Making the case: Donovan McNabb for starter in 2010

by Eric Schwartz

Friday January 15, 2010 

Making the case: Donovan McNabb for starter in 2010 thumbnail

In 1995 after feeling underappreciated by the Philadelphia Eagles organization, Randall Cunningham retired from football.

For the next five years the Eagles would be led by the likes of Rodney Pete, Ty Detmer, Bobby Hoying, Koy Detmer and Doug Peterson.

Boy did that group of quarterbacks make Cunningham’s achievements that much grander.

As the Eagles enter an offseason filled with questions about the quarterback position it is hard not to think back the Birds’ 1995 decision to got with Pete and relegate Cunningham to the bench and ultimatelt retirement. It would be another half-decade until the Eagles recovered and found a franchise quarterback – none other than McNabb.

Now Cunningham and McNabb’s tenures are not all that similar, but the lack of appreciation from the fan base during their time as a starter does draw similarities. It is common knowledge that Eagles fans are the hardest on the quarterback position, and there is nothing wrong with that. The quarterback is a general and fans want the five star kind and settle for nothing less. But as history shows us, sometimes you have to be careful what you wish for.

Love him or hate him, on cannot deny that McNabb still has the skill set to be a successful NFL quarterback. This season McNabb went 267-for-443 (60.3 percent) for 3,553 yards, finishing with a 92.9 quarterback rating. That quarterback rating was 12th in the league according to nfl.com. He also sported a strong touchdown-to-interception ratio tossing for 22 scores and 10 picks.

While the knock on McNabb has been that he has not made enough improvements over the years, it should also be pointed out that he has not progressed. A five time Pro Bowler McNabb still has the skills of a quarterback five years his younger.

It is true that the Eagles are a team in transition with a young set of receivers and a running back of the future in LeSean McCoy. These players should continue to grow and by them getting better, so will the Eagles offense. Having a veteran quarterback should only help that progress.

McNabb hasn’t been a perfect quarterback but he does have five NCF Championship games a Super Bowl trip on his resume. He throws for over 3,000 yards on a yearly bases and is still mobile enough to extend plays.

Sometimes change is good. Sometimes it’s not. There is no telling what the future will hold at the quarterback position in Philadelphia.

But the Eagles sure don’t want to go down the same path they did after the 1995 season.

Filed Under Eagles

Comments

Got something to say?