Comparisons Being Drawn Between Kolb and Leinart

[kerouac9]

Don't take my word for it:

Hasselbeck, who played for Ken Whisenhunt in Arizona, suggested Kevin Kolb hasn't shown himself to be the leader Whisenhunt wants at the position. He thought Kolb needed to win over the team this offseason. Bruschi encouraged the team to go with John Skelton instead if Kolb doesn't step forward and distinguish himself as a team leader. Sound familiar? It should, at least to anyone familiar with Matt Leinart's time under Whisenhunt. Is Kolb the next Leinart, a highly paid player unable to win over the team? That was the comparison drawn during this special.

http://espn.go.com/blog/nfcwest/post/_/id/66593/nfc-wests-hour-in-the-sportscenter-sun

Who will have more career starts as an Arizona Cardinal?

 

[Zeno]

Interesting. Very disappointing if they are already questioning his leadership skills, you would have thought the coaching staff would have done their due diligence prior to trading for Kolb, they should have had some inkling of his personality and make up.

 

[Duckjake]

On the other hand this is encouraging:

Fantasy analyst Eric Karabell singled out Arizona's Ryan Williams, St. Louis' Danny Amendola and Seattle's Flynn as breakout fantasy players from the division.

 

[Goldfield]

It's difficult to be a leader of men when you haven't proven yourself on the field yet. Nothing to read here imo.

 

[Shane]

It's difficult to be a leader of men when you haven't proven yourself on the field yet. Nothing to read here imo.

Agree. Sounds like nothing more than speculation on Hass part. I highly doubt Whis is letting that out to the media even if it were the truth.

 

[PortlandCardFan]

This is kind of the opposite of what we heard out of Philly too, isn't it?

 

[Stout]

Agree. Sounds like nothing more than speculation on Hass part. I highly doubt Whis is letting that out to the media even if it were the truth.

I doubt something like this would come from KW. It is highly probable that players may talk to former players anonymously about something like this. I'm not saying the report is accurate, just that this is plausible.

 

[football karma]

a little bit of smoke

"Hasselbeck, who played for Ken Whisenhunt in Arizona"

technically true -- but he was on the roster for what -- six weeks? Lets not make it sound like the two have a long history together and therefor, Hasselbeck has some sort of insight.

 

[BigRedRage]

a little bit of smoke

"Hasselbeck, who played for Ken Whisenhunt in Arizona"

technically true -- but he was on the roster for what -- six weeks? Lets not make it sound like the two have a long history together and therefor, Hasselbeck has some sort of insight.

more insight than people who never played for whiz

 

[TJ]

Interesting. Very disappointing if they are already questioning his leadership skills, you would have thought the coaching staff would have done their due diligence prior to trading for Kolb, they should have had some inkling of his personality and make up.

That's interesting that they're questioning Kolb's leadership skills. I've heard several analyst go out of their way to say he is a great voice in the locker room and embraces the intangible roles of a QB, including being a leader of men. Calais Campbell echoed that sentiment in an interview with Sirius NFL by calling Kolb a "natural born leader" and indicated that many on the team felt when he arrived and talked with the team that they finally had that Type A personality they lacked in 2010.

There really isn't much to compare between Leinart and Kolb. Yes, they were both involved in heated QB competitions, but Leinart IIRC was never lauded for his leadership skills and mental toughness.


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[stewdog1]

Skelton will end up with more snaps and production than Kolb this year. Book it. And that's a good thing.

 

[52brandon]

I still think Leinart and Kolb have a shot to produce in the NFL.

sure. Anybody still on a roster has a chance to produce in the NFL

Skelton will end up with more snaps and production than Kolb this year. Book it. And that's a good thing.

lol. No

 

[BigRedRage]

Skelton will end up with more snaps and production than Kolb this year. Book it. And that's a good thing.

im for whoever produces but I think Skelton is the better QB.

 

[Stronso]

Skelton will end up with more snaps and production than Kolb this year. Book it. And that's a good thing.

No. Won't happen







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[Buckybird]

If Kolb is Leinart, Skelton is to a lesser degree Jake "the snake"

 

[Cbus cardsfan]

To me there's a big difference between the Kolb and Leinart situations. Leinart had years to take over the team and couldn't. Kolbwas there about a month before the season and had little or no interraction with his team. Then the game started, he struggled, and got injured. If Kolb doesn't assume a leadership throughout this off season and into camp, then I'd compare it ML. But, I don't think that will be the case. He's been regarded as a hard worker and team leader throughout his career. I don't see why that would change now. Of course the bottom line comes down to getting done it when the bullets are live.

