Lockout is playing games with Kevin Kolb’s value

First he’s the next great quarterback, needing only an opportunity to show his stuff. Then, suddenly, he’s overrated, a mediocre-at-best signal caller who crumbles under pressure and can’t complete a deep ball.

Trying to determine Kevin Kolb’s value during the lockout has been like Derek Anderson trying to be an NFL quarterback: an exercise in futility.

While Eagles coach Andy Reid has been heaping praise on his 26-year-old backup, others around the NFL are saying the QB is not worth the first round pick he’s likely going to command.

Where does the truth lie?

“I still think I know what I think about Kevin Kolb, and I still think it’s worth it to go get him,” Sports 620 KTAR’s Dave Burns said on Sports Interactive. “If you need a quarterback and you’re the Arizona Cardinals he can be a difference maker.”

Pointing to Kolb’s resume, which includes all of seven career starts, Burns said it is too early to give up on the guy.

Sports 620 KTAR’s Paul Calvisi, though, noted that nobody really knows much about Kolb at this point.

“And that’s the point, it’s going to be a risk,” he said. “He could be the next Matt Schaub or he could be another iteration of A.J. Feely, you don’t know.”

Indeed, nobody knows what Kolb ultimately will become. There are plenty of people who think they know, but until the quarterback sinks or swims on the field any discussion will include purely speculation.

And, as we’re seeing now, that speculation’s tone varies pretty much by the day.

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