Reasons to get behind Kevin Kolb

[Joe L]

No need to make a case for Kolb, I'm rooting for him to succeed.

 

[Krangodnzr]

Kolb has to do two things IMO.

Stay healthy and step UP in the pocket.

If he does that and the rest of the team does their job we will be fine.

I feel better about this group than the one they had two years ago.

This is how I see it too, and I echo the sentiments of Arizona's Finest.

Skelton just doesn't show any football intelligence to me. He runs around in the pocket well and avoids the blitz, but besides that he really sucks. Kolb can find second and third reads, but he freaks out under pressure.

We really are in a predicament. If our QB was Jevin Kolbton we'd be looking pretty good, but unfortunately we can't meld the two flawed QBs into one player.

 

[Phrazbit]

This is how I see it too, and I echo the sentiments of Arizona's Finest.

Skelton just doesn't show any football intelligence to me. He runs around in the pocket well and avoids the blitz, but besides that he really sucks. Kolb can find second and third reads, but he freaks out under pressure.

We really are in a predicament. If our QB was Jevin Kolbton we'd be looking pretty good, but unfortunately we can't meld the two flawed QBs into one player.

Seriously, when has he done this?

 

[PJ1]

Seriously, when has he done this?

Agreed. I missed this Kevin Kolb people are talking about from last season. The one I saw was a mess.

 

[Jetstream Green]

"Neither did Cam Newton nor Andy Dalton"

In Kolb's defense, both Newton and Dalton received their respective playbooks in April. Kolb didn't even join our team until a month before the season started.

SD

and the fact in typical Whis fashion (but I do like him as our coach, he is just stubborn), he did not seem to scale back much for Kolb and our offense appears more complex than either of those two teams mentioned with the young QBs starting

 

[Jetstream Green]

This is how I see it too, and I echo the sentiments of Arizona's Finest.

Skelton just doesn't show any football intelligence to me. He runs around in the pocket well and avoids the blitz, but besides that he really sucks. Kolb can find second and third reads, but he freaks out under pressure.

We really are in a predicament. If our QB was Jevin Kolbton we'd be looking pretty good, but unfortunately we can't meld the two flawed QBs into one player.

We really need to extend Jevin Kolbton's contract in the future

 

[Duckjake]

Seriously, when has he done this?

I agree.

Plus he just kept getting worse instead of better as you would expect from a guy who's only drawback was not having enough time in the offense. Kolb's 2nd half vs the Ravens was abysmal. And that was his 7th start. Or how about Minnesota? His 5th start and 3rd road start. Where in the first 4 drives of the game Kolb goes inc,inc,delay of game,inc,interception,completion,sack & fumble. Or against Pittsburgh where Mr.Genius gets an intentional grounding call in the end zone for a safety? Not only is Kolb no more football smart than Skelton he doesn't have the physical skills to match Double Deuce.

 

[Cheesebeef]

I agree.

Plus he just kept getting worse instead of better as you would expect from a guy who's only drawback was not having enough time in the offense. Kolb's 2nd half vs the Ravens was abysmal. And that was his 7th start. Or how about Minnesota? His 5th start and 3rd road start. Where in the first 4 drives of the game Kolb goes inc,inc,delay of game,inc,interception,completion,sack & fumble. Or against Pittsburgh where Mr.Genius gets an intentional grounding call in the end zone for a safety? Not only is Kolb no more football smart than Skelton he doesn't have the physical skills to match Double Deuce.

i gotta agree with this too. I'm not sure where people are coming from touting Kokb's "football smarts" and his ability to read a defense. at least i sure as hell didn't see that last year. Kinda hard to read a a defense when you're running backward and you're head's not even turned toward it.

 

[Phrazbit]

I agree.

Plus he just kept getting worse instead of better as you would expect from a guy who's only drawback was not having enough time in the offense. Kolb's 2nd half vs the Ravens was abysmal. And that was his 7th start. Or how about Minnesota? His 5th start and 3rd road start. Where in the first 4 drives of the game Kolb goes inc,inc,delay of game,inc,interception,completion,sack & fumble. Or against Pittsburgh where Mr.Genius gets an intentional grounding call in the end zone for a safety? Not only is Kolb no more football smart than Skelton he doesn't have the physical skills to match Double Deuce.

