Get on the Kevin Kolb bandwagon!

[SD]

fargin' A.

17. Kolb once explained one advantage to growing up country. "When you're out in the woods and you get beat up, your mom's not there to pick you up. I'd flip my four-wheeler or something, want to lay down there and be hurt. There's nobody there to cry for you. You got to jump up and keep going."

Polar opposite of what mama 5 did

[PoopyfaceMcGee]

5 played on a broken ankle and with a sports hernia, but his emotional health was a different story.

[PoopyfaceMcGee]

All aboard!

"This offense is built on rhythm and it's built on using the short passing game as an extension of the run and just dissecting people," Kolb said. "There's a lot on the quarterback's shoulders. It's built on the quarterback making decisions at the line. My preparation, nobody's ever going to outwork me.

"When he first came in (as a rookie), you could see the type of leader he was," Celek said. "He's willing to work. He wants to be the best. And he's not going to stop short of that. He's willing to do what it takes to be the best quarterback in the NFL, and I think he will be that one day."

[General_Failure]

So, steroids?

[Rome]

Ashley Fox: Kolb to lead Birds' young guns

POSTED: April 6, 2010

Inquirer NFL columnist

The movement began last season. Donovan McNabb was out with a broken rib, and Kevin Kolb was the Eagles' starting quarterback for two games.

While he made some mistakes in a loss to New Orleans, Kolb did some good things. Spread the football around. Got the receivers the ball where they could gain yards after the catch. Moved the team down the field, gaining 391 passing yards, the 12th-highest total in team history.

The next week against Kansas City, Kolb was even more relaxed, more poised, and more accurate.

Then McNabb was back, and it was as if the life got sucked out of the team, according to one player I spoke with Monday. The offense was explosive at times, stagnant at others, and slowly, players began to doubt McNabb and wish for Kolb.

Sunday night, that wish came true when the Eagles announced that they had traded McNabb to Washington. Kolb is the man now. Michael Vick is the backup. And McNabb is a memory.

It's monumental for the Eagles, and certainly scary, because you just don't know how a quarterback will perform until he's given the chance. It's possible Kolb doesn't have the skills to become an elite quarterback. His arm might not be strong enough, his feet not fleet enough.

Replicating McNabb's success won't be easy. McNabb spoiled people with his ability to win and lead the Eagles to the playoffs. If anything, he was a victim of his own success. Plenty of fans would love for their team to be in five NFC championship games, but for Eagles fans, it understandably just wasn't enough.

The Eagles' front office, their coaching staff, and certainly the players believe that Kolb can be that guy, as Brent Celek said, to lead them to the "promised land." On Monday, a parade of players spoke about Kolb's relentless dedication to studying the game, about how he knows what every player on offense is supposed to be doing during every play, about how calm he is making checks at the line of scrimmage, and about what kind of leader he is.

In an instant, Kolb went from the future to the present. He is now the guy. Guard Todd Herremans called having Kolb under center "refreshing."    @ PHREAK.

"The whole locker room is behind him," Herremans said.

That would include all those kids. And why not? Kolb is one of them. The projected starters on offense have an average age of 24. Only three guys on the team are over 30, only three were drafted by the team before 2006, and only two were on the 2004 team that went to the Super Bowl.

These guys are young, and Kolb is their leader.

On his first day as the Eagles' starting quarterback, Kolb got to the NovaCare Complex at 8 a.m. He lifted weights for about 45 minutes, and then walked through the locker room. "It's time to go," he said to DeSean Jackson, Jeremy Maclin, Jason Avant, Celek, and the other pass catchers.

"He just grabbed me and was very excited," Jackson said. "There is a lot of good, positive energy going around our team."

There's something to be said for that.

Kolb grew up in Texas the son of a football coach. He's been in a locker room since he was 6 years old. He knows the game, knows the position, is hungry, and is smart enough to know there are plenty of things he doesn't know and therefore he needs some help.

That's why Kolb said he hopes to talk with Drew Brees. He wants to pick Brees' brain about things like how to prepare his body for the season, how to approach games, and some mechanics of being a starter in this league.

