It was announced last night that recently released QB Nick Foles has found a new home. After spending one season with the St. Louis Rams, now the Los Angeles Rams, Foles is now going to play for the Kansas City Chiefs and his former boss, Andy Reid. Now the issue is who do you start behind center Week 1 when the Chiefs play their AFC West Rivals San Diego Chargers.

Here are five reasons why Nick Foles should get the start over Alex Smith.

Knowledge of the playbook

Back in January of 2016, Head Coach Andy Reid announced how the Chiefs were going to call the plays for the offense. He said he would be the one to call the plays during the 2016 season. Normally, when a team brings in a QB, it takes a bit of time for the QB to adjust to the playbook of the new team. This is a different case as Nick Foles played under Andy Reid while they were with the Eagles during the 2012 season. While Alex Smith did do decent last season, he is not an Andy Reid guy, and Nick Foles happens to be an Andy Reid guy.

 

Age Difference

Alex Smith will be entering the 2016 season at 32 years old, and Nick Foles is 27 years old, so there is a four-year difference between the two quarterbacks. Being that the Chiefs are in the AFC West, and you take a look at the other teams in the West. Raiders have Derick Carr who is 25 years old, and the Chargers have Philp Rivers who is 32 years old. The Broncos have yet to announce a starter, but they have Paxton Lynch who is vying for a spot, and he is 22. Finally you have the Kansas City Chiefs who have Alex Smith who is 32 years old. So Alex Smith is tied for being one of the older quarterbacks in the West.

 

Nick Foles was sacked less in 2015

2015 was a bad season for Alex Smith for sacks. He was sacked 45 times which was tied for the most in his career. Between the 2014 and 2015 season, Alex Smith was sacked 90 times (45 each season). On the other hand, Nick Foles was only sacked 14 times in 11 games. Between the 2014 and 2015 season, Foles got sacked a total of 23 times in the 19 games he started. This can be due to Nick Foles being more of an out-of- pocket QB, while Alex Smith is known more for being a pocket passer.

 

Doesn’t throw many times

Throughout Nick Foles short career, he has relied heavily on the running game. Over Foles’ career, he has thrown the ball 1,230 times and had 740 completions. On the other side, Alex Smith has thrown the ball 3,619 times and had 2,280 completions. If you have thrown the ball that often in a career, you tend to be shelved with a shoulder injury.

 

Foles has a better QBR

Over Foles’ career, he has had a QBR of 87.3%. If you look on the other side, Alex Smith has had an overall QBR of 84.5%. Except for last season where Alex Smith had a better QBR than Nick Foles, every other year that Foles has been in the NFL he has had a better QBR. It was bad last season because he was on a team like the Rams who have a worse offensive line than the Eagles.