Donovan McNabb has been a man surrounded by controversy since being drafted second overall by the Philadelphia Eagles in 1999. There were jeers and boos from the crowd who had hoped that the Eagles would draft Rickie Williams over McNabb. In retrospect, who got the last laugh out of that one?

I became disenchanted with Donovan McNabb in the 2002 season. I saw a lot of passes being thrown at receivers’ ankles. Then there was the inability to seal the deal, as it were, and get the Eagles to the Super Bowl. As the years went on I saw in McNabb a quarterback who had excellent mobility trying desperately to reject that athletic ability and evolve into a pocket passer. Seeing as most pocket passers would benefit from a bit more mobility, I consider this a devolution in McNabb’s style. Then there is the issue with his fragility. He has had season ending injuries in 2 of the last 4 years and continues to look frail as he had another ankle injury in the 2007 season.

And let us not forget the T.O. factor. I am going to make this very simple for everyone regardless of your opinion of T.O. or McNabb. McNabb’s quarterback rating in 2003 was an anemic 79.6. In 2004 (the year T.O. really played in Philadelphia) McNabb’s QB rating was a robust 104.7. The next year (T.O. was on the Eagles roster but did not play most of the 2005 season due to quarrelling with McNabb and the franchise) McNabb’s QB rating dropped to a barely middle-of-the-pack 85. Anyone still think T.O. didn’t matter in Philadelphia and that McNabb was really the superstar? If so, you clearly have no concept of what QB ratings mean or football in general

Despite all of this injury-laden history, Eagles Chairman and CEO Jeffrey Lurie continues to stand behind the Reid-McNabb show.  During his State of the Team address yesterday, Lurie focused mostly on contracting strategies but also discussed Reid and McNabb.  This speech included bold statements such as:

They have been one of the most special, successful duos in probably the history of the league and it’s still just there.  They are both in their prime, coach and quarterback, and it’s been awhile since we’ve been able to really appreciate Donovan healthy.

This anecdote is especially troubling to me.  It is clear that Lurie is deluded about his quarterback’s true value to the organization.  While he clearly acknowledged the injury situation, Lurie did not place any blame on the quarterback for not maintaining proper game-day fitness-levels.  McNabb isn’t going away anytime soon, based on Lurie’s remarks.

Attached is a NFL QB analysis that shows where McNabb falls out when compared against 9 other NFL starting quarterbacks. When viewing the graphs inside the file please note that the size of the bubble corresponds to the size of the salary. The other two axes are labeled.

The good (for McNabb): McNabb and Brady are tied for highest touchdown to interception ratio at 2.2 TDs per INT. McNabb was 2nd best in INTs per game at 0.7.

The bad (for McNabb): McNabb has the 3rd highest salary with the 3rd lowest QB rating. He also had the lowest completion percentage at 58.5% which significantly trailed the other 9 quarterbacks who all were above 60%. McNabb was middle of the road in just about every other category analyzed.

After all the analysis, McNabb is a better quarterback than I gave him credit for but he still trails the top QBs in several production categories. What he does not trail the top QBs in is salary. There are certainly a lot worse options for the quarterback position out there but McNabb sure is expensive given his production. All I am saying is that maybe Donovan McNabb is a solid starting QB; however, he is certainly not a future Hall of Famer based upon numbers and production.

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