Monday Morning Quarterback Episode 4
Welcome to episode four of the Monday Morning Quarterback podcast.
The show will feature news, analysis and commentary on the NFL and NCAA football, hosted by yours truly, Brian Carson. Each podcast will run from 10-30 minutes, or until I get sick of talking.
Hopefully, I'll get some guest hosts once in a while, but for now, this is a solo show.
One word of warning: My mouth sometimes gets the better of me and I have a tendency to curse, so if foul language offends you, please forgive me or just don't listen.
This week we look at the strange, misguided world of Redskins DT Albert Haynesworth.
Just click on the button below to listen in.
Eagles, Reid Playing a Dangerous Game
The Philadelphia Eagles brass actually did it.
They traded franchise quarterback Donovan McNabb and will go with the unproven Kevin Kolb to lead a team with Super Bowl caliber talent.
It's a high risk maneuver for a franchise to mess with a proven formula that works. But it's downright dangerous, even borderline stupid, to trade your star quarterback within the division.
Which is exactly what Andy Reid and company did by sending McNabb to the Washington Redskins for a second round pick in this year's draft and a third or fourth round pick, depending on performance, in 2011.
Why do that?
Trade him if you want, but get him out of the division Andy.
Why give a talented, pissed off player like McNabb a chance to beat you twice a year?
It just doesn't make sense on so many levels.
Suddenly, the Redskins, basement dwellers in the division for so many years now, aren't that far off from winning it.
Washington has a top-10 defense, a slew of solid running backs, a good young corps of receivers, one of the greatest coaches in the game, and now a franchise QB. All the Skins need is a legit left tackle and they'll get that when they select Russell Okung or Trent Williams with the fourth overall pick in the draft.
Pairing Mike Shanahan with McNabb could be dangerous for everyone else in the NFC.
Shanahan had huge success with another veteran quarterback, a pretty good player named Elway, and now has that veteran leadership again with Donovan.
Forget the Shanahan-Cutler era in Denver. That was an anomaly.
Cutler was, and still is, immature and definitely isn't a leader. McNabb on the other hand, has already been seen working out at the Redskins training facility. He's lifted the hopes of the guys on the roster.
Just listen to the words of Redskins WR Malcolm Kelly:
“Right away, it’s almost like he’s been here. It’s almost like he got the playbook when we got it. It’s crazy because he knows everything, he already knows the concepts and things like that and he’s just been here two or three days. You can just tell by the way he carries himself and the way he is out on the field that he has a lot of confidence in him and that spreads to the rest of the guys on the field.”
Sounds like a leader to me.
I wonder how the Eagles players are handling the trade?
We may never know for sure. Some are putting a good spin on the situation for the media.
Is Andy Reid comfortable with Kolb being the go-to guy now?
Yes and no.
The Philadelphia Daily News is reporting that the Eagles are still trying to move Michael Vick. Sounds like a vote of confidence for the young Kolb? Right?
Not so fast.
Because that same report also stated if the Eagles can trade Vick, they will bring in a veteran signal caller. Former Rams starter Marc Bulger and Jeff Garcia, who would love to return to Philly, especially now that the man who ran him out of town is gone, are the names being mentioned the loudest.
Looks like Reid wants a capable veteran on the roster in case Kolb falters. It also shows you how little confidence he has in Vick being the backup.
McNabb left as the Eagles’ all-time leader in all the major passing categories, including yards (32,873), completions (2,801), attempts (4,746), completion percentage (59.0%) and touchdown passes (216).
He also had a 101-56-1 mark as a starter. The most wins by an Eagle QB in franchise history. He's 33, which makes him younger than Peyton Manning, and still has four or five good years left.
Kolb is an unknown and unproven commodity.
He's thrown for 885 yards, four touchdowns, and seven picks in a three-year career. Kolb is 1-1 in two career starts.
Andy and the Eagles are playing a dangerous game.
Reid choosing Kolb over McNabb is like going all-in in Texas Hold 'em with a pair of deuces.
It's a gamble of enormous magnitude for the future of the Philadelphia franchise.
One that could blow up in their faces.