Kolb to start Friday

[Rocky Landing]

Reading the posts on here that suggest that Kolb shouldn't start on Friday, or even be cut (!?) strike me as a bit loony. The idea that Marrone should end the QB competition, and essentially abandon his preseason strategy based on EJ's decent showing in the first half of the first preseason game, and without even giving Kolb a chance in the preseason, is crazy. Marrone didn't sign Kolb on a whim. I'll admit, the knee injury is pretty weird, and his absence during the week of the scrimmage was unfortunate. But, people on this forum who dismiss Kolb as some sort of weakling hack can't hold a very high level of faith in our new head coach.

 

Personally, I hope EJ gets (and deserves) the starting job come September. But, Marrone has been very clear about how he will fill that role, and unless Kolb's knee injury is much worse than is being reported, I don't see any reason to change that very sensible strategy.

[San Jose Bills Fan]

Reading the posts on here that suggest that Kolb shouldn't start on Friday, or even be cut (!?) strike me as a bit loony. The idea that Marrone should end the QB competition, and essentially abandon his preseason strategy based on EJ's decent showing in the first half of the first preseason game, and without even giving Kolb a chance in the preseason, is crazy. Marrone didn't sign Kolb on a whim. I'll admit, the knee injury is pretty weird, and his absence during the week of the scrimmage was unfortunate. But, people on this forum who dismiss Kolb as some sort of weakling hack can't hold a very high level of faith in our new head coach.

 

Excellent post and you make a point I've not seen anywhere yet (bolded).

 

This regime seems to have made a lot of really good decisions.

 

Both our head coach and our OC have very strong offensive pedigrees so obviously both felt that Kevin Kolb was someone they could have some success with.

 

As such, he shouldn't be so lightly dismissed by so many.

[chris heff]

OK.....here's the thing. I know the Bills want to make this into a competition to see who should start this upcoming season, but the fact is, the only thing I want to find out is if EJ is good enough to be the future QB of this team. PERIOD. That is what I want out of this season. Teams that are great and win Championships have a star QB (or pretty close). The fact is, whether Kolb is better than Manuel right now means nothing to me. I want to win a Championship and to do that, I need to find a REAL QB. Kolb, even if he is better than Manuel right now, will never win a Championship. I couldn't care less about Kolb.

 

The only QB competion I want to see is Manuel vs Manuel. What I mean by that is I want to watch him play the entire season, getting as many snaps as possible and if good and promising Manuel prevails at the end of the season, no matter what the record, that's great. If bad and inconsistent Manuel shows up by the end of the season, and he isn't showing much promise, I need to know because if that's the case, I'm drafting another QB in the 1st Round next year as well. Then, whoever that ends up being can battle Manuel next year and the best QB will play.

 

I need to find a QB that can win. You know a winner when you see it.....even if it takes the entire season to develop. The point is, I don't want to waste any meaningful snaps on a guy that I will never win a Championship with. Right now, we know what Kolb is.....we don't know what Manuel is. This season is all about trying to find out.

Sven, you are correct sir.

[hondo in seattle]

OK.....here's the thing. I know the Bills want to make this into a competition to see who should start this upcoming season, but the fact is, the only thing I want to find out is if EJ is good enough to be the future QB of this team. PERIOD. That is what I want out of this season. Teams that are great and win Championships have a star QB (or pretty close). The fact is, whether Kolb is better than Manuel right now means nothing to me. I want to win a Championship and to do that, I need to find a REAL QB. Kolb, even if he is better than Manuel right now, will never win a Championship. I couldn't care less about Kolb.

 

The only QB competion I want to see is Manuel vs Manuel. What I mean by that is I want to watch him play the entire season, getting as many snaps as possible and if good and promising Manuel prevails at the end of the season, no matter what the record, that's great. If bad and inconsistent Manuel shows up by the end of the season, and he isn't showing much promise, I need to know because if that's the case, I'm drafting another QB in the 1st Round next year as well. Then, whoever that ends up being can battle Manuel next year and the best QB will play.

 

I need to find a QB that can win. You know a winner when you see it.....even if it takes the entire season to develop. The point is, I don't want to waste any meaningful snaps on a guy that I will never win a Championship with. Right now, we know what Kolb is.....we don't know what Manuel is. This season is all about trying to find out.

