, f'it I'm running." This strategy does not work. Teams will clamp down on Pryor and he will rarely be affective like this moving forward. Although he does have a preferred match-up against the Jags next week.

Julian Edelman, WR - NE (25%) v NYJ

There wasn't much to be thrilled about for owners of any Patriot fantasy owners. This game was a huge letdown. One bright spot was Shane Vereen, who - as it turns out - had a broke wrist all game, and Edelman. The 27 year-old has been with the Pats for 5 years, and although Bill Belichick's aura is slowly diminishing, I'm confident in assuming that if Edelman could have been a regular option on offense, he would have been one already. He's worth a grab just in case, but I wouldn't go crazy for someone that did have two TDs, but also lost out on targets to Kenbrell Thompkins and will lose a lot more looks if Danny Amendola can stay health and if Rob Gronkowski is back in Week 3.

PENNY SAVED IS A PENNY EARNED

Da'Rel Scott, RB - NYG (3%)

David Wilson had some fumble issues yet again. Fortunately for him and fantasy owners, with Andre Brown injured, there are no other good options. Da'Rel Scott isn't the answer. Neither is Brandon Jacobs or Willis McGahee. It would be wholly insane for Tom Coughlin to immediate give up on Wilson, who has a ton of promise. In fact, it would basically be the opposite of what it means to be a coach just to give up on the guy. Unless Wilson has another multi-fumble game, I don't expect him to lose his job, so that's good. The bad is that there's almost no way he's getting goal line touches. Good for either Jacobs or McGahee. Good for Brandon Myers.

THE 1%

Harry Douglas, WR - ATL (1%) v STL

Roddy White is not 100%, and this just feels like one of those years where he never will be. Douglas is the guy that could benefit from a less fit White.

Eagles New Head Coach

Chip Kelly is bringing his sassy fashion sense, and high powered offense, to Philadelphia.

Well that was unexpected.

After a coaching search that was running out of coaching candidates the Philadelphia Eagles went back to the well to hire Chip Kelly as their new head coach. This move comes as a shock as Kelly had spurned the Eagles and a couple of other NFL offers to return to the Oregon Ducks. But, much like his fast moving, mis-direction offense, Kelly changed his field and accepted the job shortly after fan and odds on favorite Gus Bradley was boarding a ship to fly to Jacksonville after the Eagles failed to secure his signature.

I'm sure more details will emerge regarding Kelly's decision. Did he return to the Birds after a change of heart? Did a little birdie whisper some not so great things about impending NCAA sanctions for Oregon? Or, after missing out on Bill O'Brien, Matt McCoy, and Gus Bradley - did Jeffrey Lurie realize that the assorted fired NFL coaches (Ken Whisenhunt, Lovie Smith, and Brian Billick) wouldn't fit his vision so he made a Godfather offer?

Could be a combination of all of these things. Overall, while people are skeptical of Kelly's NFL abilities, time will tell about that. He is a leader of men and he has been successful everywhere he's went (which does not include 1 hour in the NFL). This will be interesting to see how he adapts his offense to the NFL and with the Eagles personnel. There are exciting players on offense like LeSean McCoy, Bryce Brown, DeSean Jackson, Dion Lewis, and Jeremy Maclin. However, the quarterback is in flux. I would not expect this to change Michael Vick returning to the fold as there is just too much blood in the water and Vick has proven he's just not a winner.

I could see Kelly staying with Nick Foles in a modified - less option happy offense - until the right player comes along. Along with taking a stab at a speed QB in the late rounds of the draft. There are still a lot of holes that need to be filled on defense and getting the offensive line healthy. Should Geno Smith fall to the Eagles in the first round, it would still be an ill-advised pick.

Hiring a veteran staff around him will also be paramount. The positive about the NFL coaching landscape now is that there are a lot of experienced coaches out there looking for work. Being able to bring on the expertise of a Whisenhunt or Smith would be a huge coup for the first time NFL coach.