Or when he FINALLY threw away a ball out of bounds instead of taking a sack... only he did it on a two point conversion attempt!!!

Kolb's Football IQ was rather dim last year. And how people can claim a guy who takes off an panics within seconds of the snap is also great at making 2nd and 3rd reads is beyond me.

Kolb was statistically the same player here that he was in Philly, remarkably similar. His problems are not system problems. He has horrific awareness in the pocket, he struggles to read defenses, his mobility is only reflected when he moves backwards and he is only accurate in the short passing game, oh and he is made of glass. I dont see how an offseason is going to fundamentally change him as a player.

 

[Catfish]

I believe that both Kolb and Skelton will be significantly improved from last year. I expect there to be a genuine fight between the two in order to see who is #1. I will support whoever wins that competition, and will also support whoever is the loser, because he will be our backup. I do look for the competition to be fairly close.

I also look for an improved 'O'-line, and a very solid and deep defense. GO CARDS !!!

 

[desertdawg]

Or when he FINALLY threw away a ball out of bounds instead of taking a sack... only he did it on a two point conversion attempt!!!

Kolb's Football IQ was rather dim last year. And how people can claim a guy who takes off an panics within seconds of the snap is also great at making 2nd and 3rd reads is beyond me.

Kolb was statistically the same player here that he was in Philly, remarkably similar. His problems are not system problems. He has horrific awareness in the pocket, he struggles to read defenses, his mobility is only reflected when he moves backwards and he is only accurate in the short passing game, oh and he is made of glass. I dont see how an offseason is going to fundamentally change him as a player.

You should just copy and paste your old colorful Kolb bashers man, save yourself some time. You sure are reduntant with your opinion though, freaks me out sometimes man, I get all deja vu when I read your stuff, plus, I trip out on the colorful style.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUZv0F6ixEY

 

[Duckjake]

You should just copy and paste your old colorful Kolb bashers man, save yourself some time. You sure are reduntant with your opinion though, freaks me out sometimes man, I get all deja vu when I read your stuff, plus, I trip out on the colorful style.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUZv0F6ixEY

Well what's the difference with the old Kolb jockers? I read the same redundant excuses for Mr.Kolb every day here as well. It's like a revival meeting. Have faith Cardinal fans. All St.Kevin needs is time in the system and he'll be good and we'll win the West. Well, if he doesn't get knocked out first.

But DDawg what else are we going to talk about until camp starts? How stupid it was for the Cards to sign Blake Gideon to an UDFA contract? That's nowhere near as much fun.

 

[Darkside]

If everyone was original Dawg, you wouldn't have 7K posts and Jake wouldn't have 25K. Sometimes it takes a repeated effort.

At least Jake has some longevity with which to spread out his posts. Dawg, you have 7k posts in 2 years. That's, what, 19 posts a day. How many of those 19, every single day, are original thoughts? I'd be amazed if a dude could have even 1 original post every day for two years without repeating himself. You've never repeated your point?

We all repeat ourselves. If we don't, we aren't dedicated and don't care. Sometimes you have to pound it into a dude's head. LOL.

 

[Krangodnzr]

You should just copy and paste your old colorful Kolb bashers man, save yourself some time. You sure are reduntant with your opinion though, freaks me out sometimes man, I get all deja vu when I read your stuff, plus, I trip out on the colorful style.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUZv0F6ixEY

LOL. I'm with you there; Phrzabit's incessant attacks on Kevin Kolb are getting a bit old.

I'll lay it out just like this:

Kevin Kolb sucks.

John Skelton sucks.

But they suck in different ways. Phrazibt is a John Skelton homer. I'm neither. I think John Skelton is terrible, I just think Kevin Kolb has less to work on to be a good QB. That doesn't mean I think that will happen though; the Cardinals will be looking for a QB again next offseason.

 

[Phrazbit]

LOL. I'm with you there; Phrzabit's incessant attacks on Kevin Kolb are getting a bit old.

I'll lay it out just like this:

Kevin Kolb sucks.

John Skelton sucks.

But they suck in different ways. Phrazibt is a John Skelton homer. I'm neither. I think John Skelton is terrible, I just think Kevin Kolb has less to work on to be a good QB. That doesn't mean I think that will happen though; the Cardinals will be looking for a QB again next offseason.

