Philly.com: Rich Hofmann: Way too early to pass judgment on Kolb, young Eagles

[tr1]

By Rich Hofmann

Philadelphia Daily News

http://www.philly.com/dailynews/columnists/rich_hofmann/20100814_Rich_Hofmann__Way_too_early_to_pass_judgment_on_Kolb__young_Eagles.html

KEVIN KOLB looks fine.

With that, feel free to go read the Phillies story.

We have miles to go before we know anything - miles and years, if truth be told. Kolb clearly is a competent NFL quarterback already, and what he did last night in the Eagles' first exhibition game against the Jacksonville Jaguars demonstrated what we already knew. He cannot possibly begin to make the jump from competence to excellence, not yet, not here, no matter how much we want to pretend it can be so.

With that, no significant news was committed in the Eagles' 28-27 victory - other than that the Eagles' backup secondary showed itself to be kind of tertiary. As far as the great quarterback conversation is concerned, it really has not yet begun.

Nothing to see here, then.

Really, Kolb is not going to be an issue.

"It was good," he said, assessing a night when he went 6-for-11 for 95 yards but settled for two field goals. Tight end Brett Celek juggled and dropped a touchdown pass on one drive, a red-zone holding penalty by fullback Leonard Weaver scuttled another, and Eagles coach Andy Reid yanked the starters at the end of the first quarter, in the middle of a third drive.

"Obviously, when you get down into the red zone, you want to score points but both drives were successful," Kolb said. "We racked up some yards there and put six points on the board, then had a chance there with our third one. Overall, I thought it was good - but we've got to get better in the red zone."

Picking apart Kolb's performance is expected, as is the printing of this bulletin from the Washington Redskins: Donovan McNabb was 5-for-8 for 58 yards and a touchdown in his exhibition opener against the Buffalo Bills. It is going to be like this all year, this comparative stuff, this peeling away of layer after layer of the onion in search of something other than more tears. Anyway, here goes.

Kolb's first pass, a slant over the middle to DeSean Jackson for 21 yards, was delivered on time and in stride. It is the kind of throw that Eagles fans close their eyes and dream about when they see Kolb, the kind of throw that McNabb was less likely to deliver.

Kolb's fourth pass was incomplete over the middle to Jason Avant near the goal line, forced into a hole that wasn't there. It would have been intercepted if Avant had not fought to break it up. It is the kind of throw that Eagles fans close their eyes and worry about when they see Kolb, the kind of throw that McNabb was less likely to deliver.

There is going to be that tension there all season long, the tension between the things Kolb likely will do better than McNabb (primarily, the accuracy things and the getting-rid-of-the-ball things) and the things that he likely will do worse than McNabb (throw ill-advised interceptions). Some kind of plus-minus calculation will have to be worked out - because it is what we do, put words and numbers to emotions and concerns.

Dreams and worries, then.

Even now.

"We know we're talented," Kolb said. "We know there's talent on the field all over the place. We just have to execute. We're doing our own thing. We don't need to force anything. We're a young bunch. We're excited about the way we started things today and we just need to keep moving forward next week."

Kolb talked about the excitement, Reid talked about the excitement, Jackson talked about the excitement. It all was the natural enough byproduct of all of the youth and the newness. And, as Kolb said, "Who knows what the first regular-season game is going to be like."

Channeling that emotion will be one of the stories of the season. That is more on Reid than Kolb, but Kolb will have a big piece of it. And in his overall assessment, he seemed to realize just that.

"Wasn't great, nothing spectacular, but we did well," he said. And for now, that will have to be enough. Reid is not likely to vary from the upcoming plan - slow, steady, all of that. He wouldn't even allow the first offense to finish its third drive because the first quarter ended in the middle of it, and that was the plan, and it wasn't going to change.

Kolb said he didn't lobby for more time. He said, "I never question the big man."

It is so early, after all.

[dsciambi]

I honestly see the Eagles in the cellar this year. Too many injuries already. They'll probably start strong, going 4-3 or 5-2 before the bye, but after that I see them collapsing horribly (it doesn't help that their schedule after the bye looks absolutely brutal).

[Nickclone]

I'm thinking right now: how can Kolb be better with accuracy and getting rid of the ball than McNabb if he's prone to more interceptions?

[dockeryfan]

I'm thinking right now: how can Kolb be better with accuracy and getting rid of the ball than McNabb if he's prone to more interceptions?

He's better with accuracy, but worse with field vision.

In the NO game he threw some very accurate balls. He just didn't see the defenders, lol.

[JiggaManDC]

Too many injuries already.

Really, where?

[JiggaManDC]

I'm thinking right now: how can Kolb be better with accuracy and getting rid of the ball than McNabb if he's prone to more interceptions?

Because when McNabb misses, he MISSES (low and way outside).

Kolb takes a lot of chances. He needs more game experience, like any young QB, so he can learn the throws (and chances) he can and cannot make against NFL talent. If he can learn from his mistakes (which he will make), he'll be OK. If he doesn't, he won't last very long.