In the grand scheme of NFL quarterbacks, how big of an immediate downgrade, if at all, was the transition from Donovan McNabb to Kevin Kolb? We won't know the answer to that question for sure until next season, but Philadelphia Daily News football writer Paul Domowitch provided his ranking of all 32 starting quarterbacks and you might be surprised to see where he lists Kolb.
According to Domowitch, the newly minted face of the Eagles pulls in at 16th overall among NFL quarterbacks, based mainly on the strength of his back-to-back 300-yard passing performances in his two starts of 2009. That's seven spots lower than Domowitch ranks McNabb. The former Eagle pulls in just inside the top 10 at ninth overall.
The quarterbacks on either side of Kolb in Domowitch's rankings are Jay Cutler (13th), Joe Flacco (14th), Matt Ryan (15th), Matt Hasselbeck (17th), Matt Moore (18th) and Matt Stafford (19th).
Of the quarterbacks listed in Domowitch's top 16, only Flacco and Ryan are younger than the 25-year-old Kolb.
The top of his rankings are, in order, Drew Brees, Peyton Manning, Phillip Rivers, Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers, Brett Favre, Ben Roethlisberger, McNabb, and Matt Schaub.
Sixteenth seems to be a fair ranking for Kolb, a player for whom much is expected. He's had a three-year apprenticeship under McNabb and has studied the offense closely and he acclimated himself quite well in those two 2009 starts. If Kolb delivers on expectations and has a stellar 2010, he could easily vault himself into the top ten of NFL signal callers.
It's hard to argue with the rest of the list, though one could see Carson Palmer (11th) and Cutler as a touch too high and Chad Henne (25th) and David Garrard (26th) as several spots too low.
To check out the full list, along with explanations, click here.
-- Posted by Bo Wulf, 8:00 p.m., April 7
