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Why Nick Foles Won’t Save the St. Louis Rams

By Dusty Haralson

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With the first pick in the 2010 NFL Draft, the St, Louis Rams selected 2008 Heisman Trophy winner Sam Bradford out of the University of Oklahoma. The team selected him with hopes of the team moving on from Marc Bulger, who took over for Super Bowl winning quarterback Kurt Warner.

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Bradford had a promising rookie year, with over 3500 passing yards. But, since then he has had unfortunate luck with injuries, including back-to-back years with ACL tears in his left knee in 2013 and 2014.

This offseason, the Philadelphia Eagles‘ trigger-happy head coach Chip Kelly made a series of cuts, trades,  and personnel moves that caused big splashes. One of jaw dropping, high profile trades was when he sent Nick Foles to the Gateway to the West, in return for Bradford. Maybe Chip is crazy, or brilliant. That’s something we’ll have to find out in the fall.

But now the Rams have Nick Foles under center. The former Pro Bowler had an unprecedented 2013 season with 27 touchdown passes and only two interceptions. Now,Foles trades the wings on his helmet for horns. He is under head coach Jeff Fisher, who has been in a head coach in the league for 20 years. Foles now has a young, talented defense on the other side to help him win games.

But will Foles bring the Rams back into the playoff picture in 2015?

I highly doubt it. Foles doesn’t have LeSean McCoy or DeSean Jackson to lean on in St. Louis. He also moves from a wide open NFC East, to the rough and rugged NFC West. Foles will face both the Cardinals’ defense and the Seahawks’ “Legion of Boom” twice a year. Am I missing anything?

Oh yeah, he also won’t have the best offensive mind in football in his corner anymore. Ultimately, Foles was an alright quarterback at best, who was elevated by Chip Kelly’s brain.

Nick Foles isn’t a game changing addition to the Rams. I think he will struggle in his first couple of seasons with his new team. If Seattle and San Francisco‘s allure fall back down to earth, and the Rams acquire quality weapons for Foles, then maybe he’ll have a couple of cute playoff runs. But if not, Foles will be just like Marc Bulger: A quality backup quarterback that’s in over his head.

Next: St. Louis Rams: Making the case for Brett Hundley

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