Creating competition has been the mantra of Arizona Cardinals head coach Ken Whisenhunt since he took over for Dennis Green in 2007. It is why rookies don't normally start right away. It is what led Kurt Warner to resurrect his career in Arizona and lead the Cardinals to a Super Bowl.
It is still the case with the starting quarterback job. But that doesn't mean that Whisenhunt doesn't have his preferences.
After OTA workouts on Thursday, the topic of quarterbacks came up and he addressed the topic of Kolb, Skelton and competition.
He said this:
"I'll be honest with you, I obviously know how much we invested in Kevin. I want Kevin to be successful. I want him to be our quarterback but I'm not going to ignore the fact that John Skelton worked pretty hard and did a good job in there when he was playing, too. He's earned the right to compete for that spot."
He also said that when evaluating players on the field, he doesn't think about how much he gets paid. Apparently that comes up afterwards.
But it makes sense. Whiz is taking the right approach.
His own pride wants Kolb to be the guy because he was the guy that Whiz helped bring in. His philosophy tells him to have them battle it out.
However, with a statement like that from the head coach, it does make something rather clear -- that even though there is competition, it is going to take a clear outperformance by Skelton to take the starting job away. If they play evenly, Kolb will be the guy.
But just the fact that Skelton is given the opportunity to win the job says a lot about the head coach when he has a guy he wants to have the job. It is this attitude that has earned him the respect of fans and his players.
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