We should want Kevin Kolb to win Cardinals QB job

For the 17 or so people who are avid readers of my column,
you’ll know I was not a fan of the Cardinals acquiring
Kevin Kolb last summer.

Kolb had never proven himself to be anything more than a
backup, and I felt the team was set to give up way too
much in terms of assets and money for a player whose
numbers and history did not exactly scream “long-term
starter.”

I was right.

But as Kolb enters his second training camp with the
Cardinals
— and first after an entire offseason of work with the
team — I’m reminded of a line from the movie A Few Good
Men, where Col. Jessep (played by Jack Nicholson) is
being interrogated, and just before he’s about to fall
apart and incriminate himself, says:

“You want me on that wall; you need me on that wall.”

Cardinals fans may not need Kolb under center, but they do
want him there.

When the Cardinals traded Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie and
a second round pick for the right to sign Kolb to a five-year,
$63
million contract, they telling all of us that
their coaching staff, scouts and management team all
thought the then-26-year-old was a franchise signal
caller, and was the right guy to lead the team
going forward.

A whiff on Kolb would not leave the Cardinals in as
bad shape as they were in two years ago, when Derek
Anderson was named the starter and Matt Leinart was shown
the door, because at least now the team has a better
backup than Max Hall. However, even though John Skelton is
a viable alternative who could prove to be a good NFL QB,
Kolb losing the starting job after just one season would
be a
bad look for the entire organization.

Sure, season one did not go according to plan, though many
blame a lack of comfort for the QB’s problems. That likely
contributed to his issues — as did struggles with injury
— and now, healthy and with a complete offseason under
his belt, Kolb’s chance to make a stand is right here,
right now.

Everyone knows it.

Which is why, of course, most feel the competition between
the two quarterbacks is a little slanted; it has to be. As
much as Coach Whisenhunt would like to say it’s an open
competition, the truth is things would be much easier for
everyone if Kolb emerges as the clear-cut choice over the
next few weeks.

Something similar could have been said in 2008, when you
better
believe everyone was hoping the younger Matt Leinart would
outplay the veteran Kurt Warner, thereby giving the
Cardinals their QB of the present and future. He didn’t,
the team went to the Super Bowl behind Warner, and now is
back in the same situation, minus the seemingly über-qualified
candidates.

That fact isn’t lost on the players.

“The dynamics were totally different,” Pro Bowl receiver
Larry Fitzgerald said. “Matt was the Heisman Trophy
winner, high draft pick, coming in with all the hoopla,
and Kurt was your Super Bowl MVP, two-time league MVP, did
he still have enough in the tank to get it done?

“This one is kind of different because both the guys,
they’re not household names, so to speak.”

Clearly this wasn’t the plan, as Kolb was supposed to
establish
himself as a capable starter last season and head into
camp the
unquestioned leader of a playoff team this summer, not
locked in
a battle with a former fifth-round pick out of Fordham.

But that’s exactly the situation Kolb finds himself in,
and while there are undoubtedly Skelton supporters among
the fanbase and in the
locker room, the truth is we should all be rooting for
Kolb to win the job.

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