Kevin Kolb’s potential gives Cardinals best chance to win
Feb 17, 2011, 7:53 PM | Updated: 8:03 pm
The Arizona Cardinals completed their staff on Wednesday when they promoted quarterbacks coach Mike Miller to offensive coordinator.
Now, the team can turn all their attention and focus to player personnel, specifically attention and focus on the quarterback position.
The hottest name out there on the QB market right now is Kevin Kolb. There is no doubt in my mind he can be had for the right price.
The attention he is getting reminds me of a few years ago when now-Houston Texans QB Matt Schaub was getting offseason attention of “he has the potential to be good if given the chance.”
I’m not saying the comparisons are parallel. Schaub was never named the starter in Atlanta when he was behind Michael Vick and has now thrown for over 14,000 yards and been to a Pro Bowl. The parallel comparison is the offseason talk of “he has the potential to be good if given the chance.”
With the No. 5 pick in the 2011 draft it seems the Cardinals’ biggest decision is which route of potential do they decide to go in fixing their quarterback position.
Is Kolb going to be good if given the chance? Will he be good if given the chance?
Will the No. 5 pick lead to a franchise quarterback? Will the No. 5 pick lead to another five years of pain at the quarterback position unless you accidentally walk into another Kurt Warner situation somewhere there in the middle?
Is there a capable quarterback out there in free agency?
I’m going the optimistic route and saying an offseason QB trade can work. I’m not a fan of rookie quarterbacks and NFL teams are too smart to let capable signal callers hit free agency.
One coach, Andy Reid, thought Kolb was good enough to be named the starter before the 2010 season. Reid even traded away Donovan McNabb to a division rival knowing he had Kolb waiting for his opportunity. I think it’s safe to say Reid has seen and worked with a few good quarterbacks throughout his coaching career. While Kolb didn’t exactly show he was headed for stardom, he did show he has the potential to be a capable starter in the NFL if given the chance.
For 2011 the Cardinals have to accept potential. It doesn’t have to be No. 5 overall-John Skelton-Max Hall potential though – not if they don’t want it to be.
It could be Kolb’s potential.
Apparently, that’s the potential WR Larry Fitzgerald would like to see.
On the morning of the Super Bowl earlier this month ESPN’s Adam Schefter sent out the following tweet.
“Cardinals soliciting opinion of WR Larry Fitzgerald as to which QB he wants them to acquire. First recommendation was Kevin Kolb.”
That tells me two things. The obvious, Fitzgerald would like the team to go after Kolb. It also tells me Fitzgerald doesn’t want to catch passes from the No. 5 overall pick next September.
Kolb has shown potential in the past. He was the first quarterback in NFL history to throw for more than 300 yards in each of his first two starts. In 2010 he went 2-3 as a starter, throwing seven touchdowns and seven interceptions (I never said he was great, I said potential to be a capable starter).
If trade talks do get stirred up this offseason with his name involved, he would like the Cardinals to be in the mix. The chance to start right away and throw passes to Fitzgerald would make any QB want the opportunity to arise.
Kolb didn’t exactly lose his job in 2010; Vick came in and gave Reid no choice but to stick with him. We all saw he was well on his way to the Comeback Player of the Year Award and kept his name in the MVP discussion for a couple of months. I don’t necessarily blame Kolb for that. Vick was playing at a high level so Vick was the starter.
There are no Vicks (or McNabbs for that matter) on the Cardinals roster. Kolb would be given the full opportunity to show his potential and that’s exactly what I think both he and the Cardinals need.
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TY’s Outtakes
What I learned this week…
I learned my Grandpa Jerry gets impatient if I don’t write more.
This is an email I received at 8:23 a.m. this morning.
“Your column is 9 days old ??? Surely your tank is not empty………..”
At least I know I have one reader.
Tweet of the week…
From @jspriggsdakid: man who is good at writing papers?????????????? i pay…
No, I didn’t get the link wrong. Yes, when you click it goes to an account that can’t be found. Auburn football player Jordan Spriggs deleted his account after that tweet.
Suggestion of the week…
This is from earlier in the month and has been seen more than 5.3 million times. It’s from the past week for me and just in case you didn’t see it, I’m making sure you do see it.