Kolb also is committed to staying in Philadelphia during the off-season. Although he is going back and forth to his home in Fort Worth, Texas - Kolb's wife is due to have their second daughter any minute now - he has been in Philadelphia during the week since March 15.

"Being here and being a part of all these workouts and these minicamps and being here day in and day out, nothing can replace that," Kolb said, a bright green Eagles hat on his head. "That's the one thing that I learned when I first got here is that I never want to lose that. I want to take my time off, and I want to rest, but this is a very important part of the season for me right here."

It is. Team chemistry is built in the off-season. As young as the Eagles are, they'll need every advantage, however small, they can muster.

Like every other quarterback in his first season as a starter, Kolb will need time to adjust, but he has the benefit of having been here for three full years. He's watched, and he's waited, and that will serve him well.

Look at Aaron Rodgers. For three years, he sat behind Brett Favre. As the starter in 2008, Rodgers threw for more than 4,000 yards, but the team finished 6-10. Last year, he topped 4,400 yards, led the Packers to 11 regular-season wins, and then lost to Arizona in a shoot-out in the playoffs.

That's a logical path for Kolb.

If he can build on what he did in two starts last season, maybe Kolb will be better faster than Rodgers. Kolb showed his young teammates in those starts that he could be the guy, and they could be successful with him.

"I saw a confidence boost for him," Maclin said. "I saw he knew where to throw the ball, when to throw the ball, and what receiver to throw the ball to at the right time. That's all you can ask of a quarterback."

And that's why the young guns, as Jackson called the Eagles now, were ready for Kolb.

Everyone in the locker room clearly hates him and hopes he fails.

DONOVAN COME HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOME!   

[smeags]

yeah but people on the interent say kolb blows and if it's on the internet it can't be wrong.

[PhillyGirl]

LOL...I'm sorry, what did you think they would say?

"ugh THIS guy is our QB, I quit!"

[Rome]

They would have if they posted on

[SunMo]

i need munson to re-post that perfectly thrown, perfectly paced throw to Desean to remind me how much he sucks.

or maybe he can post the slant throw between two defenders in the chiefs game to remind me how weak his arm is

[Munson]

The throw to DeSean had nothing to do with him sucking, it had to do with his weak ass arm strength. You can tell that ball was a duck and the only reason why it was completed was because of the broken coverage. Any athelte in the area makes a play on that ball.


Kolb's arm strength sucks. Hopefully it won't lead to a ton of undercut routes and some pick 6's.

[SunMo]

yup, lots of routes being undercut, just like on this play

http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-videos/09000d5d812fb7f6/Kevin-Kolb-Highlight-WK-03-vs-Chiefs-2009

[General_Failure]

Can someone tell me why the NFL thinks I want to see players pretending to be volcanoes in slow motion?

[reese125]

there are other good throws by him, but thats a horrible video to prove a point

the slant pass was completely behind jackson, and kolb was very fortunate that the chiefs defenders blow so bad

[SunMo]

he fit a ball between two defenders...definitely a terrible throw

[Sgt PSN]

arm strength might be the most overrated qb attribute out there.  joe montana did not have a strong arm.  that's why he went in the 3rd round.  jeff george had a cannon, was the first pick in the 1990 draft.  tom brady is not known for having an extremely strong arm.  kyle boller was drafted in the first round because he could throw a ball 50 yds on his knees. 

this isn't the houston oilers run and shoot offense or the rams gsot.  it's the wco which is based on short/intermediate timing routes and anyone who doesn't think that kolb isn't better suited for the wco than mcnabb is a farging moron.  doesn't mean he'll have more success, but "on paper" kolb def appears to be the better match. 

using video of one "duck" pass to try and prove that kolb has a weak arm is also pretty dumb.  it's one pass.  even the best qb's out there throw the occasional wobbler.  big deal.  if he's throwing them out there like that 30% of the time, then it's a problem.  but i suspect that it isn't a regular occurance otherwise there would be lots of video out there highlighting all of the horrible throws that kolb made during his 2 starts last year.