With him officially in place, Kelly's NFL experience will be bolting ahead as fast as his Oregon offense. As mentioned, staff will be needed, scouting needs to get underway for the draft (although you'd hope Kelly already has some insights into a lot of the players since he was at Oregon), and he needs to build a strategy around this Eagles team with the goal of getting them winning again soon.

FAABulous: Fantasy Football Pick-ups Week 14

Andy Reid's squad is crumbling around him. (sports.yahoo.com)

FAABulous will recap the week of football activity and point fantasy owners where to spend their hard earned (not really) FAAB or waiver priority. Players will be owned in at most 50% of Yahoo! FFL. This is the one time where mo' money probably wouldn't mean mo' problems.

When Eagles' owner/CEO Jeffrey Lurie said at training camp that another 8-8 year wouldn't be acceptable for Andy Reid and his regime in Philadelphia, he could have never guessed those words would echo so much through the entire season. Those words have made tangible what was once just a whimsical dream of some ill-informed 94WIP caller; the call to fire Andy Reid.

Perhaps Lurie did not think of the implications of making such a statement at the time. Maybe he was optimistic that this Eagles team would finally be the one that gets that Super Bowl crown. A year removed from Vince Young's "Dream Team" nonsense and with a full training camp, they could focus on winning football games. But Lurie, who is more of a behind the scenes owner, let's his football people handle the football stuff, and will generally only address the media at the beginning and end of each season, doesn't seem like the kind of person to say anything off the cuff. When he put his long-time friend in the cross-hairs like that, he meant it, and I wouldn't be surprised if he shared those comments privately with Reid before giving the media and fans the only soundbite they'd need for this season.

Then again, he didn't exactly levy a death sentence to Big Red:

"Again, I am not going to make blanket statements. I really wanted to try to explain to you that 8-8 was unacceptable. Yeah, I guess if two thirds of the team is not playing [then] there are always exceptions. That was a really unacceptable outcome. I just want to reiterate that." - Jeffrey Lurie, August 30, 2012

While that hangs over the dreadful Eagles season, what has resulted, beyond the win-loss record is a complete mess of a team. At any point during the season, blame can be placed on virtually anyone who cashes a check from the Philadelphia Eagles. Early on, it was Reid's fault, then it was Michael Vick's fault, then Juan Castillo the Eagles defense couldn't stop anyone, injuries were mounting, draft picks weren't performing, and now the team is in complete disarray. Not only has Reid's squad failed to live up to expectations for the second straight year, they are going out like the Hindenburg.

This season hasn't just been bad, it's been a systemic failure. Across the board, in every facet of football things have gone wrong, and there is no "One" that will save this team.

The reason Lurie should follow through and relieve Reid of his coaching duties at the end of the season has nothing to do with his record, but more to do with the fact that Reid lorded over every aspect of this football team. He wanted and was placed in a position to have final say on personnel moves and after Joe Banner left last season, had full say on money being handed out in contracts. The system Reid built has collapsed around him.

As we continue towards the end of the season, it's almost been comical the moves that Reid has made to attempt to right the ship or find a quick fix to this ailing team.

Firing Juan Castillo has clearly backfired. The offensive line coach turned defensive coordinator did fairly well considering how ridiculous the first half of this sentence sounds. Reid elected to put his friend in that position, and when the team couldn't stop anyone on defense early in the season, Castillo was the first to go. Since then, under interim coach Todd Bowles, the defense has actually played much worse.

Next, Reid released Jason Babin, who led the Eagles in sacks last year and was a two time Pro Bowl selection. This wasn't terribly shocking as Babin has not been effective at all this year. Plus, removing him from the roster opened up playing time for Brandon Graham and Vinny Curry to see what they could offer the future of the franchise. Babin was also on the way out due to his paycheck and that Reid had finally conceited that the Wide-9 technique that Babin flourishes in (because all you do is rush the QB; run defense is overrated, bro) will also be going bye-bye.

This displeased d-line coach Jim Washburn who was a fan of Babin's and brought in by Reid to implement the Wide-9. Washburn was let go yesterday.

It has been complete chaos. A season filled with bad moves, and dealing with the results of years of mismanagement.

