Nov. 14, 2011
News Clips on John Skelton:
Is Skelton a Better Fit Than Kevin Kolb for the Arizona Cardinals?
Skelton, Arizona Cardinals rally to upset Philadelphia Eagles on the road
Around the NFC West: Skelton vs. Kolb
NFL Network video (with John sporting a Fordham football pullover):
Skelton on the NFL Network
Bronx, N.Y. -
Former Fordham record-setting quarterback John Skelton was inserted into the Arizona Cardinals starting lineup two weeks ago when starter Kevin Kolb went down with an injury. It may be tough to get Skelton out of that position now that he has led the Cardinals to two straight wins, including a 21-17 come-from-behind win at Philadelphia on Sunday.
In the Philadelphia game, Skelton completed 21 of 40 passes for 315 yards and three touchdowns, including the game-winner, a five-yarder to Early Doucet with 1:52 remaining in the game. The winning score was set up by a 37-yard strike from Skelton to Larry Fitzgerald that put the ball on the Eagles' one. Earlier in the drive, Skelton converted a fourth-and-two play with a short pass to LaRod Stephens-Howling that turned into a 30-yard gain.
The previous week, Skelton stepped in for Kolb and completed 20 of 35 passes for 222 yards and one score against St. Louis. The touchdown pass was a 13-yard toss to Fitzgerald with 4:51 left in regulation that knotted the game at 13. The Cardinals won the game, 19-13, in overtime to break a six-game losing streak.
On the year, Skelton has completed 41 of 75 passes for 537 yards and four touchdowns. He now is 4-2 as an NFL starter (he was 2-2 in the final four games of the 2010 season).
Last year, Skelton became the first Ram to appear in an NFL game since Aki Jones appeared in four games with the Washington Redskins in 2005. He also is the first Fordham quarterback to take a snap in an NFL regular season game since Ed Danowski played with the New York football Giants in 1941.
Skelton was the Cardinals' fifth-round draft pick in 2010, becoming the first Fordham football player to be drafted by an NFL team since 1968. A 2009 Second Team All-Patriot League selection, he wrapped up a record-shattering career for the Rams that fall, closing out the year completing 284 of 441 passes (64.4%) for 3,708 yards and 26 touchdowns. He set new school marks for completions and passing yards, breaking Kevin Eakin's former school records of 247 completions for 3,072 yards set in 2003 as well as breaking Steve O'Hare's completion percentage record of 63.1% set in 1997. Skelton led the NCAA FCS in passing yards/game (337.09) and was ranked second in total offense (348.18 yards/game), fourth in completions per game (25.82) and total passing yards and tenth in passing efficiency (149.95).
Skelton threw for over 300 yards eight times in eleven games in 2009, including four 400-yard games. He completed 20 of 27 passes for 420 yards and five touchdowns against Cornell on October 17th, breaking the school record of 413 passing yards set by Joe Moorhead in 1995 and coming up one shy of the school record for scoring passes of six, set by Kevin Eakin in 2003. Skelton then broke his own record two weeks later, completing 43 of 67 passes for 427 yards, all school records, against Holy Cross on October 31st. He finished one passing attempt shy of the NCAA FCS record for most pass attempts in a game without an interception, just missing the national mark of 68 set by Marshall's Tony Petersen against Western Carolina in 1987 (Peterson completed 34). Skelton surpassed his own school record of 420 passing yards in a game while breaking Matt Georgia's 1999 records of 36 completions and 65 attempts.
Following the 2009 season, Skelton was selected to play in the prestigious East-West Shrine game in January and he received an invitation to the NFL Combine.
Over his career, Skelton completed 802 passes for 9,923 yards and 69 touchdowns, all school marks. He shattered Joe Moorhead's career completions record of 518 while also surpassing Eakin's career marks for passing yards (6,112) and touchdowns (45).
