The Philadelphia Eagles will either be led by Michael Vick, Nick Foles or someone new next season. If the Eagles have to find a free agent or rookie quarterback, it’s too early to tell who they could get. However, if there’s no one hotter or more qualified available, Philadelphia coach Chip Kelly could turn to one of his old friends from Oregon.
According to Comcast SportsNet’s Geoff Mosher on Jan. 29, Kelly is leaning towards signing Baltimore Ravens’ practice quarterback Dennis Dixon after the Super Bowl. Considering a practice quarterback for the Eagles’ starting job would seem illogical, yet Kelly knows about Dixon’s prowess after coaching him at Oregon.
Kelly started his Oregon career as offensive coordinator in 2007, during Dixon’s senior year. Until he suffered an ACL injury, he ran Kelly’s offense so well that the Ducks became a BCS contender, and he became a Heisman Trophy candidate. But his bad luck continued into the NFL, as he only started a handful of games for the Pittsburgh Steelers and then had to join the Ravens’ practice squad.
However, Dixon has played a major role in Baltimore’s Super Bowl preparations, by impersonating San Francisco’s Colin Kaepernick in practice. Whether that means he could perform like Kaepernick during a real game is uncertain. Yet Kelly may want to take that chance, or at least give Dixon the opportunity to win the job in Philadelphia.
Dixon’s biggest fault is his lack of a NFL resume, which is even smaller than Foles. But if he had come up from college a year or two ago, he might have gotten a real shot. Mobile quarterbacks are more popular now than they were in 2007, so it is no longer a surprise when someone with Dixon’s skill set is able to win.
But would the Eagles really trust a practice squad quarterback to replace both Vick and Foles, just because Dixon worked with Kelly for several games in college five years ago? A lot has changed for both Kelly and Dixon since then, and what worked for them years ago at another level might not work on this one.
Still, the fact is that an aging Vick and an inexperienced Foles may not be the best fit for Kelly. But the Eagles backed themselves into that kind of corner by hiring him, so this could be one of the consequences.
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