 

I get your point but I don't agree. How do we know what Kolb is if we don't give him some meaningful snaps? Despite his years in the league, he's effectively an NFL sophomore when you look at his playing time. Some people used to be high on Kolb. Philly once upon a time seemed to see him as a franchise quarterback but he's never lived up to his potential due to injuries and bad luck. I just don't know yet who's ceiling is higher: Kolb's or EJ's. I haven't seen enough of EJ or Kolb yet to make that judgment. Apparently, Marrone hasn't yet either and I suspect he knows a little more about these QBs than either of us.

 

My guess is that EJ will win the starting job. The fact that he doesn't start against the Vikes will have zero negative impact on the course of his career here. If anything, it might be good for him. The players watch this stuff carefully. When EJ lines up under center against the Pats on opening day, his teammates will know he earned the right to be there. Knowing that, they'll support him more and rally around him.

[iinii]

To me this means that EJ may start game three, the big one. Unless Kolb clearly outplays EJ for a week straight and wins the job.

EJ starts 3 and we never look back.

 

[DefenseWinzChampionshipz]

After watching the interviews on Bills mobile, I noticed a couple things.

 

I first watched EJ's interview and his body language and face looked very disappointed in not starting which should be a good thing. Just shows the kid really really wants to play.

 

Kolb's interview was next and all I heard was wah blah blah words nouns verbs adjectives wah blah blah. I wasn't really paying attention as you can tell and all I can think of was how much he looked like the lizards in the super mario bros. movie...

 

Last I watched Coach's interview and he kind of looked irritated for some reason. Almost like EJ feeling disappointed was still in his thoughts.

 

All I know is I'm liking what I'm seeing from EJ not just on the field but off it...

[iinii]

 

 

Excellent post and you make a point I've not seen anywhere yet (bolded).

 

This regime seems to have made a lot of really good decisions.

 

Both our head coach and our OC have very strong offensive pedigrees so obviously both felt that Kevin Kolb was someone they could have some success with.

 

As such, he shouldn't be so lightly dismissed by so many.

KK gets the clipboard. He doesn't have the arm strength for the Ralph. Few do and fewer can make up for it and Kolb ain't in that group either.

[DefenseWinzChampionshipz]

 

 

I get your point but I don't agree. How do we know what Kolb is if we don't give him some meaningful snaps? Despite his years in the league, he's effectively an NFL sophomore when you look at his playing time. Some people used to be high on Kolb. Philly once upon a time seemed to see him as a franchise quarterback but he's never lived up to his potential due to injuries and bad luck. I just don't know yet who's ceiling is higher: Kolb's or EJ's. I haven't seen enough of EJ or Kolb yet to make that judgment. Apparently, Marrone hasn't yet either and I suspect he knows a little more about these QBs than either of us.

 

My guess is that EJ will win the starting job. The fact that he doesn't start against the Vikes will have zero negative impact on the course of his career here. If anything, it might be good for him. The players watch this stuff carefully. When EJ lines up under center against the Pats on opening day, his teammates will know he earned the right to be there. Knowing that, they'll support him more and rally around him.

 

You may not know what Kolb is but I know what he is... He's a QB who was in a competition last year with another QB on a team who neither of them are the starters for going into THIS season...

Edited August 15, 2013 by DefenseWinzChampionshipz

[br1ju]

I'm ok with it. We still need to see if Kolb can do it. Of course I hope EJ wins the job outright, but I want a real QB battle and the best guy should win. For all we know, even though EJ looks very good, Kolb could look great. I want whoever is going to win more games. Best case, EJ wins the job and Kolb is the backup. THE BEST CASE, Kolb plays lights out, wins us the Super Bowl, we trade him in the offseason for an early draft pick because we know Tuel is very good and EJ will take over next season.

 

Fixed it for ya.

[Bills Fan888]

Reading the posts on here that suggest that Kolb shouldn't start on Friday, or even be cut (!?) strike me as a bit loony. The idea that Marrone should end the QB competition, and essentially abandon his preseason strategy based on EJ's decent showing in the first half of the first preseason game, and without even giving Kolb a chance in the preseason, is crazy. Marrone didn't sign Kolb on a whim. I'll admit, the knee injury is pretty weird, and his absence during the week of the scrimmage was unfortunate. But, people on this forum who dismiss Kolb as some sort of weakling hack can't hold a very high level of faith in our new head coach.

