Are McNabb’s Days in Philly Numbered?

With Mike Vick unable to play until week 3, the Eagles only had Kevin Kolb at quarterback for this week’s game against the New Orleans Saints. Enter Jeff Garcia. Garcia was cut from the Raiders because apparently he did not want to mentor their franchise quarterback, JaMarcus Russell.

Andy Reid might be beating around the bush, but I’d be extremely surprised if McNabb plays Sunday. He hasn’t practiced all week, and Kevin Kolb took all the first team snaps today. If McNabb doesn’t play, Kolb will be the starter, not Garcia.

That’s the key as to why this may be McNabb’s last season in Philadelphia. If the Eagles wanted to give themselves the best chance to beat the high-powered offense of the Saints, they’d need to start a proven veteran, such as Garcia. So why is Kolb starting?

Sure, Kolb has been practicing with the offense all preseason, and Garcia was just brought in a few days ago. It doesn’t matter. Garcia doesn’t need much time with the offense. He’s been in a west-coast style plenty of times. He would’ve been ready for Sunday if the Eagles had him practicing with the first team this week.

Controversy has surrounded Kolb since the Eagles drafted him in the second round of 2007. Everyone wanted to know why Andy Reid would take a quarterback that early, unless he was McNabb’s future replacement. With Donovan’s consistent injuries, it’s becoming more apparent that is the case.

Kevin Kolb played in six games last year. He completed fifty percent of his passes for 144 yards. He didn’t throw any touchdowns, but was able to toss four interceptions. His quarterback rating was 21.8.

In 2008, with the Buccaneers, Garcia threw for 2712 yards, 12 TDs, and 6 interceptions. His QB rating was 90.2. So why not go with the sure thing? It worked in ’06, when Garcia went 5-1 for the Eagles.

Maybe Andy Reid is giving Kolb the start because, by this time next year, it will be his job. Like I said, if they wanted to win Sunday, Garcia would lead the offense. It appears as though Kolb is starting so Andy Reid can see what he has to offer as the number one quarterback.

Some experts believe Kolb will start and, if he does poorly, Garcia will be brought in and attempt to salvage the game. Seems plausible. If that’s the case, though, why wouldn’t Garcia get some sort of practice with the starting offense? Kolb has been taking all of the first team snaps. Call me crazy, but if I planned to have Garcia ready to rescue Kevin Kolb’s performance, I would let him take at least one-fourth of the starting reps.

It’s only a theory, but it looks more apparent now than ever before. Donovan McNabb is in his eleventh season, is prone to injuries, and has been said to lack the leadership role needed as a quarterback. Don’t be surprised if this time next year there’s a number four lining up behind center, instead of a number five.