Photo: AP
For the second time under Ken Whisenhunt, the Arizona Cardinals quarterback battle went down the wire. And, for the second time, Whisenhunt gave the job to the wrong man.
On Friday, after a seemingly never-ending competition, Whisenhunt announced John Skelton had won the starting quarterback position over Kevin Kolb.
“We feel like taking everything into account, looking at a lot of different factors, we feel like the quarterback that gives us the best chance to win is John,” Whisenhunt said.
The battle, if you want to call it that, was close, mainly because neither guy did much of anything to earn the job.
“I’m not going to get into the likes or dislikes of everything that I saw with the quarterbacks,” said Whisenhunt said. “I have a tremendous respect for both guys, they’ve worked hard. It’s never an easy decision that you have to make.”
And you can’t blame him for that.
As for this moment the Cardinals do not have a quality NFL starting quarterback on their roster (sorry Ryan Lindley fans). However, that could change by the end of the year. When it comes to young quarterbacks, you need to see that player make progress and improve as the grind of a 16-game NFL season wears on. The question now is, do you believe Skelton will make the progression?
I do not. And I’m not sure the Cardinals do either.
“Kevin’s got to be ready,” Whisenhunt said. “He’s aware of that. He knows what the expectations are of him and I expect him to be ready.”
The difference between Kolb and Skelton is minimal at best. That’s been well documented over the past month. Kolb has not fully grasped the offense and it cost him the job. Skelton, who remains highly inaccurate and appears incapable of learning from his mistakes, wins the job mainly because the guy in front of him did not wow anyone.
Just like Matt Leinart did nothing to wow people over when he was battling with Derek Anderson. The good news is Skelton is not as bad as Anderson was. But any chance the Cardinals had at have a winning season, as slim as it may have been, is now completely out the window.
Which begs a different question, will Whisenhunt be trusted with another quarterback decision when Arizona is drafting in the top 10 in 2013?
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