 

Personally, I hope EJ gets (and deserves) the starting job come September. But, Marrone has been very clear about how he will fill that role, and unless Kolb's knee injury is much worse than is being reported, I don't see any reason to change that very sensible strategy.

Thank you. Everyone seems to be dismissing Kolb even though there's a very decent chance he'll be starting the season for the Bills. EJ played about as I expected from a highly drafted rookie QB and no more or less. I see no reason to declare EJ the starter after that first preseason game and as someone who's expecting playoffs from the Bills this season, I expect a higher level of play at QB than that game whether it comes from a more comfortable EJ or Kolb or Tuel.

Edited August 15, 2013 by Bills Fan888

[reddogblitz]

OK.....here's the thing. I know the Bills want to make this into a competition to see who should start this upcoming season, but the fact is, the only thing I want to find out is if EJ is good enough to be the future QB of this team. PERIOD. That is what I want out of this season.

I want a winning team out of this season. We have 2 real options as starting QB. Let's go with the guy who can help us win the most games this year. PERIOD. If it's EJ, awesome, if not, awesome still.

 

Starting a QB that ain't ready will only make sure he's never ready. He'll develop bad habits and happy feet which ain't winning nuthin'. Look at Trent for example.

 

I'm glad Kolb is starting. I want to see how he runs the Hackett offense. If he does better, let's roll with him. Let EJ practice and watch film and Kolb. Then when Kolb has his annual season ending injury in say week 6, EJ hopefully will be able to take over and keep the winning going.

 

Sacrificing a whole season to see what one guy can do is a loser mentality. Coach Marrone says it's not fair to the rest of the guys to play their heart out and try to win while some guy learns on the job and for all we know my never be good. I agree. You get playing time when you're the best at your position. If you're not, work on it at practice and get there. EJ ain't going anywhere. We got him inked up for 4 years or so. We knew he was a project when we got him. When he's the best QB we got going, play him. If that's September 8, great. If not, we got a game to win that day.

Edited August 15, 2013 by reddogblitz

[papazoid]

I think giving Kolb the start is the right thing to do.

 

here is how I would handle the QB's in preseason:

 

Pre-game#1- EJ (1st half), Tuel (2nd half), Kolb (out).

Pre-game#2- Kolb (1st half), EJ (3rd qtr), Tuel (4th qtr).

Pre-game#3- EJ(1st half), Kolb(2nd half), Tuel(out).

Pre-game#4- EJ (1st qtr), Kolb (2nd qtr), Tuel(2nd half).

 

Reg-game#1- EJ

[sven233]

I want a winning team out of this season. We have 2 real options as starting QB. Let's go with the guy who can help us win the most games this year. PERIOD. If it's EJ, awesome, if not, awesome still.

 

Starting a QB that ain't ready will only make sure he's never ready. He'll develop bad habits and happy feet which ain't winning nuthin'. Look at Trent for example.

 

I'm glad Kolb is starting. I want to see how he runs the Hackett offense. If he does better, let's roll with him. Let EJ practice and watch film and Kolb. Then when Kolb has his annual season ending injury in say week 6, EJ hopefully will be able to take over and keep the winning going.

 

Sacrificing a whole season to see what one guy can do is a loser mentality. Coach Marrone says it's not fair to the rest of the guys to play their heart out and try to win while some guy learns on the job and for all we know my never be good. I agree. You get playing time when you're the best at your position. If you're not, work on it at practice and get there. EJ ain't going anywhere. We got him inked up for 4 years or so. We knew he was a project when we got him. When he's ready, play him. If that's September 8, great. If not, we got a game to win that day.

 

Look....don't get me wrong. I want to win. But, I want to win it ALL. I want the ring. I'm looking at the big picture. Even the most optimistic fans will have to admit that we are not winning the Super Bowl this season. But that is the goal eventually.

 

So, keeping that in mind, you have to find a QB that can win a Super Bowl. And right now, based on everything I have seen from Kolb in his career (not just here), he is not going to be the QB of a Super Bowl winning team. EJ Manuel may never be good enough to win one either......but the thing is, we don't know yet. My mission is to find out if there is going to be that potential there someday. So, I want him playing as much as possible to find out so if he isn't going to be able to get it done, I can go find someone who can.

