Welcome to Chicago: Nick Foles, Quarterback

By Kevin Schroeder
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Updated: August 10, 2020

One of these in blue and orange would be nice. (Photo Credit: Getty Images)

The Bears shored up their QB room in the off-season by trading a fourth-round pick in the 2020 draft to the Jaguars for Nick Foles. Both Head Coach Matt Nagy, Offensive Coordinator Bill Lazor, and QB Coach are familiar with Foles’ work, which no doubt played a huge role in the team bringing him in over other options at the position given the uncertain nature of this year’s off-season. Cam Newton undoubtedly has a higher ceiling, but the Bears already have a guy with a high ceiling but similarly high variance in Mitchell Trubisky. They need a guy with a high floor. Foles fits that description, is definitely healthy, and should be able to run the offense without a pre-season.

Foles’s career has been a weird one. Drafted in the third round of the 2012 draft by the Andy Reid-led Eagles, he made his NFL debut in relief of Michael Vick after Vick suffered a concussion. Foles’s play was good enough that Reid named him the starter for the remainder of the season. Vick would reclaim the job, though, after Foles broke his hand later in the season. Foles finished his rookie season 1 yard shy of 1,700 with 6 TDs and 5 INTs in 7 games, 6 of them starts. Unfortunately, that translated to only one win for the Eagles, and Andy Reid was fired after the season. The following year, under new coach Chip Kelly, Foles again began the season as Vick’s backup and was again called into action after an injury to Vick. Foles played well in relief of Vick and the following week, lit up the Bucs, who were dealing not only with MRSA, but also with another dangerous locker room pest named Greg Schiano. Foles suffered a concussion the following week and was relieved by Matt Barkley, who I shouldn’t have to tell you, couldn’t hack it. Vick returned the following week and got hurt again. Foles was named starter upon his return and never looked back. Foles played the best football of his career, finishing the season with just under 2,900 yards, 27 TDs, only 2 picks, and a Pro Bowl selection. Relevant to our interests is the fact that his QB coach while he did that was Bill Lazor. The season ended with a loss in the Wild Card round to the Saints where Foles was good, not great, throwing for just under 200 yards with a pair of TDs, though he didn’t turn it over. Lazor would leave to take the Dolphins’ OC job after the season. Foles was unable to replicate that success the following year, as his completion percentage and passer rating declined, and while his yards per game increased, he threw 10 picks to only 13 TDs in 8 games, all starts, before going down with a collarbone injury. After the season, he was traded by Kelly to St. Louis along with a pair of draft picks for Sam Bradford, who had missed all of 2014 with a knee injury. Bradford would produce at a level similar to Foles in 2015 and Kelly was canned after that.

To put it bluntly, Foles stunk in St. Louis. In 11 games as the Rams’ starter before being benched for Case Keenum, he threw for just 2,052 yards, with 7 TDs and another 10 picks. The Rams took Jared Goff #1 overall in the ensuing draft and released Foles, who then linked up with the man who drafted him, Andy Reid, in Kansas City. Foles backed up Alex Smith and was called into action in week 8 when Smith went down with a concussion. Foles threw for 223 yards and a pair of TDs in a win over the Colts. He got the start the following week with Smith still out, and was just okay (20-33, 187 yards, TD), but the Chiefs won anyway. The following week, Smith was able to return and that was it for meaningful playing time for Foles in Kansas City.

Foles returned to Philadelphia to back up Carson Wentz. After a knee injury to Wentz late in the year that looked like a killer for a promising Eagles season, Foles said “not so fast my friend.” Foles started the final 3 games of the Eagles’ season with 1 great, 1 meh, and 1 just don’t get hurt. In the playoffs, Foles was lights out, posting a passer rating in each of the Eagles’ playoff games, with a total of 971 yards, 6 TDs and only 1 pick, plus a receiving touchdown, as the Eagles won it all, defeating the defending champion Patriots in Super Bowl LII. Foles was named Super Bowl MVP.

The 2018 season saw Foles as the Eagles’ starter at the beginning of the year with Wentz not yet ready to return, and at the end of the year with Wentz hurt again. He was solid, averaging just under 300 yards a game in his 5 starts with 7 TDs and 4 INTs. His 2018 playoffs consisted of one game the team should have lost (Screw you, Cody.) and one game they did lose (Hi, Alshon.). After exercising an out clause in his contract after the season, Foles signed with the Jaguars. He was hurt in the team’s first game and didn’t return until week 11 in Indianapolis, where he threw for just under 300 yards with 2 TDs and a pick in a losing effort. The following week in Tennessee was another solid one for Foles (32-48, 272 yards), but a blowout for the Jags. After a stinker the following week in a blowout loss to the Bucs, Foles was benched for Gardner Minshew.

So that brings us here. 2013 Foles is probably not happening. While he has both his QB coach from his Pro Bowl season and the one from his Super Bowl MVP season (John DiFilippo) around, it seems far more likely than not that that year was the exception, not the rule. That said, the rule has generally been pretty good. Excellent? No. Superstar? No. Good enough to get people to shut up about Patrick Mahomes? Unfortunately, no. But good enough to not be a hindrance? You bet. Good enough that the Bears would have been a playoff team with a guy like that last year? I think so. So that should be the floor for the Bears’ QB play this year. Trubisky will get every chance to win the job with the hope being that having multiple QB specialists around can turn Trubisky into the player Ryan Pace thought he could be. If that turns out to not be the case, Foles should provide a much-welcome steadiness to the position.

Twitter: @KSchroeder_312