I actually think Skelton is lousy. But I'd rather see what he could do than continue to ride an injury riddled stiff who wont be on the roster in 2013.

 

[desertdawg]

Well what's the difference with the old Kolb jockers? I read the same redundant excuses for Mr.Kolb every day here as well. It's like a revival meeting. Have faith Cardinal fans. All St.Kevin needs is time in the system and he'll be good and we'll win the West. Well, if he doesn't get knocked out first.

But DDawg what else are we going to talk about until camp starts? How stupid it was for the Cards to sign Blake Gideon to an UDFA contract? That's nowhere near as much fun.

True that, I was just hoping for some new material from the kid (I haven't been following much during the off-season). It took me like 10 minutes to come up with mine. You obviously spend time on yours and I enjoy the stats you bring, your twist on them, and the overall Duckjacke experience. I truely enjoy how you are mastering the art of the anti-jinx, that's some heavy ****. Phraz is what we call hard core in the hippe community, adamant has it's qualities but sooner or later folks go ..."Come on man!!!"

 

[Phrazbit]

True that, I was just hoping for some new material from the kid (I haven't been following much during the off-season). It took me like 10 minutes to come up with mine. You obviously spend time on yours and I enjoy the stats you bring, your twist on them, and the overall Duckjacke experience. I truely enjoy how you are mastering the art of the anti-jinx, that's some heavy ****. Phraz is what we call hard core in the hippe community, adamant has it's qualities but sooner or later folks go ..."Come on man!!!"

I gotta keep on preachin on.

But as someone else mentioned, most of my Kolb posts are reactions to the same broken record Kolb excuse posts. I hated the Kolb trade back when it was a rumor... hate it more now. I rant on subject because it irked me so bad when he was acquired and how much blind faith people put into him, and that people STILL put blind faith in Kolb despite that we all saw how bad he is... drives me kinda crazy.

 

[SoCal Cardfan]

I just can't get myself to bet on the guy, who is one brushed knee or elbow to his helmet from retirement.

 

[Stout]

Ill be behind whomever wins as log as they win convincingly.

The reason I have little faith in Skelton??? He just seems so football dumb to me. I mean a lot of fans here refer to him as Double Deuce on here but do you know how unbelievablely football dumb you have to be to have that happen? We make jokes about Dan Orlovsky but what JS did is ten times worse IMO.

Also go watch the tape. He's a one read guy. Rarely does he go to his 2nd or 3rd option and he forces the ball early and often. And maybe being a dummy helps him in certain aspects as he certainly is tougher in the pocket then Kolb and Maybe all those 4th Qtr comebacks are because he doesn't know any better.

But if I'm betting I'm taking Kolb. Andy Reid's offense is incredibly complicted and he did relatively well there. I bet this offseason gives him the advantage this year over JS that he didn't have last year. IMO Skelton has the better physical tools but Kolb is more likely to make multiple reads and better decisions with the ball.

Guess well see soon enough.

I refuse to go through all of the reasons that you and others seem so adamant in ignoring, but how about we give Skelton at least a minimal amount of time to get actual developmental coaching at the pro level before we make such sweeping judgments about him. I know it's ghastly and unforgivable for him not to be an all-pro coming out of the football factory of Fordham, and he should be completely polished and all that, but let's cut him something of a break, huh?

 

[CardsFan88]

A tale of two Kolb's.

When Kolb isn't flustered, he does go through two or three reads, the problem is, I can't be quite sure of that because the sample size is so small. Before he got flustered last year, he actually LOOKED like a starting QB. But the facade wore off quickly.

When Kolb is flustered, whether it be because of the line, or himself, or both, he regresses mightily into a shell shocked, zero to one read, back peddler who seems to lose most or all of his awareness.

The problem is, how much of the time in the future is he going to be flustered, and how much will he not be? I feel a little better about our line, but I still see speed rushers going around Levi at whatever tackle position he plays.

I think while our line was wicked bad at blocking speed rushers last year especially early on, it also got into Kolb's head and he started becoming as much of a reason for the sacks and such as the tackles being blown by. Can he overcome this?

I also think that this might also be hiding a larger trend given our limited viewing of him, mostly behind our line. I tend to think he might naturally be a bit skittish when flustered. Puts up a good facade, but once that goes down he gets as flustered as anyone.

