Watch CBS News

Former Eagle N.D. Kalu: Don't Give Up On Foles, Pressure On Kelly

By Andrew Porter

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) --- Every day at 3:45 p.m. on Sports Radio 94WIP, Josh Innes and Tony Bruno sarcastically update Philadelphia on Marcus Mariota for one-minute on the "Mariota Minute."

Why is the city so obsessed with the Oregon QB, who will likely be gone way before the Eagles even sniff the podium at No. 20, when Nick Foles is 14-4 as a starter under Chip Kelly?

Former Eagles N.D. Kalu doesn't get it.

"Tell to you the truth, I don't understand the whole talk on we need to hurry up to find a another quarterback, and maybe I missed something," Kalu told Innes and Bruno Wednesday on 94WIP. "I know before [Foles] was injured people were saying he doesn't look as good as he did the year before, but I just think we give up on quarterbacks way too quickly.

Listen to N.D. Kalu with Josh Innes and Tony Bruno:

 

"And what people tend to forget, the hones was also on the offensive coordinator, the quarterback coach," Kalu continued. "It's so easy to say, OK draft a good quarterback and success will follow. I can go coach Aaron Rodgers and Peyton Manning and Tom Brady. Because you know what I'll do? I'll say, 'Hey, Tom. What do you want to do?'"

Kalu, essentially, is putting pressure on Kelly and the Eagles' coaching staff to mold the 26-year-old quarterback. Kalu cites examples of coaching getting the most out of their quarterbacks, like Andy Reid with Donovan McNabb, Jim Harbaugh with Colin Kaepernick, and Russell Wilson with Pete Carroll.

"I love what Andy Reid did with Donovan," Kalu, who played on those Reid-McNabb led Eagles from 2001-2005, explained. "I love the way he mentored him and helped mold him into an All-Pro quarterback.

"I loved what we saw out of Colin Kaepernick a couple of years ago, a guy who is not a traditional quarterback but under the tutelage of Jim Harbaugh and his quarterback coach, he had a lot of success out of that position.

"Russell Wilson, let's be real, he's not an elite quarterback."

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.