For what it's worth, Ron Jaworski and Brian Baldinger agree with the Eagles. The two former players and current ESPN (Jaworski) and NFL Network (Baldinger) broadcasters are anticipating a smooth McNabb-to-Kolb transition in South Philadelphia.
"I have extremely high expectations for him and this offense,'' Baldinger said. "I think they're going to be a top-five offense in the league this year.
"What's going to be different is, you're going to see a lot more yards after the catch. I think you'll see an offense that doesn't have as many three and outs. I think there's going to be more rhythm to it. And I think, at the end of the season, people are going to say, 'Hey, you know, Andy Reid is a pretty damn good coach. I like that play-calling.' ''
When the Eagles selected Kolb with the 36th overall pick in the 2007 draft, Jaworski panned the move. He had Kolb rated no better than the eighth quarterback in the draft. Kolb ended up being the third one taken, behind only JaMarcus Russell (first by the Raiders) and Brady Quinn (22nd by the Browns).
Now, Jaworski has done a U-turn on Kolb and thinks he absolutely, positively has the right stuff to be a successful quarterback.
"I know the sampling isn't huge right now, but he's gotten much better,'' Jaworski said. "I was pretty critical of Kevin when he came out. Because I didn't see enough throws [at the University of Houston] that projected him to the NFL passing game.
"But like [the Packers'] Aaron Rodgers, he's gotten better every year he's been in the league, playing behind McNabb. Rodgers played behind [Brett] Favre. He learned the game, learned how to play the game. He practiced, he studied and he got better.
