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The lingering memory fans have of Kevin Kolb is the disastrous pass he threw to Ed Reed in the endzone in the embarrassing loss at Baltimore. People tend to forget that Kevin led us down the field and inside their 10-yard line for the first time all day. Our only TD of the game came on a Quintin Demps KOR.
I understand that a lot of people resent Kolb. He was guilty before he ever took a snap. Many people think the Eagles were idiotic to take him early in the 2nd round of the 2007 Draft. I happened to like Kevin a lot, so I was okay with the pick. The player I preferred us to take was ILB David Harris, now a starter for the Jets.
Kolb has played quite a bit in the last couple of preseasons. His numbers are okay.
2007: 70 - 106 - 617 ... 66% ... 2 TDs ... 0 INTs ... rating 87.7
2008: 48 - 83 -- 480 ... 58% ... 1 TDs ... 1 INTs ... rating 73.4
This was supposed to be the year where Kevin really took a step forward. He's got a couple of preseasons under his belt. Last year he got game action against STL, PIT, and BAL. We have a terrific set of WRs. That would give him plenty of targets. The setup was there for Kevin to really play well.
And then he got hurt.
Kevin has missed the first couple of preseason games. I think he'll play this week, but I'm not sure it is a total lock. Kevin needs to get on the field. He needs the game reps. Kevin won't see much time in the regular season, barring an injury. He comes in at the end of games, but that kind of mop-up duty is mostly hand-offs and basic stuff. Preseason game reps are golden to backup QBs. That is their one chance to actually run the offense.
I'm not sure how Andy is going to handle the backup QB situation this year. Vick's presence complicates things. The Eagles still like Kevin and see him as the future starter. However, he's got to get on the field and play well for them to have confidence in him for 2009. If Kevin looks rusty and struggles he could find himself buried on the depth chart for this year.
One of the big challenges for a QB is how he responds to adversity. Kevin had the bad Ravens game last year and has now been hurt this summer. Will he come out fired up and focused? Has his confidence been shaken? We need to see what Kevin can do and where his head is at. He says all the right things, but you learn in football to trust your eyes and not your ears.
Any real talk about his future at this point is useless. There are just too many unknown factors. Let's see how he does the final 2 games. Let's see how Andy uses the backup QBs this season. Kevin doesn't exactly control his own destiny, but he sure has a strong hand in how things will play out.
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8 comments:
McNabb is the best quarterback the Eagles are going to have over the next five years and if the Eagles can resign him they should and he will start. That means Kolb has to be either an unhappy backup or get traded. So the Eagles should resign McNabb as soon as they can - presumably as soon as the new deal is reached with the union- and then trade Kolb. However, if they can trade Kolb sooner, since now might be the best value or best time to get a middle linebacker or TE, they should.
Maybe Reid has seen something in Kolb that makes him believe he can be a franchise quarterback but no one else has seen it. His play has been OK but not great. Lots of quarterbacks can lead their team down the field and then throw an interception. That is what bad teams and bad quarterbacks do. Remember AJ Feeley in the New England game two years ago. Close but no cigar is not good. From everything I've seen AJ is better than Kolb. True Kolb has not had a real chance to prove himself yet. But if McNabb stays he is never going to get his chance anyway.
The only way Kolb gets a chance to play is if McNabb goes and that is probably a disaster for Eagles fans. The only reason is is not a disaster is if Kolb turns out to be close to McNabb in ability. We already know he doesn't have the legs or the arm or experience so what are the odds Kolb is a decent replacement?
Vick is probably better than Kolb so if McNabb goes down this year Kolb probably still sits.
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Kevin Kolb to me may never get a fair shake in philly. He probably will never get the playing time in live games, that "game experience" which many quarterbacks feel is so crucial because he's not going to go past Donovan on the depth chart. Preseason can only take you so far. He might leave philly with every fan thinking he was a bum pick and a waste, possibly going to another franchise with an opportunity to compete to be a starter.
I think the best point to make about Kevins Baltimore game is, Donovan threw interceptions that game too, but Kevin actually got us down farther than Donovan had at any point that game. Niether of them got us any points, but at the very least Kolb got us down near the end zone.
Its kind of a double standard people use when evaluating that game. They never mention how much donovan was struggling and the fact that he threw a pick or factor that into the equation, but put a lot of weight behind the fact that Kolb threw that int in the endzone. Bottom line is Baltimore is a tough tough defense to get your first significant NFL action against, and honestly is there a better ballhawking safety in the NFL today? Quarterbacks much better and more experienced than Kolb have fallen prey to an Ed Reed interception.
@Stephen
You are absolutely correct that McNabb was terrible in that game and for several before and certainly worse than Kolb in that game. But while McNabb had a bad stretch we know that McNabb can do the job and we do not know that about Kolb.
I have no problem with the Eagles drafting of Kolb. It made great sense at the time. We did not know what was going to happen with McNabb and we still don't. But I think we now know that what we want is McNabb for five more years.
On the other hand we still don't know much about Kolb. Thus, there is no scenario where we transition to Kolb with any level of comfort. The likely scenario where Kolb gets to start is - McNabb gets hurt or signs with another team and we have to go with Kolb cold turkey and pray for a miracle.
No way to transition to Kolb with a level of comfort???
How about a 13-1 start in 2009 and 2010. We then sit the starters. Kolb and the backups still score 35 points a game. We then win the SB each year and the game is such a blowout that Kevin plays the whole 2nd half.
Did I mention that I win the lottery and then Megan Fox and I live happily ever after?
I realize these odds are only about 50-50, but figured it was worth mentioning.
Megan Fox called me to get Tommy's personal phone number, and she wanted to know if he could help her get SB tickets. I told her if she got your number, Tommy, the odds were probably better than 50-50 you would call her back. As for the 13-1 start, probably the same odds as Kolb getting on the field much this year.
That would be impossible because Megan Fox and I are already happily married and living on a tropical island in the south pacific. We actually contracted Kevin Kolb to be our butler during the winter because odds are he won't be seeing an NFL field this season.
I guess I should have said no reasonably probable scenario.
I'm OK with 13-1, SB, Megan Fox, and the lottery. But good luck with Kolb, the backups and 35 points.
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