yes yes i am alive. just insanely busy at work still. Then my inlaws bought an investment property that somehow i am in charge of managing.

I’ve still been reading and trying to keep up. You guys been looking for me??

Just because of the whole arm strengh thing. They both have intermediate strengh arms, nothing special. But they both base their games off of reading defenses and making Quick throws to the correct spot.

I think Rogers has a stronger arm that Kevin, not that Kevin doesn’t have a strong arm, only that he has average strength, but so did Joe Montana, Troy Aikman, and Tom Brady for that matter. Not everyone is McNabb, Elway or Young.

…the Wes Welker comparison is implied, as it always is. It’s silent, like the “b” in “subtle” or the “d” in “Rodgers”

Every white WR reminds me of Welker. Ohh, and they are Morman. Forget about Ed McCaffery or Tom Waddle or even Steve Largent. They were just light skinned, All White WRs are Welker clones.

The subtraction of McNabb, Westbrook, etc. will work out? Okay…

… and since you responded to my post, L&B, this is for you.

1) The optimism people are showing isn’t just from Eagles fans being homers. It’s coming from knowledgeable football people who don’t necessarily have any connection to the Eagles or reason to want to boost Kolb up, or from people like JimmyK using the information we have available to us, like game tape from Kolb’s two starts, to analyze. Nothing guarantees Kolb will be any good, but at least they’re basing it on something besides wishing.

2) You asked:

I get you but, how many times has the guy right after the franchise QB actually improved the team alone by his own greatness? (Or even maintained what the future HOFer did for the franchise?)

This is a major, major, MAJOR point to miss. Nobody with a clue — and I realize that may not include you — that I’ve discussed this with has insinuated that Kolb needs to “improve the team alone by his own greatness.”

In fact, a lot of people think quite the opposite. Kolb need only be his accurate, quick-decision-making self and get the ball in the hands of Jackson, Maclin, Celek et. al. to keep this offense humming. If, in fact, Kolb turns out to be more accurate than McNabb in tight spots, this could improve the offense by improving conversion rates on third down and in the red zone, but Kolb doesn’t even need to be that for the offense to be good. The playmakers are there. If he were to be merely a game manager, the offense can score some points.

3) How often a franchise QB is replaced by another very good QB is nearly irrelevant to whether Kolb can do replace McNabb. You establish in your own post that it’s possible:

I can think recently Rodgers after a tough first year, Steve Young, Randall Cunningham. This is not looking good folks!

That’s like saying how often does a baseball player hit a grand slam when the bases are loaded? It doesn’t happen often, but proving that it doesn’t happen often doesn’t mean it never happens.

4) That said, refer to point No. 2. Kolb doesn’t need to be McNabb. He needs to be his best self. If he can run this offense, and be efficient in it, the playmakers are in place for this offense to score a lot of points. With the proper defense and special teams, the playmakers are in place for the Eagles to win a lot of games.

5)

Kolb won’t be better than McNabb (I’d take your money on this one.)

Yeah, I’m not even sure you can count money, let alone be trusted not to welch on a bet. But I’d never make this bet. If in fact your post is in direct response to me, that proves you haven’t been paying attention very long. I am not a “Kolb guy” per se. I was hoping we’d fix the defense and take one more shot at it with McNabb, but I also recognized the wisdom in getting something for McNabb before he walked for free (Hi Cleveland! How’s LeBron working out for you guys?) and starting the “rebuilding process” sooner so that if Kolb needed time to grow into the role, he’d peak around the time the other “young guns” are peaking. And the defense needed an infusion of players too.

Short story long, making this about Kolb vs. McNabb is a flawed premise. This is about whether the young and replenished Eagles will challenge for a Super Bowl title in 2010, 11, 12, 13 and 14 more than an aging, overpriced, declining skills set of Eagles would have. And the answer to that is something we can all agree on.

6) Proof that you and I agree on some things:

This is a tough position to place Kolb in. I say we go with this guy and be patient with him regardless of how many picks he throws this year. You can’t make it all about Kolb being better than McNabb or he will fail.

Absolutely. I agree 100%, and if this alone had been your post, I would have rec’d it and moved on.