 

I want to win the whole thing. Kolb, in my opinion, will never be good enough to do that. If Kolb is better than Manuel now, so what? How many wins can we get to with Kolb under center this season......8-8? I'm sorry, but I amd sick of all the average to below average results. Hoping that a journeyman QB can put together a couple more wins to fight to get to .500 is not good enough for me. I can't stand settleing for a couple extra wins (maybe) at the detrement of the long-term goal. I'd rather take my lumps with Manuel now (and, who knows.....you may end up with the same record anyway), get him a year under his belt and really look to win everything in the next 2-4 years. Kolb gets in the way of Manuel's development. I need Manuel to get the experience he can and if he can't get it done, so be it. But I want to know that as soon as possible. Can't learn that if he is on the bench while a journeyman is taking the snaps. I want to win....now and in the future. But I want it all and I have to find the QB that can do it. I don;t know if Manuel ever will be able to do it......but I know Kolb won't.

 

Oh....and by the way.....I did figure that Kolb would be starting this game if he was healthy. It only makes sense. Yes, the coaching staff needs to make this a competition and allow the rest of the team to see for themselves that Manuel deserves the job. It can't just be given to him for a lot of different reasons. Unfortunately, it just takes away reps from Manuel that he could use to get ready for Week 1.....assuming he is the starter, as most think he will be. Will it make that much of a difference in the long run? Probably not. But yes, Kolb starting here is actually the right thing to do. EJ has to take the job.....or at least be as good as Kolb and show the team he is capable. And he should be. But even if it is close, Manuel need to play.

Edited August 15, 2013 by sven233

[#34fan]

Reading the posts on here that suggest that Kolb shouldn't start on Friday, or even be cut (!?) strike me as a bit loony. The idea that Marrone should end the QB competition, and essentially abandon his preseason strategy based on EJ's decent showing in the first half of the first preseason game, and without even giving Kolb a chance in the preseason, is crazy. Marrone didn't sign Kolb on a whim. I'll admit, the knee injury is pretty weird, and his absence during the week of the scrimmage was unfortunate. But, people on this forum who dismiss Kolb as some sort of weakling hack can't hold a very high level of faith in our new head coach.

 

Personally, I hope EJ gets (and deserves) the starting job come September. But, Marrone has been very clear about how he will fill that role, and unless Kolb's knee injury is much worse than is being reported, I don't see any reason to change that very sensible strategy.

 

Seems to me like Marrone is deciding whether to keep Kolb at all. He'll let him go with the 1's and see what's there. He may also be curious to see if EJ can run the 2's like Jeff TueI did.

 

Whatever the reason, I like this move... Clearly marrone wants to get things right the FIRST time...I applaud Marrone for his thouroghness. My guess though, is that Kolb will be gone by week 3.

[reddogblitz]

Look....don't get me wrong. I want to win. But, I want to win it ALL. I want the ring. I'm looking at the big picture. Even the most optimistic fans will have to admit that we are not winning the Super Bowl this season. But that is the goal eventually.

 

So, keeping that in mind, you have to find a QB that can win a Super Bowl. And right now, based on everything I have seen from Kolb in his career (not just here), he is not going to be the QB of a Super Bowl winning team. EJ Manuel may never be good enough to win one either......but the thing is, we don't know yet. My mission is to find out if there is going to be that potential there someday. So, I want him playing as much as possible to find out so if he isn't going to be able to get it done, I can go find someone who can.

 

I want to win the whole thing. Kolb, in my opinion, will never be good enough to do that. If Kolb is better than Manuel now, so what? How many wins can we get to with Kolb under center this season......8-8? I'm sorry, but I amd sick of all the average to below average results. Hoping that a journeyman QB can put together a couple more wins to fight to get to .500 is not good enough for me. I can't stand settleing for a couple extra wins (maybe) at the detrement of the long-term goal. I'd rather take my lumps with Manuel now (and, who knows.....you may end up with the same record anyway), get him a year under his belt and really look to win everything in the next 2-4 years. Kolb gets in the way of Manuel's development. I need Manuel to get the experience he can and if he can't get it done, so be it. But I want to know that as soon as possible. Can't learn that if he is on the bench while a journeyman is taking the snaps. I want to win....now and in the future. But I want it all and I have to find the QB that can do it. I don;t know if Manuel ever will be able to do it......but I know Kolb won't.

