It's official: Matt Leinart is the biggest first-round quarterback bust of the 2006 draft class. Congrats!
Despite being kinda sorta named the starter during the spring, as Leinart struggled in the preseason and as Kurt Warner played like a wily veteran with a penchant for crew cuts and feather boas, head coach Ken Whisenhunt had no choice but to go with the former Super Bowl MVP as the Cardinals quarterback.
Which means that Leinart is the only QB from the '06 first-round draft class that won't be under center when the season opens this week. Vince Young and Jay Cutler have been starters since their rookie seasons. While it's pretty much unanimous that Cutler is the best player of the bunch, Young has been criticized for much of his professional career. And yet, he'll be taking reps with the first-teamers this week and Leinart will assume the position.
According to NFL.com's fantasy blog, Whisenhunt made the announcement at a Saturday press conference.
Warner replaced an injured Leinart last season and produced enormous totals. In 14 games (11 starts), the veteran finished with 3,417 passing yards and 28 total touchdowns. Those numbers were good enough to finish in the top 10 in fantasy points at his position on NFL.com.Yeah, really could've used that fantasy information, oh, say, LAST WEEK.
Warner's numbers even rivaled those of Tom Brady down the stretch. With Warner under center, the value of both Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin increase in all drafts.
For the Cards, the move makes them a better team right now, but it again raises questions about Leinart's ability to be an NFL quarterback. Warner's no slouch, but you'd like to think that a young, talented quarterback would be ready to take over the full-time gig heading into Year 3. It's already happened in Denver and Tennessee, but the fine folks in Phoenix will have to wait.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
8-30-2008 @ 9:02PM
Mark Tietsort said...
Today Ken Whisenhunt, made a decision at starting quarterback out of Media Pressure and Player moral issues, setting the Franchise back yet another year. Kurt Warner Stats may look good on paper, but he has made too many critical errors in many games. Leinart IS the future, and if he does not get his opportunity, the team will ultimately suffer in the future. Okay yeah Warner will look great against the 49ers and the Dolphins in the first two weeks, but as the schedule gets harder, and his old battered body moves through the season, he will fall along the wayside fumbling away snaps in the fourth quarter causing Cardinal fans more and more grief. Leinart had one bad game this pre-season, and did great in the rest… so Why Why, go with Warner. Great for Stats, sucks for the future. The Cardinals will make the playoffs this year regardless to who is at QB, to the people that say it was because of Warner, I am telling you it’s NOT in advance. This is just a Sad Sad Day.
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8-31-2008 @ 9:04AM
Erroneous Flint said...
It's not the end of the world, this situation. Initially, it sounds like an ignorant deicison, but this move, psychologically for Leinhart, who hasn't exactly exhibited leadership poise off of the field,it either challenges motivates him to get his shit together and start taking his role seriously. Start looking up at the stars instead of looking down from them. This is a bad decision if Whisenhunt goes with just two QBs on the opening day roster. Right now on the DC they have four. It'll be better to bring in Leinart if Warner should go down, rather than the other way around. Think about it ...
Junk past performances, count very little on preseason numbers. We know what each of these guys can do. There are a bunch more players on this team in addition to the QB. These guys will have to find some spark from their combined chemistry in order to make either QB look good.
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8-31-2008 @ 7:07PM
Rod said...
This is great. Kurt Warner is like Brett Favre, one of the greatest qb's in NFL history, and Matt Leinart is an NFL bust, like Ryan Leaf, Andre Ware, David Klingler, Tim Couch. Warner outplayed Leinart last year and outplayed Leinart this preseason. The best players should start. Warner is the Cardinals best qb. Leinart is a bust and will be out of the NFL when his current contract expires.
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