Brian Baldinger

What a difference a year makes! A year ago the league entertained questions about Chip Kelly and the style of offense he would introduce to the NFL. Multiple examples of former college coaches that failed miserably in making the leap from college coach to NFL coach.

Spurrier, Saban, and Schiano rolled off people’s tongues with the ease of naming one’s favorite colors.

There were just as many questions about the quarterback position. Nick Foles was a huge question mark and embroiled in the most talked about quarterback competition in the NFL. Could a pure pocket QB run the warped speed offense that Chip ran at Oregon where his QB looked as much like a tracj star as he did passer? Foles isn’t that guy!

A year later those questions have diasappeared. In fact some had speculated that Chip could have fascination with a guy named Manziel. How could that skill set fit into an offense where the QB could a dual threat. Pure scuttlebut.

This past week I made camp tours to cities with new coaches and questions around the quarterback position. I visited Mike Pettine in Berea, Ohio to see what circus it was surrounding Johnny Football.

For the third time in less than a decade the Brownies invested in a first round quarterback and a new head coach. They have to make it work or there will be more immediate changes. Manziel was my favorite player in college over the past two years and it wasn’t even close.

But WOW!

Does he look small on an NFL field. And the owner liked him more than the rookie GM and that is dysfunctional.

My next stop was to Mankato, Minnesota where the Vikings opened up their 49th season on the same campus. There was a rookie head coach in Mike Zimmer finally getting a chance to blow the whistle to start practice. Wearing number 5 in a red jersey was their rookie quarterback, Teddy Bridgewater who is embroiled in his competition with Matt Cassell. Lots of unanswered questions remain there throughout there defense as to how they are going to slow people down.

Finally there was a stop in Houston where Billy O’Brien is expected to revitalize an offense that contributed to the league’s longest losing streak of 14 games.

Can Ryan Fitzpatrick be counted upon to be more than just a capable back up quarterback. Is Jadeveon Clowney going to demonstrate a real love, heart and passion for the game?

The point in mentioning some of my camp tour is to show that these 3 teams are exactly where the Eagles were a year ago. And where the Eagles have come from in one quick season.

But the Eagles will never be content until they can be a team that can compete each and every year for a title. In order to do that one needs at the top odf the list a poven QB who can be counted upon to line up each and every week the way the handful of franchsie QB’s do in this league.

The direction of the league is towards size at receiver. The Eagles follow this trend with the release of DeSean Jackson and the drafting of Jordan Mathews and the resigning of Riley Cooper and Jeremy Maclin. Yes, SIZE matters. For Nick Foles he will have a better chance to locate recievers, and pinpoint passes to bigger bodies with larger margins for errors.

When I go back and watch the TD reel of Foles last year its amazing how few difficult throws he had to make. Part of that is the design of Chip’s offense. This year the level of defense and especially the man defenses they will see from Seattle, Arizona, Carolina, and San Francisco is going to be much stiffer challenges from a year ago.

The last time we saw the Eagles they were getting shut down by New Orleans on a chilly January evening. Thats whats coming this season. Better defense that have had a year to look at the spread offense of XChip with the ability to control the line of scrimmage with 7 and yet be strong in the back end vs the matchups that the Birds create from their offense.

This is where Nick has got to grow in year number 3. The windows are going to shrink in big games vs stronger defenses and the pass rush will be more ferocious with tighter coverages. The best QB’s separate themselves with uncanny accuracy and the guts of a burglar vs the level of defense that you see in playoff stretches.

Ultimately the truly great QB’s make their mark by how they perform in the playoffs. In order to get to that category Nick has got to lead a young team back to the playoffs which means he is going to have to stay healthy for all 16 regular season and play his best vs the best.

The best quality Nick has is a yeoman’s work ethic and a belief that he isn’t close to arriving. In addition he has a true love for the game. Everyone should get a chance to watcdh down on the field in pregame warming up with his corp of receivers and going through the whole passing tree. The smile and focus is always present. Finally there is a calmness to his presence that comes from the confidence that follows his preparation.

Chip Kelly and Nick Foles are joined at the hip. Oh what a difference a year makes.