Philadelphia Eagles: Why Kevin Kolb Will Decide the Draft Strategy

Kevin Kolb will decide the draft strategy for the Philadelphia Eagles. Silly statement for sure. More accurately, Kolb's status will decide the strategy the Eagles will use during the 2011 draft. Here is how it'll work out.  

Let's, just for a minute, assume a CBA is done and Kolb is traded for a draft choice of some sort. For this article, it doesn't matter as much where or for what. Let's just assume Kolb is no longer an Eagle next season.

I think we can all agree that the key to winning next year is the play at quarterback. Michael Vick played amazingly in 2010, but he played amazing for 12 games. In fact, in eight seasons playing in the NFL, Vick has only played 16 games once. This means that the Eagles need to assume he will not play all the games next year.

So, let's look at the strategies the Eagles can take if Kolb is gone. Will Kafka be the No. 2?  If he is ready, then the Eagles need to concentrate on keeping Vick healthy. If that's the case, we can look to McGlynn, Herremans, Peters, Jean-Gilles and Justice for guidance.

Peters had a pretty good year, but the rest of the guys were average at best, and were benched in the playoffs at worst. To keep Vick healthy, the Eagles can upgrade the line. Maybe Vick won't feel the need to take as many risks if he has some confidence that he isn't about to be buried by 350 lbs of rushing tackle at any minute.

Should an upgrade on the line be the way to go, the options in the first round might be Nate Solder, Anthony Castonzo, Gabe Carimi, Mike Pouncey or Derek Sherrod. Many draft lists have Carimi coming to the Eagles in round one. Clint Boling may fall to round two and would be a good pickup. 

Another strategy if Kafka isn't ready would be to add a QB behind Vick. There isn't much of a chance that the Eagles will use an early round pick to grab a QB, and many teams this year are going to be searching for help at the QB spot.

But let's say we get to round two or round three and Colin Kaepernick, Ricky Stanzi or Christian Ponder are still on the board. Could the Eagles pick up another QB then? I think it's possible.

Finally, there is always the possibility of picking up a free agent past his prime to fill in just in case.

In any event, if Kolb is no longer an Eagle next year, the club needs to start thinking about what to do when Vick goes down, like he does every year. Protect him better or get another quality backup.