The Philadelphia Eagles currently have two quarterbacks on their roster in the running for the starting job. However, Nick Foles isn’t believed to possess the athleticism that Chip Kelly covets and Michael Vick’s quarterback IQ may be too much of an obstacle to overcome. The loud buzz about a possible reunion between Kelly and Dennis Dixon led me to take a detailed exploration into the potential of the situation.

The Pittsburgh Steelers selected Dixon in the fifth round with the 156th pick of the 2008 NFL Draft. Standing taller than six-feet-and-three-inches, he boasts prototypical height, although he is on the slender side. Even with four NFL seasons under his belt, he may have more in common with rookies than veterans. He has only appeared in four games, starting three of them, and has only 59 passing attempts in the process. Since he is such an unknown commodity, I felt I should provide some of his college background before I delve deeper into his NFL experience.

He was a two-year starter at Oregon and was squarely in the Heisman race during his senior year before a partially torn ACL ended his season after ten games. He was impressive enough in those ten games (passing totals of 67.7% / 2136 yards / 20 touchdowns / 4 interceptions and rushing totals of 105 carries / 583 yards / 9 touchdowns) to earn the honor of Pac-10 Offensive Player of the Year. He received a Bachelors degree in Sociology within three-and-a-half years, while maintaining a 3.27 GPA. He was also selected twice in the Major League Baseball draft, choosing to play rookie ball for the Atlanta Braves the summer before his senior season at Oregon.

Listed behind Ben Roethlisberger and Byron Leftwich during his rookie year, Dixon was deactivated for much of the season although he did receive a Super Bowl ring. His first shot at real game action came in Week 12 of 2009 versus the Baltimore Ravens after Roethlisberger suffered a concussion in the previous week.

Lining up opposite of the Ravens’ vaunted defense is not the most ideal setting to begin your career, but it does make for a great measuring stick. Re-watching a game from 2009 and seeing players like “Fast” Willie Parker felt like a time machine for myself. As expected, Dixon faced strong pressure throughout the game. On his first drive, the pass rush resulted in a tipped pass right in his face and a near interception. The game plan was very vanilla all through, calling for a lot of running and short throws. On a third down and short early in the game, Dixon noticed a blitz and took off up the middle for a huge gain. The play was called back due to a holding penalty, but displayed his high-quality speed. Dixon then connected on back-to-back play action passes. The first was an accurate, sideline throw to Hines Ward for 17 yards. He rolled out on the second, and while keeping his eyes downfield, he hit Santonio Holmes on a deep 27-yard throw. Holmes was able to take it the rest of the way into the end zone, which resulted in Dixon’s first NFL touchdown pass. He finished the first half 8-10 for 87 yards and a touchdown. He showed fine poise at times, standing strong in the pocket while Ray Lewis charged at him and throwing an incompletion to avoid being sacked.

The rest of the game was not as impressive. His low release resulted in at least one more batted ball and there were times he seemed hesitant to let loose. He had very sound protection on one play and threw a nice ball that traveled over 45 yards into the end zone. Mike Wallace wasn’t able to locate that ball though. Dixon’s first rushing touchdown came on third-and-five; Wallace motioned into the backfield, Dixon faked a handoff, and then strode 24 yards up the sideline for an easy score. He did make a couple of poor decisions near the end of the game. Late in the fourth quarter, with the score tied at 17, he locked onto Heath Miller and the pass was nearly intercepted for a pick-six. Then, in overtime, he was confused by the Ravens’ patented zone-blitz and threw an interception that cost the game.

His second chance to start was versus the Atlanta Falcons in Week 1 of 2010. Roethlisberger was suspended for the first four games of the season and Leftwich suffered a preseason knee injury. The game plan was ultra-conservative at the beginning with a heavy dosage of short passes, including a few quick screens, and a lot of running. Early in the game, he tried to hit Heath Miller on an out route, but threw the ball too flat leading to an easy interception by the linebacker waiting underneath. During a two-minute drive at the end of the first half he locked onto Hines Ward and side-armed the ball right to a waiting defender, who dropped the easy interception. On the next play he was able to stand tall in the pocket, withstood a strong pass rush, and connected with Mike Wallace for a crucial first down even though the throw was a little low. One of Dixon’s most impressive plays was when he evaded the oncoming rush and found Randle El down the field near the sideline. He wasn’t able to come down in bounds though and unfortunately on the next play, Dixon threw another low pass towards Randle El that fell incomplete. The Steelers were then forced to attempt a long field goal.

Dixon’s deepest throw of the day was a 52-yard strike to Mike Wallace where the ball traveled over 45 yards in the air. He may have been a little eager to let loose resulting in a poor play action, but he delivered the ball right on target. Later in the game, on a third-and-20, pressure forced Dixon to run out of the pocket to his right. He kept his eyes downfield and just before going out of bounds, he roped a pass 17 yards to Ward who was coming back to the football. He had one more near interception when he tried to hit Wallace on an out route. Then, another fine play occurred when pressure forced him to move up in the pocket; he kept his eyes downfield again and just before he crossed the line of scrimmage, he delivered a nifty touch pass that Hines Ward made a spectacular play on for a reception of 24 yards. During the game, Dixon experienced most of his success when he threw in between the hashes. There was also a few times where Dixon smartly checked down to the running back after surveying the field. The Steelers went on to win the game in overtime with a 50-yard running touchdown from Rashard Mendenhall.

It’s a small sample size, but there were positive signs for the future outlook of Dixon. I really like that he keeps his eyes downfield when scrambling, which can potentially result in a lot of big plays. At 28 years old, he is still in his athletic prime. He is not Colin Kaepernick, but will definitely have the added dimension of strong running ability. He does not have proper throwing mechanics, possessing a low release point and tending to sidearm the football. That will likely cost him some batted balls. While he doesn’t have elite arm strength, he can make all the necessary throws. He also does tend to stare down receivers, which is something he should be able to fix.

All in all, I see enough ability for him to be a successful quarterback and solid fantasy football option if he does reunite with Kelly. Dixon would feel right at home in Philadelphia under the management of a head coach that will know exactly how to utilize his strengths and hide his weaknesses. With all that said, I wouldn’t jump the gun. He must first sign with the Eagles and then win the starting job. If both those things do happen, I can see Dixon developing into a spot/matchup starter, but the quarterback position has grown historically deep and he should not be viewed as more than a very intriguing QB2 to begin the season.