In the off season Philly decided that they had had enough of Donovan McNabb. Kevin Kolb was their future and it was time for McNabb to hit the bricks. They traded McNabb to the division rival Washington Redskins and groomed Kolb to take over the starting job. Now with McNabb being 33 I could see on some level this idea making sense, however, there is 1 glaring problem; Kolb is an unproven player who had 1 good game last year. Philly banked all their hopes on 1 game.
Philly drafted Kolb early in the 2nd round in 2007 making it clear even then that their intentions were to move on at some point from McNabb. McNabb took the whole thing in stride and continued to play to the best of his ability. But Philly fans are a finicky and short fused lot whose patience eventually ran thin. Despite 5 NFC championship appearances and 1 Superbowl appearance, the lack of a Lombardi trophy would be the undoing of McNabb's time in Philly. The result? McNabb is now the starting QB in Washington with a respectable 89.2% passer rating and Kolb has started 1 quarter in the 1st game before being knocked out with a concussion. Since that time Michael Vick has been the starter leading them to a NFC East division leading 2-1 record. It will be Michael Vick not Kevin Kolb that Donovan McNabb will face this week in Philly. Philly had wanted to go to a pocket passer who ran a system style offense..what they have currently is a scrambling quarterback who makes on the move decisions and has a great arm matched with excellent field vision...in other words they have EXACTLY what they just got rid of!! Whether Kolb at some point will take over the reins remains to be seen. Michael Vick has thrown for 750 yds, 6 TDs, 0 INTs and has a 110.2% passer rating..for the forseeable future he will remain the starter. Philly will at some point have to ask themselves whether or not they made the best decision and whether they should keep Kolb or trade him. Should they keep Vick there as the starter or relegate him to back-up? If they keep Vick as the starter then the whole issue of trading McNabb becomes a question of whether it was just because they were tired of him as opposed to believing he no longer could play up to a certain level. Do you get rid of a Superbowl level quarterback because your finicky fans don't have faith in him anymore? We may never know the answer to this question, but if Kolb doesnt become the future of the Eagles then Philly made a mistake in getting rid of McNabb.
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