Person of Interest: St. Louis’ Nick Foles

Vitals

• Position: A serviceable starting quarterback of the non-franchise variety
• Height: 6-6
•Weight: 243
• Age: 26
• Experience: Fourth season

The storyline

Foles was part of the single most perplexing transaction of this offseason in which Eagles and Rams swapped quarterbacks. Philadelphia got Sam Bradford, who is significantly more expensive and clearly less durable while the Rams got a guy who looked like he might be a franchise quarterback as recently as two years ago, but now is more of a placeholder.

At least that’s what it looks like after he signed a two-year extension worth a total of $24.5 million. It’s as close as you get to riding the fence with a quarterback because it’s more money than you give a guy you’re hoping might be a good player (like, say, the Seahawks did with Charlie Whitehurst). It’s also less money than you give a quarterback that you believe is certain to be the guy.

So how is Foles going to impact St. Louis?

“We honestly haven’t gotten enough to know how different or how similar they are,” said Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman.

In other words, we’re going to have to wait and see if he brings some stability to a position where St. Louis has started four different players over the past two seasons.

One bad sign: Foles had one interception returned for a touchdown in a preseason game and another of his passes was picked off and returned inside the St. Louis 10. That matched the total number of passes Foles had picked off over 16 games in 2013 when he played so well that some wondered whether he was Philadelphia’s franchise quarterback.

He wasn’t. Whether he’ll be the Rams’ franchise quarterback is very much a question.

The statement

Foles is the fourth different St. Louis quarterback to start against the Seahawks in the past five meeting between the teams. And of all those passers, Foles is the one most capable of pushing the ball down the field against a defense.

“He’s an accurate quarterback,” Sherman said. “He gets the ball down the field and he hits his receivers in stride, so we’ve got to be aware of that.”

But the man under center for St. Louis may not be as important as the men around the center. The Rams are starting two rookies along the offensive line, and Foles’ mobility – or more accurately the lack thereof – may prove pivotal for the Seahawks’ pass rush.

“They don’t move him around the pocket as they did Sam,” Sherman said.

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