Whether a member of Generation X or Generation Y, there’s one thing we all share, one thing we know we won’t be able to run from. At some point, we’re going to age, and depending on where you’ve decided to call home for the rest of your lives, you could find yourselves sitting on a porch, or a stoop, or in the living room in your favorite recliner or rocking chair as you share stories with someone about how the Philadelphia Eagles stressed you and forced you to age more rapidly than you would have had you just done so naturally.
Perhaps you’ll tell the grandchildren of the time when Philly, already having their franchise quarterback on the roster, decided to utilize some draft capital on a quarterback in the second round of the NFL Draft when they could have easily addressed a more pressing need.
Depending on how old you are, you could be thinking of the time the Eagles took Jalen Hurts 53rd-overall in 2020’s NFL Draft on April 24th, or you could be thinking of a selection meeting that occurred much earlier in your younger years, the 2007 NFL Draft. Dare we say that was the day the original ‘quarterback factory’ opened for operation?
Kevin Kolb and Jalen Hurts share similar stories. Will their Eagles journeys end similarly?
Once upon a time, many, many moons ago, whether you loved him, were slightly bothered by him, or just couldn’t wait until the organization moved on, Donovan McNabb was making his case as the best quarterback the Eagles had ever had… statistically anyway.
Entering his ninth year as Philly’s signal-caller, the franchise he played for made a decision. With no picks in Round 1, Andy Reid, Joe Banner, and Tom Heckert Jr. elected to spend their first of two draft choices in Round 2, one they got from the Dallas Cowboys by way of the Cleveland Browns, on a six-foot-three signal-caller from Victoria, Texas who cut his teeth at the University of Houston as a member of the Cougars. Kevin Kolb was his name.
Much like we felt on the second night of 2020’s NFL Draft, many Eagles fans were wondering why we’d take a quarterback when our QB1 was still functional and there were other needs that, again, seemed to be more pressing.
Kolb joined McNabb and A.J. Feeley in Philly’s QB room. Many of you remember the journey. Phrases like ‘roller-coaster ride’ come to mind.
It was Kolb that stepped in following the now-infamous benching of McNabb versus the Baltimore Ravens on November 23rd of that year. He went 10 of 23 in that one, throwing for 73 yards, but he tossed two interceptions, one of which was that NFL-record 108-yard pick-six to Ed Reed (yes, that was Kolb that threw the pass). The rest of Kevin’s tenure in Philly contains hues of black, white, and grey.
His first start in the NFL came on September 20th of 2009. He played valiantly (391 yards on 31 completions and a first-quarter, 71-yard touchdown pass to DeSean Jackson), but he threw three picks in that one, and the Birds lost.
Michael Vick joined the Eagles in 2009. Philly moved on from McNabb during 2010’s offseason. It was officially Kolb’s team. Unfortunately, he’d suffer a concussion during the regular-season opener. Vick stepped in, and it would never be Kolb’s team again, minus a handful of games where he stepped in to fill in for Vick because of the new QB1’s inability to stay healthy from time to time.
We should all hope that we don’t see a similar story with Jalen Hurts.
Time flies huh? Here we are, approaching 12 years from the day the Kolb era was supposed to begin, and another second-rounder, Hurts, enters year two of his audition for a more permanent assignment as the Eagles’ starting quarterback going forward.
People are excited, curious, and doubtful. The Eagles, as they had with Vick, have some insurance just in case things go awry and Jalen is unable to demonstrate that he is, indeed, the answer to Philadelphia’s prayers (a first-round draft choice in 2023).
None of us will forget where we were when Philly and Howie Roseman shocked us all by taking Hurts in the second round during 2020’s NFL Draft. Some of us who are older will never forget how we felt when the Birds took Kolb in 2007. We know how the Kolb thing worked out, but even though many of us differ in our evaluation of Hurts, where he is, and what his ceiling might wind up being (if we haven’t seen it already), here’s one thing that we can agree on.
Let’s hope his story doesn’t end like Kolb’s and this new quarterback factory doesn’t implode and/or collapse like the original.