Eagles vs. Browns: How Will Top Rookies Fare in Preseason Clash?

When the Philadelphia Eagles and Cleveland Browns face off on Friday night, the rookies will take center stage. All eyes will be on them to see how they fare in the third, and most important, preseason game.

A couple of rookie quarterbacks, Nick Foles and Brandon Weeden, will be starting under center, but both will have something different at stake. Weeden, although he was named the starting quaterback before even taking a snap in the NFL, will be looking to improve upon his mediocre start against the Green Bay Packers last week.

Foles, on the other hand, opened some eyes against the New England Patriots, and will look to solidify himself as the backup to the Michael Vick.

Here's how these two rookie quarterbacks, along with rookie linebacker Mychal Kendricks, will fare on Friday night.

Mychal Kendricks, Linebacker, Philadelphia Eagles

The Eagles couldn't have run to the podium any faster when they found out that Kendricks fell into their lap in the second round of the 2012 NFL Draft.

Kendricks was the most underrated linebacker in the draft class because he was the most polished and NFL-ready player at his position. That's exactly what the Eagles needed because their depth at linebacker last year was nothing to write home about.

Kendricks reminds me a lot of the Chicago Bears' Lance Briggs, and he's been playing like Briggs during his first two preseason games. He has been flying all over the field, accumulating 11 tackles, including three for a loss.

He is a playmaker from the linebacker position and has a nose for the ball. Expect Kendricks to continue to elevate his performance against the Browns and their lackluster stable of running backs.

Nick Foles, Quarterback, Philadelphia Eagles

I watched Foles countless times during his tenure at Arizona and I was surprised that so many NFL teams weren't as high on him as I was. The big knock on him was that he was a statue in the pocket and didn't possess the ability to evade pass-rushers.

Well, this throw against the Pittsburgh Steelers certainly contradicts that notion.

Foles has everything you want in a quarterback: size, arm strength and decision-making ability.

He looked fantastic against the New England Patriots last week, but the Browns will certainly be a test as their secondaryis one of the best in the NFL.

Foles admits the game is going fast for him right now, but he hasn't let it affect him on the field. As long as he gets the ball to DeSean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin with room to run, Foles will continue to impress on Friday night.

Brandon Weeden, Quaterback, Cleveland Browns

To be honest, I still don't know why the Browns elected to waste a first-round pick on Weeden. I'm not going to say that Weeden doesn't have the skill to play quaterback in this league, but he's already 28 years old and will be 29 in October.

At his age, if he sat a year or two to get acclimated to the style of play in the NFL, he'd already be 30 years old.

Heck, Alex Smith is younger than Weeden, and he's been in the league for seven years.

Weeden looked decent against the Packers last week, but he was inconsistent and missed some open receivers in the process.

The Eagles have some aggressive defensive backs in the secondary, which will pose a problem for Weeden as he tries to settle in and become more comfortable. It may take some time for Weeden to learn the offense since he played in a spread offense at Oklahoma State. He'll continue to struggle on Friday night.