 

[CardLogic]

I will guarantee that Kolb will play more minutes for the Cardinals this upcoming season than...




Leinart!

 

[Duckjake]

I will guarantee that Kolb will play more minutes for the Cardinals this upcoming season than...




Leinart!

If I had posted that Kolb would have gotten hurt in game 1, Skelton in game 2, Ryan Bartel in game 3 and the Raiders would have released Leinart who would be picked up by the Cards off waivers and started in game 4.

 

[JC_AZ]

Guessing the O-Line prefers Skelton and will do better job for him...seems there was SOME reason for improvement late in the season with the play from the OT's.

Maybe it's leadership in the huddle, confidence in the huddle, or just allowing them to do their job and create a pocket...either way, it showed

 

[Stout]

No. Won't happen

You have no freaking clue whether it will or not.

Skelton will end up with more snaps and production than Kolb this year. Book it. And that's a good thing.

Nor do you, stewdog.

Granted, I'm of the same opinion stewdog has, but that doesn't mean we can know for sure. If there's one thing I know about the NFL, and about QBs in general, is that it's difficult to figure out what will happen before it does.

 

[DemsMyBoys]

Kolb - Can kill a wild pig with a knife.

Leinart - Called the poison control hot line after being stung by a scorpion.

 

[kerouac9]

Guessing the O-Line prefers Skelton and will do better job for him...seems there was SOME reason for improvement late in the season with the play from the OT's.

Maybe it's leadership in the huddle, confidence in the huddle, or just allowing them to do their job and create a pocket...either way, it showed

Because Skelton didn't make them look bad by backing into sacks. The same thing happens with Michael Vick and to a lesser extent Ben Roethlisberger. They wander out of or around the pocket looking to make plays outside the design of the offense and end up taking needless sacks. It's hurt Vick's career and it'll likely shorten Roethlisberger's.

Skelton can force his way out of the pocket, but he's always stepping up into it. Offensive tackles are taught early on to drive speed rushers back deep into the offensive backfield to give their quarterback room to step up. Kolb frequently made his offensive linemen look bad by running backward or (worse) to the edge of the pocket once his first read wasn't there.

 

[JeffGollin]

Because Skelton didn't make them look bad by backing into sacks. The same thing happens with Michael Vick and to a lesser extent Ben Roethlisberger. They wander out of or around the pocket looking to make plays outside the design of the offense and end up taking needless sacks. It's hurt Vick's career and it'll likely shorten Roethlisberger's.

Skelton can force his way out of the pocket, but he's always stepping up into it. Offensive tackles are taught early on to drive speed rushers back deep into the offensive backfield to give their quarterback room to step up. Kolb frequently made his offensive linemen look bad by running backward or (worse) to the edge of the pocket once his first read wasn't there.

K9 - You watch a lot more tape than I do; but do you think that one reason why Kolb wasn't stepping up into the pocket was because our interior linemen were either getting bullrushed into our backfield or that D-linemen and backers were stunting inside and beating their man up the middle?

Although I'm inclined to agree that Kolb lacked pocket presence, sometimes things aren't as they seem.

 

[Stout]

K9 - You watch a lot more tape than I do; but do you think that one reason why Kolb wasn't stepping up into the pocket was because our interior linemen were either getting bullrushed into our backfield or that D-linemen and backers were stunting inside and beating their man up the middle?

Although I'm inclined to agree that Kolb lacked pocket presence, sometimes things aren't as they seem.

Simple answer? No. Many times, with a clear pocket in front of him, he scrambled backwards and outside of the pocket. This is why so many people were so frustrated. This is high school level stuff for a QB. You step INTO a pocket, not AWAY from it.

 

[kerouac9]

K9 - You watch a lot more tape than I do; but do you think that one reason why Kolb wasn't stepping up into the pocket was because our interior linemen were either getting bullrushed into our backfield or that D-linemen and backers were stunting inside and beating their man up the middle?

Although I'm inclined to agree that Kolb lacked pocket presence, sometimes things aren't as they seem.

That's not what I witnessed, and that's not what Somers and Urban were commenting on. The problem with Kolb--and this isn't my exclusive commentary--is that he senses pressure that isn't coming, and flees the pocket and runs himself into sacks.

It wasn't until late in the season when Bridges and Brown were both playing well at the tackle position that the problems in our interior blocking were exposed. But early in the season Kolb was backing into sacks that were assigned to Brown, who was doing his job for the most part.