Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Quarterback of the Never

Austen's Goal Line Stand

The Cardinals really dropped the ball when
they gave an arm and a leg for Kevin Kolb.
Can we all finally agree that Kevin Kolb is at best a mediocre quarterback? Through seven games, he has tossed as many interceptions as touchdowns and has completed just 56% of his passes for a quarterback rating of 77.8. You can blame the offensive line and the lack of offensive playmakers, but you can only make so many excuses for a quarterback who was supposed to bring this team back to the playoffs. They also gave him a hefty $60 million contract before he ever played a down for their team, which anyone could have told them was a mistake.

Not only has his play been mediocre at best, but also one of the biggest knocks on him was that he was injury prone. Kolb missed last week with turf toe and he looks like he will miss at least another week with his injury. As a Jets fan, I know all too well that an injured quarterback is no good to your team.

Last week against the Rams, John Skelton stepped in for Kolb and had an impressive week. Last season, Arizona tried to convince the NFL that Skelton was a franchise quarterback, despite only giving him a chance at the starting job after two other quarterbacks failed. However, Skelton has looked as good if not better than Kolb in his one start. He had a quarterback rating of 85.7, did not turn the ball over and added almost 40 yards on the ground. Most importantly, he won the game, which gives him as many wins as Kolb has all season.

You might say that he did that against a porous Rams' defense, but this is the same defense that picked off Drew Brees twice and sacked him six times one week earlier. Brees had a quarterback rating of 73 and he did not manage to escape with a win like Skelton did. I am definitely not saying that Skelton is better than Brees, but it is something to note considering how much better he played than Brees with nowhere near as many offensive weapons.

While Skelton might not be better than Brees, there is a good chance he is better than the $60 million Kolb. If Skelton puts together another good game, especially if he comes away with another win, the Cardinals are going to have a sticky situation once Kolb is healthy. It could be two years in a row that Kolb loses his starting job to his backup after an injury and it will be interesting to see what happens with Kolb's career.
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1 comment:

  1. JT StallyNovember 9, 2011 at 8:45 PM

    I have two things to note. The first being that, as Kelli would "Like," Larry Fitzgerald is one of the best wide receivers in the game and Beanie Wells is a pretty good running back when he stays in one piece. Arizona is not at a total lack of offensive weapons, so that's not even an excuse.

    Secondly, I agree. If the Eagles thought that Kolb was a franchise QB worth getting paid as such, they would have held on to him instead of going with Michael Vick, who is four years older and who could deteriorate quickly once his legs slow down. The fact they believed their future was better with Vick than Kolb should have raised doubts about Kolb's status.

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