(This is part 4 of a 5-part series, check back soon for part 5 and for the final edition of players I do like…)

There’s been a lot of Kevin Kolb love going around this summer and frankly, I do not understand it.

Now, normally in these articles, I throw in a mix of statistics and good football knowledge in order to convince you, the reader, why you should stay away from this player come draft day. With Kolb, however, I have to take a one-sided approach largely because the statistics just aren’t there. 

Entering his fourth season, Kolb has started a grand total of two games and really only seen significant action in one other, the infamous Ravens game in which Andy Reid benched a struggling Donovan McNabb (and Kolb went out and lost the game for his team).

His career stats thus far stand at this: 885 yards with a 60 percent completion percentage, 4 TDs and 7 INTs. Most of these yards (and all of the TDs) were accumulated in his two starts from last season, a 48-22 blowout loss to New Orleans and a 34-14 beat down of the terrible Chiefs.

Can you tell by my tone that I’m not impressed?

The main reason that I feel this way towards Kolb is due in large part to what I will dub “Aaron Rodgers Mania.” This disease makes head coaches believe that their Pro Bowl, firmly entrenched yet aging starters are no longer capable of playing at such high levels and the backup QB behind them may actually be better/younger (the latter is, of course, fact).

I don’t mean to belittle Aaron Rodgers here–he is an obscenely talented QB who could possibly pass up Brett Favre in career stats (though I doubt it), but his success has infected the minds of head coaches everywhere. Really only him and Steve Young have gone on to follow up Hall of Fame QBs successfully (and Rodgers has only been successful for two years, so we should probably put that talk on hold until he has done it for a few more seasons), and thus far only Young has been named a Hall of Famer.

It’s just history. Look at the shadows that John Elway, Dan Marino and Jim Kelly still cast to this day. Look at the amount of time between Unitas and Manning, Fouts and Rivers, Manning and Brees; great QBs are difficult to come by. The Bears have been waiting for one since Sid Luckman and the Vikings have never had that multiple year stud QB since Fran Tarkenton. The Lions had Bobby Layne, traded him and have been cursed ever since.

Replacing great QBs has not been easy. So for whatever reason, the Eagles decided that they should try to replace theirs, trading Donovan McNabb to a divisional opponent–the Washington Redskins. I don’t know how McNabb will do this year; I tend to think that he’ll have a sub par season, after which he will refuse to resign with the Redskins and end up in Minnesota.

This article isn’t about McNabb conspiracy theories however; it’s about Kevin Kolb failing (potentially). Honestly, I can’t give you any hard, concrete football reasons as to why he will fail. The supporting cast around him is young but talented, he is apparently more accurate than McNabb (though I’m not sure why people say this, I know McNabb would skip the occasional pass, but I’ve seen nothing out of Kolb to indicate a greater level of accuracy, could pundits just be saying this because he’s white and McNabb is black?) and he’s in an offensive system that loves to pass and lacks a real threat in the running game.

I just have a bad feeling about Kolb. It’s a well known fact that McNabb was less than appreciated in Philadelphia. Despite that, while he was there, they were always considered Super Bowl contenders. He did take the Eagles to five NFC Championship games and one SB, almost by himself. Seriously, when you look at the WR corps for the Eagles during his span as their starter, it’s just downright criminal. Today, talented QBs are almost instantly paired with an equally talented WR–look at Holmes and Sanchez in New York, Flacco and Boldin in Baltimore and Henne and Marshall in Miami. It’s step three in constructing a franchise QB, right behind just drafting the guy and supplying him with a franchise left tackle. What really irritates me is that McNabb finally had a quality WR corp, one which if he wouldn’t have missed two-and-a-half games due to injury last season, would probably have allowed him to put up career-best numbers.

Kolb, of course now, looks to reap the benefit of these young pass catchers, but who knows how that will go. It’s possible McNabb compensated for some of their flaws as young players and with an inexperienced QB throwing the ball to them, who knows how they will look. Maybe I’m reading too much into this–I have no proof or even hints that Kolb and his WRs will struggle, but I feel like they will.

Perhaps the best reason not to reach on Kolb is that there are 10 other QBs from last season that threw for over 4,000 yards and a bunch of other young, up-and-comers who probably will join their ranks this year (Flacco, Ryan, Stafford). Why reach on the unknown of Kolb? Pass on him as your starting QB, grab a proven one and if you really, really like Kolb, tag him as your backup in the late rounds of your draft.

Just remember that there’s a Kharma Chameleon heading to Philadelphia, and it doesn’t plan on going anytime soon.

Check out Players I Love: Part I, Part II, Part III and Part IV. And Players I Hate: Part I, Part II and Part III.