The Kevin Kolb Infatuation
By Editorial Staff
With the Eagles he’s had great players around him to help him shine. They are loaded at the skill positions with very fast, elusive players who are very good at operating in space, breaking tackles and creating yards after the catch. Play makers such as Jackson, McCoy, Maclin and Avant are, to a man, incredible athletes. Kolb is an average pocket passer who will only take a few shots down field during the course of a game. He is NOT, however, the kind of QB that can sling it all over the field, put up huge points and carry a team on his shoulders. He’s just okay. And we’ve barely seen just okay.
So the concern, for me, is the total body of work. It is very limited. And the Eagles are reportedly asking for either a first and third pick, or two second round picks as compensation. That seems extremely steep for such an unproven player with an average arm. Simply out, he has played in a system that suits his strengths. That’s it. But some now are branding him another Matt Schaub.
Before Matt Schaub was traded to the Texans in 2007 He had played in just a handful of games too. Yet Houston paid an extremely high price for him.(two second round picks and the swapping of first rounders). Luckily for the Texans, it has worked out well for them. But although there is similarities in their situations prior to be traded, I digress that their skill sets merit comparison. Kolb and Schaub are like comparing apples and oranges. Schaub is a prototypical gunslinger, blessed with an ability to throw the ball all over the field, while Kolb is best suited in the West Coast offense. He doesn’t have the arm strength that Schaub has, and he relies more on his accuracy in short, intermediate routes than he does making big plays down field.
Matt Schaub has clearly turned out to be a great move for the Houston Texans. However, I don’t think the same will be said of the team that opens the vault to get Kevin Kolb. He’s not close to being the same caliber of player. In Philly, the system disguised his weaknesses and magnified his strengths. The supporting cast there made him look better than he is.
There is just such a small body of work on him, that for any team to give up so much for such an unproven player is lunacy. He is not elite. In the right system he is, at his very best, just above average. Maybe. It wouldn’t take much for him to fall into the average-below average category. So if you’re counting on him to save your franchise you’ll be in for a big disappointment . He is adequate. That’s it.
Kevin Kolb’s Career Player Stats courtesy of Espn.com
http://espn.go.com/nfl/player/stats/_/id/10480/kevin-kolb
Matt Schaub’s Career Stats courtesy of Espn.com