Its been talked about over and over, and its been made quite clear that during the games Koy Detmer was the #2 because he was the holder and the Eagles placed a high importance on the holder's relationship with the kicker. However, were Donovan McNabb to get injured for more than just in the middle of the game, AJ Feeley WOULD have been the guy taking over. If Donovan tore an ACL and went down for the rest of the year, Feeley would be playing the whole year. That makes him a #2 in my book.
When Vinny Testeverde got injured in I believe it was 1999, Tom Tupa was the guy that came in and threw passes for Bill Parcells during the rest of that game. However, when the next game rolled around, Rick Mirer was the starter. Does that mean Mirer was 3rd string behind Tupa?
Its pretty simple. If you don't like AJ Feeley for whatever reason, you call him a #3 QB. If you like him, you call him a #2 QB. Thats exactly what has been happening in the media. I've not seen one single reporter who liked Feeley, refer to him as a #3 QB in Philly.
At the beginning of the season Philly fans openly chanted for AJ Feeley to come in and start in place of an ineffective McNabb. You think that sounds like a guy that is third string?
Ask AJ himself, he said it openly when he first came here, he had an understanding with the coaches that Koy was listed #2 because he was the holder, but if McNabb were to go down for a matter of games AJ would be the starter.
For those of you confused there is a rule. The number of players you get to activate any given game-day is like 46 or 47...plus one "emergency third quarterback" That emergency QB suits up and stays out on the sidelines, and once he is inserted into the game for ANY reason prior to the 4th quarter, neither of the 2 quarterbacks listed on the active roster can come back in the game. If the Eagles were to list AJ Feeley as the 2nd QB, and Detmer as the third emergency QB, Detmer would not be allowed to go onto the field to hold for the kicker...because if he did, neither McNabb nor Feeley would be allowed back in the game until the 4th Quarter. So that means the Eagles would have had to find another holder that their kicker Akers was comfortable with...and Akers has been kicking with Detmer holding for quite a while.
The Eagles just decided that if McNabb went down, the difference between Feeley and Detmer was small enough that it was more worth it to have Detmer be the #2 so that he could hold...however when you take the holding out of the equation, as in if McNabb got injured for the longterm, the starting job goes to Feeley.
