Roster Breakdown Part 2: Quarterbacks

The following is Part 2 of an 8-part series examining each unit on the Eagles’ roster. For the next few weeks, we’ll take an up close look at the Offensive Line, Receivers, Running Backs, Quarterbacks, Defensive Linemen, Linebackers, Defensive Backs and Special Teams. Part 2: Quarterbacks

My friend Jed Donahue likes to say that nobody gets more scrutiny in the Keystone State than the Governor or the quarterbacks of the Eagles and Steelers. He couldn’t be more right.

To the west, Ben Roethlisberger has lived a charmed life running the Steeler offense. Two Super Bowl wins – the last of which saw him engineer the winning drive – will buy the type of goodwill that lasts an entire career. Roethlisberger will always be seen as a winner, beloved in Pittsburgh and respected in the sporting world.

Donovan McNabb is a different story. For some reason, McNabb developed into a polarizing figure in the Philadelphia sports landscape. McNabb’s detractors sometimes get more attention not because they’re in the majority, but rather because they shout the loudest (Joe Wilson?). The majority of Eagles fans are McNabb supporters, and for proof consider the fan voting results for the question of who was the greatest quarterback in franchise history. Number Five won.

By a lot.

McNabb is the franchise’s all time leading passer, and its greatest quarterback. He’s 37 games over .500 in games he’s started and he’s only 33. Yet, there is debate as to whether he should return or be moved aside for Kevin Kolb.

What will happen: There is no way that McNabb, Kolb and Michael Vick are all back next year. All three QBs have contracts that expire after the 2010 season, meaning that the chosen one will receive a contract extension. We won’t know until Derrick Gunn sees white smoke billowing from the NovaCare Complex.

Predicting what Reid will do is a risky business. All the talk of Reid’s predictability among the fan base is a tad overstated, as he is not averse to throwing a curveball or two. Remember when Reid said he was satisfied with his receivers following the NFC title game loss to Carolina? A few months later, Terrell Owens was being introduced to the media. That said, our feeling is that Reid will do as he has said – stick with McNabb.

What we’d do: It’s easy to fall in love with the backup quarterback – it’s what fans do best. The reason for this is because quarterbacks get a disproportionate amount of blame when things go bad and praise when things go well. Pinning everything on the man under center is ingrained in football culture and has become as natural as breathing.

While the QB has the most profound impact on the outcome of a game of any individual player, it is in our view wrong to hold the quarterback – any quarterback – solely responsible for his team’s successes or failures. Brett Favre threw a God-awful interception at the tail end of the NFC Title Game, but one has to wonder if the Vikings might have won had they not fumbled six times, losing three. Favre’s INT came at the worst possible time, but if they had held on to the ball better earlier in the game, that drive becomes one in which the aim is to salt away the clock, not drive for the winning score. While it’s hard for us to defend Favre – believe me – it is the truth.

McNabb is coming off one of this best seasons and still possesses undeniable skills. Were it not for a cheap shot against Carolina in Week One, he would have started every game this year (Kolb started two). Why would it be time to dump McNabb? Because they lost in the first round of the playoffs or because they haven’t won a Super Bowl yet?

A lot of great, great quarterbacks have never won a Super Bowl, including plenty Hall of Famers. Dan Marino and Dan Fouts immediately come to mind. Would the Dolphins or Chargers have been justified in dumping either while they were still in their primes? The Broncos nearly dumped John Elway, and even went so far as to draft UCLA’s Tommy Maddox as the heir apparent because he had been winless in three trips to the Super Bowl. We know what happened after that: Terrell Davis comes along and Elway’s legacy immediately morphs into that of all-time great winner.

Look at McNabb’s career arc. Early on, Reid correctly recognized the need to win in the trenches and brought in bookend tackles Jon Runyan and Tra Thomas, drafted DT Corey Simon and traded for DE Hugh Douglas. The moves were brilliant; however, Reid did not feel the need to upgrade the offensive skill positions with the same fervor. McNabb had to make do with the likes of Torrance Small, Charles Johnson, Na Brown, James Thrash, Todd Pinkston and Freddie Mitchell. Duce Staley was solid for a few years, as was TE Chad Lewis, before the playmaker tide started to turn with the drafting of Brian Westbrook. Owens arrives and the Eagles break through and make the Super Bowl, only to lose to the New England dynasty. Reggie Brown is another WR bust before Kevin Curtis is signed and Brent Celek, DeSean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin are drafted.

So it is now fair to say that the Eagle offense is full of weapons. Jackson is the most dangerous player in the league, Celek one of the best TEs and Maclin an emerging threat at WR. Don’t forget LeSean McCoy, who will only get better.

The next question is, why, then, did the Eagles lose in the first round of the playoffs for the first time in the Reid Era? For the first time, the weapons were all there. But for the first time, the units upon which Reid had traditionally relied (O-line, defense) let them down rather dramatically, for various reasons. Injuries particularly devastated the offensive line and linebackers, and the secondary never recovered from the loss of Brian Dawkins.

What good is a quarterback if the offensive line goes bad? What good is a quarterback if the defense is unable to consistently get off the field? Dallas defeated the Eagles with ease because Jason Witten exposed the struggling linebackers, the prolific pass rush took advantage of a patchwork offensive line, and the Eagles’ pass rush was rendered ineffective.

McNabb’s play was irrelevant to the outcome of either Dallas game.

We say bring Five back for a few more years. If Kolb is unhappy, well, tough. Keep him if you can, but don’t allow the prospect of losing Kolb deter you from keeping the greatest quarterback in franchise history.

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