Sprinkle in significant injuries to Jason Peters, Michael Vick, LeSean McCoy, DeSean Jackson, Jeremy Maclin, Todd Herremans, Jason Kelce, and Danny Watkins (meh, but he was a starting O-lineman) - and it's just one big pot of disaster soup.

Normally, this would lead to the inevitable downfall of any NFL head coach. But Andy, in an evil genius sort of way, has turned things into such a clusterfuck and has driven his bus over more people than a blind guy during an elementary school fire drill that with so much collateral damage and rubble to sift through, who can you really blame? Well, the answer is Reid, stupid, but things are in such disarray, if Reid's close friend Jeffrey Lurie can't see the forest for the trees and pin point that Reid was the crux for all of this, then it's not completely crazy that Lurie would let Reid clean house, accept a diminished GM role, which would go to Howie Roseman, and this season would be such a mess that Reid gets a mulligan.

I think that would be a less than likely scenario, but it isn't out of the question.

It would be a failure to not mention that before the season started, Reid endured the death of his son Garrett.  This is not an excuse for a season that's resulted after years of decisions, but still it is something that must weigh heavily on Reid. Garrett was trying to rehabilitate himself and overcome his drug addiction, but ultimately the drugs won out. Reid, Lurie, Roseman and the entire organization handled the situation extremely professionally. So much that this aspect of the season has largely been swept under the rug. Reid nor media nor fans want Garrett to serve as an excuse, but the impact of something like this can galvanize a team or distract it.This isn't the reason for how this season has went, but it is a part.

The thing Eagles fans have to acknowledge that Reid is a well above average NFL head coach. He's gotten a little too much power, and he's gone down a similar path to tarnish his reputation like his mentor Mike Holmgren has, but if Reid is fired and wants to coach next year, a team will hire him.

Whoever is coaching the Eagles next year, it will be a complete overhaul. Virtually a new team. I can't imagine any coach other than Reid keeping his job, and thanks to words written in contracts players like Vick, Nnamdi Asomugha, Trent Cole, along with the other free agents and low hanging fruit on the roster.

Oh, the humanity, indeed.

Playoffs are approaching; if not here already, so let's see if there are some players to save your sinking ship.

Home or away, Russell Wilson has shown he can get you fantasy points. (usatoday.com)

Russell Wilson, QB - SEA (23% owned) ARI

Wilson hasn't been a FAABulous selection yet. Can't believe it. Well, I can because he used to be an average at home, terrible on the road QB. Well, now he's the 37th ranked player in Yahoo! FF and his last two road games at Miami and at Chicago he's put up 20.76 and 26.82 points respectively. Better yet, he gets the Cardinals in Seattle this week. If you're looking for a QB, he's an easy add.

Vick Ballard, RB - IND (37%) TEN

The less than news worthy battle for running back supremacy, Ballard appears to be preferred over Donald Brown. It's always hit or miss whether Ballard will score, but you have to like being able to tie yourself to the Andrew Luck wagon. Two of the last three games are against Houston, but by Week 14, the Texans could be in cruise control.


Tony Scheffler, TE - DET (1%) @GB

FAABulous favorite Ryan Broyles broke his leg and is out for the year. Shame, especially after his Wes Welker comps started flying around. Former FAABulous un-favorite Titus Young is ruining his life somewhere, and it'll be hard to expect much out of new acquisition Mike Thomas. In spite of Brandon Pettigrew being ahead of Scheffler in the pecking order, his sure hands have made him a viable target for Matthew Stafford.


PENNY SAVED IS A PENNY EARNED

Greg McElroy, QB - NYJ (0%) @JAX

Come on, cuz. Good to see Mark Sanchez finally get benched during what was the worst game of the year, but the guy is on the hook for $8.5M next year. He's getting the gig back over the 'Bama alum.

THE 1%

James Casey, RB - HOU (1%) @NE

Looking ahead to Texans in chill mode, Casey is a player that always seems to be able to get a touchdown when he plays. He has 3 TDs this year in extremely limited play, and while he is more valuable as a TE than a RB, he could come into play during the playoff weeks if you need a phantom TD.