Mike Vick or Kevin Kolb? Five Reasons the Eagles QB Controversy Won't End Soon
The 2010 calendar yearย started so well for Kevin Kolb.
After three years on the bench, the Eagles first-overall pick in the 2007 NFL Draft would finally get his chance to start during the upcoming season.
Oh by the way, Kolb signed a one-year $12.25 million contract extension in April.
Sure, Kolb was going to have some growing pains in his first season as a full-time starter, and that was totally acceptable because the Eagles had surrounded their newย QB with a talented but extremely young team that would inevitably have some major growing pains as well in 2010.
Who cares about winning a frigginโ Wild Card this season? A young team and QB showing growth and potential throughout theย year was the name of the game, right?
Well, by Week 3 of the season, itโs safe to say things havenโt gone quite the way the Eagles envisioned it.
Here are five reasons that the Kolb vs. Vick controversy will be a major storyline throughout the season.ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย
Why Kolbโs Situation Isn't Fair...
1 of 7
Life isnโt fair, but why would the Eagles ever groom Kevin Kolb to be a potential franchise QB yet also have a guy as electrifying as Michael Vick in the โbackupโ role?
Why couldnโt the Eagles have brought in someone like Jon Kitna or 59-year-old Charlie Batch to be Kolbโs backup?
You know,ย someone who could help Kevin through his growing pains while also not presenting a threatย to take over the QB job, no matter how much Kolb struggles in his first year as starter.
Michael Vick is not a backup.
Why Vickโs Situation Isnโt Fairโฆ
2 of 7
Did I mention Michael Vick is not a backup?
If nothing else, Vick has his old-fashioned unbelievable athleticism back, which was enough to win a bunch of games by itself when Michael was in Atlanta.
Vick has more talent in his pinkie finger than a bunch of current starting QBs around the league have at all, and Kolb might be included in that bunch. There are just so many bad QBs out there, itโs laughable.
It must be killing Michael to see guys like Jake Delhomme and Derek Anderson collecting paychecks as starting QBs.
Hang in there, Mike, your big payday is comingโฆsoon.
Reason No. 5: The Schedule
3 of 7
The Detroit Lions now have a 3-39 record since Nov. 4, 2007. They have three wins! Three! They might have the worst defensive secondary in NFL history.
But the Jaguars, the Eaglesโ next opponent, are probably almost as bad as the Lions are in 2010.
Kevin Kolb is scheduled to start this Sunday when the Eagles play in Jacksonville at 4 p.m.
Thus, Kolb needs to produce big-time against a terrible team, just as Vick did last week.
Unfortunately this week, there is nothing Kolb can do to win the confidence of the several thousand Eagle fans who want him riding the pine permanently in 2010.
If he doesnโt play well in Jacksonville, then itโs further proof that he must be benched for the rest of the season, right?
If he actually plays well in Jacksonville, then, who cares because it was against the horrible Jags, right? Kolb will need to do just as well in Week 4 when the Eagles welcome back a certain division rival and an old friend. Have you heard anything about that?ย
Reason No. 4: Potential Injuries
4 of 7
This just in: The Eagles offensive line is horrendous. It's so bad thatย even Vick, as elusive as he is, was sacked six times against Detroit.
Unfortunately at some point during the year, the Eagles' starting QB is going to get popped, and is gonna have to leave the game, if only for a few snaps.
Enter Kevin Kolb or enter Michael Vick, and weโll be forced to analyzeย the Eagles' current QB predicamentย all overย again.
The only way this controversy may end will be if either Kolb or Vick sustains a serious injury, which I pray wonโt happen.
Reason No. 3: The 2010 Eagles Are Better With Vick
5 of 7
Michael Vick has started 70 games in the NFL. Kevin Kolb has started three.
Michael Vick is one of the most multi-dimensional, athletic, and talented men ever to step onto an NFL field. Kevin Kolb is the prototypical pocket-passer who fits the mold of the Eagles west coast offense.
Michael Vick is, and has always been, the ultimate human highlight reel for a sports-fan community obsessed with highlight reels. Kevin Kolb isnโt what you would call razzle-dazzle.
Despite starting just one game since 2007, Vick is still the better choice for winning this season. He can make plays no other NFL QB can make, and heโll need to make them in order for this very, very flawed Eagles team to win.
Kevin Kolb might not be so hot behind this offensive line, while Vickโ multi-faceted attack would surely keep opposing defenses less blitz-happy.
You want the Eagles to go 9-7 and be a slightly-above-average team for about the sixth straight season? Vickโs your guy.
You want to find out if Kolb can survive in the NFL (even with the current O-line) and be a potential franchise QB, then youโre gonna have to start him and let him take his lumps.
Reason No. 2: The Coachโs Game Plan
6 of 7
Vickโs terrific performance over the past game and a half means that he will still play an integral part in the Eaglesโ offense...even with Kolb as the starter.
Remember how much playing time Vickย got against Green Bay, even before Kolb left with the concussion?
Incorporating Vick in the Eaglesโ offensive game plan is good because it helps the Eagles win, but is ultimately hurting Kolbโs development as a QB and is also preventing the Eagles from being able to determine whether or not he can be their long-term guy.
The Eagles organization made Kolb its face of the franchise this season by handing him the starting job. But if they had so much confidence in him, then why the hell are they putting Vick under center for 25 percent of the plays?
It makes no sense.
Reason No. 1: Potential Shifting Locker Room Allegiances
7 of 7
Since Easter, the Eagles have prepped to have Kevin Kolb as their starting QB. So why would they scratch that entire game plan after Week 2?ย No coach would ever do that.
Sports coaches and managers who make decisions based on public opinions donโt last too long.
Still, Kolb is bound to struggle once he gets back on the field (at least a little), since he still has hardly any NFL-in-game experience.
My next trip inside the Eagles locker room will be my first, but how do you think the vast majority of the Eagles' players will feel when Kolb experiences the inevitable growing pains that await him?
How can Reid look his players in the eye if he continues to start a struggling Kevin Kolb week after week? Can he stick with Kolb and keep Vick on the bench by, say, Week 6?
Hopefully Kolb will come in, starting this week, and absolutely light the world on fire (even with his current offensive line). But something tells me that wonโt happen.
.jpg?w=2560 "Love Not Playing in HOF Game")
