Is Nick Foles the Future for the St. Louis Rams?

Within a five minute span, the NFL free agency exploded in a mess of signings and high profile trades that most of us still are recovering from or trying to comprehend. The shocker for St Louis fans though, was the trading of Sam Bradford that sent him to the Eagles for Nick Foles.

Now I loved Bradford, a lot actually. It was disappointing to see him go, but also exciting for a new opportunity.The Rams gained newly acquired cap room space to spend on retaining our own, (Britt, Kendricks, etc) but what was most exciting about was that the Bradford critics would finally have a reason to relax and enjoy the new chapter in the St Louis QB chapter

Only….some didn’t.

There’s been lot of negativity on Twitter about how the Rams, “still do not have a legitimate QB” and even “downgraded” the position, (those are actual quotes from my Twitter feed). Since apparently, there still are some questions about whether or not the Rams have their future QB, I figured I would run some stats to see the future outlook of Foles and how he might impact the Team

Nick Foles has never started a full season, but has still started 24 games over the last three seasons. Posting a very respectable 15-9 record during those starts. He has also posted a career percentage of 61.6, compared to Bradford starting 49 games, being 18-30-1, and a 58.6 percentage completion rate. Now granted Bradford had a terrible team starting out. He was sacked 34, 36, and 35 times respectively over his first three seasons. Foles has had similar sack numbers, but he has also thrown the ball way more.

What people will immediately point to in Foles is the 2013 season where he posted a touchdown-interception ratio of 27-2. In no way will he can replicate it, but who cares? Anyone who can post that number in 10 games started has proven they can play in the league. It doesn’t matter who the wide receivers are, or what kind of offensive line they have. That number IS impressive.

So after skimming the stats for hours on end, they are honestly very similar, with the slight advantage going to Nick Foles for yards, wins, etc. So the question is, should Rams fans be happy with him?

Yes they should.

Not every QB is Peyton Manning or Tom Brady. There is no way that one of those quarterbacks is going to magically fall into their hands. Even if the Rams drafted a high profile QB in the Draft, they would still have a project to build that would offer no more consistency than Foles would.

Nick Foles offers the Rams a lot of things they need. He excels in escaping pressure, (Rams OL isn’t the best), finding the open receiver, (Rams inconsistent receivers,) and knows how to win, (Rams have not since 2003). Foles is a great play action passer and should benefit highly from a run-first offense with a lot of play action involved. The scheme fit here really is a great thing for both Foles and the Rams.

Let’s not forget the most important thing that Nick Foles brings to the Rams, durability. I was really hoping Bradford would come back this year and lead this team to a playoff berth, but there was always that thought lingering in the back of my head:

“Please let him stay healthy….”

No more. Nick Foles did spend the last half of 2014 on the bench with a broken collarbone, but he does not nor ever will have the injury history Bradford does, (two acl tears, shoulder surgery, high ankle sprain, etc). For the first time in three years, fans do not have to pray to the football gods every day for a miracle to happen and have a healthy QB.

Bradford has the better skill set. He is one of the best deep ball throwers I have ever seen, but Jeff Fisher (and most Rams fans) think this team can win now, and Foles gives us the best chance to at the moment. Given the cap space, the consistency, and the skill set Foles could bring to St Louis, Rams fans HAVE to be happy with this move. It sets the team up to win and possibly give us the team a playoff run.

Next: Nick Foles has been hanging out with Brian Quick

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