I get where you're coming from but I disagree. Yeah you need a good QB to win the SB, I get that. But losing is a habit. This team has it bad. We need to get over that. We need to learn to win first. I want to end the 8 straight losing seasons run we're on. The team needs it. Winning breeds winning. The regular season is about winning, not a 16 game experiment. That's what presesaon and practice and film work etc are for.

 

Good players leave bad teams like rats jump off a sinking ship. See Levitre this year. Byrd is not re upping because he wants to go to a winner IMHO. We've lost a lot of good guys and will continue too as long as we're losers. Even if we go 8-8, that shows we're building something. Players will BILLEVE they are on the upswing. We'll have a better chance of attracting quality Free Agents in the off season if we're building something here.

 

I think getting over the hump THIS YEAR is more important for the team than finding out if one guy can play or not.

 

If EJ gives us the best chance, I'm 100% for it. If it's Kolb I'm 100% for that. Who knows Kolb can't win a SB? Stranger things have happened. Joe Namath, Trent Dilfer, Mark Rypien, Brad Johnson, Jeff Hostetler, etc. Not saying he can. Not saying he can't.

 

Priority 1 IMHO - Stop losing. Whatever it takes.

 

The future is now.

[MDH]

For all of you who don't want Kolb to be given the start have you ever considered that this is what he was promised when he signed? The coach and front office promised him a fair shot at the starting job. If they don't give it to him what kind of message does that send to every player on the roster? Players want to play for a head coach who shoots straight and keeps his word (it's what everybody wants from a boss.) It might seem trivial to posters on a board but this kind of thing is extremely important in building trust and team unity.

 

It also helps EJ out because if Kolb is given a fair shot and EJ wins the battle the team is his. You won't have players whispering that he was given the job on a silver platter. He will have earned it.

 

Really, this decision is win/win. EJ misses the first quarter of pre-season game #2. What quarter EJ players matters little but the above things do matter.

[eball]

While I am personally disappointed EJ won't get the start Friday, this to me is evidence of how Marrone wants to be fair to his players and will go even further towards solidifying their trust. He said from the beginning it would be an open competition, and Kolb hasn't had the same opportunities as EJ because of the injury. By letting Kolb play with the starters Friday, it sends a message to the team that Marrone is a man of his word. It's about more than simply getting EJ "more reps" -- it's about showing the veterans and rookies alike that nobody is handed anything, you have to earn it.

 

I think Kolb will have to play absolutely lights out Friday night to win the job. I'll admit I'm torn between wanting my team to look good, while also wanting EJ to win this job.

 

But really, if Kolb plays great and gives the Bills a chance to truly compete, I can't say that's a bad thing.

[Maury Ballstein]

Kolb stinks IMO, everyone knows this by now, Give EJ the job and the ball and lets move on.

[biglukes]

For all of you who don't want Kolb to be given the start have you ever considered that this is what he was promised when he signed? The coach and front office promised him a fair shot at the starting job. If they don't give it to him what kind of message does that send to every player on the roster? Players want to play for a head coach who shoots straight and keeps his word (it's what everybody wants from a boss.) It might seem trivial to posters on a board but this kind of thing is extremely important in building trust and team unity.

 

It also helps EJ out because if Kolb is given a fair shot and EJ wins the battle the team is his. You won't have players whispering that he was given the job on a silver platter. He will have earned it.

 

Really, this decision is win/win. EJ misses the first quarter of pre-season game #2. What quarter EJ players matters little but the above things do matter.

Perfectly stated. I was going to make the same point but can't say it any better than this.

[Beerball]

After watching the interviews on Bills mobile, I noticed a couple things.

 

I first watched EJ's interview and his body language and face looked very disappointed in not starting which should be a good thing. Just shows the kid really really wants to play.

 

Kolb's interview was next and all I heard was wah blah blah words nouns verbs adjectives wah blah blah. I wasn't really paying attention as you can tell and all I can think of was how much he looked like the lizards in the super mario bros. movie...

 

Last I watched Coach's interview and he kind of looked irritated for some reason. Almost like EJ feeling disappointed was still in his thoughts.

 

All I know is I'm liking what I'm seeing from EJ not just on the field but off it...

Wow, you saw a lot on that little phone.

 

Kolb stinks IMO, everyone knows this by now, Give EJ the job and the ball and lets move on.

Can we at least give the ball to Kolb as a consolation prize?