We tend to want to judge him on when he's not flustered, and extrapolate that this will be his natural state. I'm not so sure that is the case. If at one time this wasn't true, I can't say that by now it hasn't become true. His natural state might be flustered, with only sometimes he is able to maintain the veneer of the facade, usually in the beginning of games, preseason, and regular season. The further you get away from these reset times, it seems we've tended to see the flustered Kolb.

Even if we had a better line, I have a feeling he'd still tend to show us these negative things on a decent basis. While our line should be a better, I don't see how we're going to be so much better we will negate Kolb's presumed propensity to get flustered/rattled and start behaving like the QB we saw last year. Maybe it isn't constantly, but maybe it comes out a few times a game more than the average QB.

Has he always been this way? Is it new? Is it something to do with concussions? This we can't answer. At some point it doesn't matter, even if players can't for some reason be pegged for one reason or another, eventually it comes down to whether or not he is productive or not. Clearly for whatever reason, Kolb has not been productive and has not won enough.

But we also must realize that the concussions could make all the above moot, which just seems to add another ^power around the question of whatever we're trying to figure out.

All of this makes it hard to evaluate, but something that will be done by the pros. Kolb has more going for him this year, so we can all hope for the best, but let's not let hope blind us. I don't think we would let it, as taking a position in the offseason for hope is different than taking one in the face of evidence one way or another after more evidence piles up during more game time (preseason and/or regular season). Though the outlier is concussions which will always be in the background even if he turns everything else around, even if he somehow stays healthy for an entire season, which I highly doubt.

Even if we had a better QB like Vick, it's sort of the same thing. I would never want him (sans dog incidents) because he always gets injured. Not only that, but he always seems to wear down as seasons progresses. He gets off to fast starts, but the hits a wall, and then towards the end of the season, or in the playoffs, he gets dinged up just a bit too much and is either out or ineffective. At some point someone has to realize he is just not a good investment if you want to win a SB. Along those lines I treat Kolb's concussions, but think it's much more severe of a situation. He's one medium sized hit from retirement. Not a big hit, or a fluke severe hit. Just a hit you see any other guy take 100 times and get up from but with him it could be retirement.

That's why I think we need to instead of split the benefits of this added time between two QB's, we should focus most/all of it on one, and it ain't Kolb.

 

[az1965]

This is how I see it too, and I echo the sentiments of Arizona's Finest.

Skelton just doesn't show any football intelligence to me. He runs around in the pocket well and avoids the blitz, but besides that he really sucks. Kolb can find second and third reads, but he freaks out under pressure.
.

Must be in some other dimension or alternate universe...

 

[SunDevil]

Doesn't look like that was the case:

According to this article the Cards rookies received their playbooks in August 2011. I'd wager it was the same for rookies across the league.

http://www.azcentral.com/sports/car...0807arizona-cardinals-rookie-free-agents.html

Those were our rookie free agents we signed after the draft, when the doors were closed again. Both Newton and Dalton received their playbooks immediately after they were picked:

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/...-the-burden-is-on-him-to-learn-an-nfl-offense

SD

 

[Duckjake]

Those were our rookie free agents we signed after the draft, when the doors were closed again. Both Newton and Dalton received their playbooks immediately after they were picked:

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/...-the-burden-is-on-him-to-learn-an-nfl-offense

SD

OK now I understand. Teams were able to get playbooks to 1st and 2nd round picks during that short period. That lockout stuff was confusing to say the least.

http://www.nfl.com/draft/story/0900...g-playbooks-without-coaching-is-not-much-help

I like the writers idea of a video playbook. In this day of easy media creation I'm surprised teams don't have them already.

 

[desertdawg]

3-0, Kolb is doing well and Skelton should be healthy soon. O-line isn't killing us with the new awesome refs and all. Never would have predicted this start, but Kolb has been a huge part of it, even if you just count the mistakes he hasn't made. But he is doing his thing and if improvement is in his horizon, we might be doing a lot of celebrating this season yall. Keep the running game alive, let the Defense do their thing.

 

[NashDishesDimes]

The other thing ive always noticed is Kolb always ended up getting matched up against better defenses then Skelton did.

Interested to see how Kolb does against some mediocre defenses like Miami, Buffalo, and Minny