The Future Of The Eagles' Franchise Depends On Kevin Kolb Starting

The popular issue talked about with the Philadelphia Eagles nowadays is the quarterback controversy between Michael Vick and Kevin Kolb, and which one should start. While Michael Vick gives the Eagles the best shot to win now, he should not be the starting quarterback. This is why Vick’s rib injury is a blessing in disguise.  Andy Reid is delaying the development of his franchise by keeping Kolb on the bench and not starting him.

First, we have to look at this from a rational point of view. The Eagles shipped out Donovan McNabb for the youth movement of the team, giving Kolb his shot. By starting Vick and trying to win now Andy Reid is contradicting himself, it makes no sense. Why is McNabb out of Philly when he gave you the best opportunity to win now? McNabb is a premier quarterback in this league; Vick has never been, even before Vick went to jail.  He took advantage of a weak NFC to lead the Falcons to the playoffs. Vick’s career completion is a mere 54.1 percent, and his touchdown to interception ratio stands at 1.5, those numbers do not blow anyone away.  

Just because Vick has played well during the garbage time of a game when Green Bay was blowing the Eagles out and against two bad teams, the Jaguars and the Lions, does not mean he has reinvented himself in Philadelphia. If Vick continues to start he will fall back to earth and his horrid completion percentage and touchdown to interception ratio will return.

Now we have to look at the age of the two quarterbacks, Kevin Kolb is only 26 years old, able to give you many more years than Michael Vick who is now 30. Kolb’s style of play is also less abusive to his body than Vick’s, which will limit the risk of a serious injury affecting his career over multiple years.  

The whole Eagles’ roster is young, so you’d think developing a young quarterback to take the helm for many years to come would make sense. This is also ignoring the fact that Kolb was just giving a 12 million dollar extension while Vick’s contract is up after this year. The chance that Vick gets a new deal is very low unless he takes the Eagles to the Superbowl, which is once again a very low chance. Vick will most likely walk after this year, so starting him moves the development of Kolb till next year, slowing down the progression of the franchise.

The biggest effect starting Vick over Kolb has on the Eagles is how it slows down the progression of the franchise. The Eagles don’t know exactly what they have in Kolb at this time; he can develop into a good quarterback in this league or could be a bum. That is why Kolb needs to start now, if the Eagles wait till next year to see how he performs consistently over an extended amount of continuous starts and Kolb turns out not to be the guy, the franchise is set back at least another 3 years.

As the Eagles would struggle next season, then have to draft or find another quarterback to lead the squad, and let that quarterback develop into the offense. If Kolb would start now we can find the answer to that question this season if he is the guy or not, if he performs well let Vick go, if he performs bad, resign Vick to a short deal and grab a young quarterback to develop while Vick keeps the Eagles competitive. Kolb has shown flashes in his time on the field, let’s see what he can do on a consistent basis when he develops confidence as an NFL quarterback and learns to make the throws he did not during the Redskins game.

The whole issue is that no one knows the true potential of Kolb, whether or not he will be the guy in Philadelphia. Eagles’ fans, such as I, need to be support Kolb starting for the betterment of the franchise in the long term instead of starting Vick for the short term. The NFL is a business and Kolb is a huge investment for our franchise, our next few seasons teeter on his ability to play so let’s find out if he can play.

There is an unnecessary amount of negativity from Philly fans towards Kolb for no reason, this is why McNabb is no longer here, and why our franchise will not win us a Superbowl that we all desperately want. I’ll support whoever starts at quarterback for the Eagles even if I oppose them starting. The fans hop on Kolb for every mistake, there’s going to be bumps in the road for him to become a good quarterback.

Get Kolb the experience; let the man develop as a quarterback.