Kolb Should Stick To The Short Throws And Forget The Scrambling

The first three perfect throws Kevin Kolb made to Jeremy Maclin this morning showcase one of the main reasons the Eagles brass decide to give him the keys to car.  Kolb started off by throwing a dart to Maclin who ran a dig route on the left side.  The ball couldn’t have been handed to him any more perfectly.

Kolb’s next throw to Maclin was on a curl route.  Again it was on the offensive left side and again it was a perfect throw, so that Maclin didn’t have to break stride as the ball arrived.

The final connection with Maclin in the seven-on-seven period today was a route to the offensive right side.  Maclin exploded off the line at the snap of the ball and quickly got on the inside shoulder of the cornerback.  Once he got there he cut inside on a quick post or a slant route that was a few yards deeper than usual.

Again once he turned for the football, it was on the way to him.

Kolb has a quick precise throwing stroke, which is a beauty to watch.  That stroke is one of the main reasons that he is now the Eagles starting quarterback.  That quick precise throwing stroke fits this offense.  He clearly throws the short pass better than Donovan McNabb and he proves day in and day out at practice.

While I’m talking about the three throws, I should mention that Kolb completed the three passes while DeSean Jackson lined up on the other side without the ball being thrown his way.  Of course there was no problem this morning but what will be the situation if Kolb is throwing the ball to Maclin and not getting it to Jackson.

That’s a controversy for later in the season.  Let’s get back to Kolb.

The young signal caller had to pull the ball down quite a few times today, which can be percieved as a good thing and a bad thing.  On the good side, Kolb seems like he’s gotten the message from Andy Reid and Marty Mornhinweg.  They want him to complete  a high percentage of his passes and they want him to stay away from interceptions.  They don’t want undisciplined throws.

If were coaching him, I would also tell him to stay away from too much scrambling.  Kolb has no idea how fast some of the big linemen in the NFL are.  They’re going to close on him so fast when he pulls that ball down to scramble.  He has no idea how fast some of them are.   The youngster has scrambled for yardage many times during this training camp.  Too many times.

He’s probably being influenced by watching Michael Vick everyday at practice and remembering the scrambling that he saw McNabb do.  There are quite a few things that Kolb does well, but scrambling for yardage isn’t one of them.  He’s a decent athlete, but decent athletes don’t carry the football in the NFL.

I have no problem with Kolb looking downfield and seeing what’s there, then moving in the pocket to buy time for his receivers to get open.  Once he decides to head up field, he should be quick to slide if he’s approached by a defender.

If he doesn’t have anywhere to run and there’s nobody open, throw the ball into the stands and let’s get ready to play the next down.

I think the weakest part of Kolb’s game right now is versus the blitz.  Sometimes he rushes and is off target with his throws or he makes a bad decision and gets the pass picked off when he rushes to make a decision against the blitz.  It’s something that he should be able to get better at as he plays longer.

I think the thing that has impressed me the most about Kolb is that he’ll be willing to pull the ball down and not take a chance on throwing a bad pass to a receiver who is covered and therefore turn the ball over to the other team.  It takes self-discipline to refuse to give the ball away with careless interceptions even though most quarterbacks think they can always get the ball to every receiver.