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Cardinals' Whisenhunt reiterates QBs Kolb, Skelton will compete

Arizona Cardinals coach Ken Whisenhunt has maintained since the end of last season he wants competition for every position on his team.

That includes quarterback, where Whisenhunt said last week he will let Kevin Kolb and John Skelton compete for the starting job.

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Whisenhunt believes that eventually a front-runner will emerge.

"Both guys are going to get opportunities because John certainly deserves it from the way that he played over the back half of the season and Kevin certainly deserves it from the reason that we went out, got him, and brought him in," Whisenhunt told KTAR-AM in Phoenix.

Kolb started nine games last season, leading the Cardinals to a 3-6 record while completing 57.7 percent of his passes for 1,955 yards with nine touchdowns and eight interceptions. He missed significant time with a foot injury and then a concussion, which held him out the final three games of the season.

Arizona went 5-2 with Skelton under center, including wins in two of its final three games. Skelton, though, had similar numbers to Kolb, completing 54.9 percent of his passes for 1,913 yards with 11 touchdowns and 14 interceptions.

"Well, the easiest thing to say right now is that we are in a heck of a lot better position at the quarterback position right now than we were a year ago today," Whisenhunt said. "We've got two guys that we feel like can play. They've shown at times that they can do things very well, they've shown at times that they are knuckleheads and it's our job to get the players that are there on our team to play better. That's what we're going to do and we're excited about that."

Kolb, who has recently said he is feeling healthy and confident in his status with the team, will receive a $7 million bonus if he is still on the team's roster on March 17. General manager Rod Graves has said Kolb will likely be back with the team.

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