Has Nick Foles Replaced Mike Kafka as the Eagles' No. 2 Quarterback?

One of the biggest concerns for the Philadelphia Eagles has been backup QB. What will they do when Vick gets hurt? Notice I said “when” not “if.” Vick has played 16 games in a season just once in his NFL career that started back in 2001. He’s gonna need a backup.

Mike Kafka was scheduled to be his backup this year. He was drafted in 2010 and played marginally well last season in place of Vick. Plus, the only other options they have are Trent Edwards, who has proven you can’t trust him, or a third-round pick named Nick Foles.

In short, the Eagles were screwed.

That is, until Foles actually got onto the field. Now, mitigate your enthusiasm please. It’s pre-season. Foles is a rookie. No one is game planning against him. He’s seeing vanilla defenses.

That said, he’s ahead of schedule. He looks calm. The game looks slow for him. He’s got the arm strength and he can make all the throws. Sure, it’s only preseason and he hasn’t been perfect by any stretch, but so far so good. This looks like a guy you could possibly win with. We don’t have all the answers right now, but the early returns are promising.

And Kafka has been hurt. You could argue that Foles has shown more in three preseason games than Kafka has shown in two years. And whether the coaching staff will admit it or not, Foles just has to be ahead of Kafka at this point. Can they really tell the fan base that Kafka is a more reliable option because he’s been here for two years? I think not.

While I’m not ready to pull out the anointing oil as so many in the Delaware Valley have already, Foles has been impressive. He’s showing things that you can’t expect from a rookie. I would love to see how he responds in a real game, but for right now, he’s handled what has been thrown at him and seems like a better option behind Vick than Kafka.