When Kurt Warner retired this past Friday, a lot of questions began to surround the Arizona Cardinals franchise. Warner’s departure left the team with a glaring hole at quarterback and now Matt Leinart will be under center — a quarterback that the coaching staff and fans do not have full faith in.
Kurt Warner even acknowledged the hole he was leaving on the Cardinals roster and he mentioned that some in the locker room tried to convince him to return.
“I think that was one of the hardest parts of the decision — knowing an organization, a coaching staff, teammates, how they’ve counted on you, what a big part of the puzzle you are,” Warner said. “There’s no question that’s the hardest part for me.”
Leinart has had few opportunities to prove himself, but when he has had the chance he hasn’t made the best of those opportunities. In 2006, the former USC standout started his sophomore season. Five games into that year, head coach Dennis Green benched Leinart in favor of the veteran Warner.
The following season Ken Whisenhunt was hired as head coach. Leinart was once again named starter and it was five games into 2007 that Leinart suffered a broken collarbone. Warner has not let go of the job since then.
Leinart has been inconsistent when he did get his chances and many wonder if he has the leadership ability to take a franchise to that next level. Whatever the “it factor” is, Leinart seems to be lacking it.
In his four year career, Leinart has only completed 57 percent of his passes with a passer rating just over 70. He has 14 touchdown passes — 11 in his rookie year — compared to 20 interceptions. Since his rookie season, Leinart has only thrown 3 touchdowns and 8 interceptions. This causes a lot of concern for those within the Cardinals franchise and their fan base.
Ken Whisenhunt has said Leinart has the chance to become the teams starter next season, for now.
“We’ve got plenty of time to sort things out,” Whisenhunt said. “Matt’s not a rookie. He’s been in this offense for three years. He’s worked everyday with a guy that was playing at a high a level as anybody in the game and understands a lot more now about what he has to do to prepare in this offense.”
Whisenhunt was not convincing, nor did he rule out pursuing other options at the quarterback position. ProFootballTalk.com picked up on this as well.
Whisenhunt leaves the door open for Arizona to pursue reinforcements at the position. The team is likely to bring in competition, though in what form remains to be seen. They could pursue a mid-round draft pick like Cincinnati’s Tony Pike or a trade for a veteran like Sage Rosenfels or Marc Bulger. The free agent class is uninspiring, headlined by Chad Pennington, A.J. Feeley, Daunte Culpepper, Rex Grossman, and Charlie Batch.
Leinart may lose one weapon in Anquan Boldin this offseason, but he will still have one of the best receivers in the game, Larry Fitzgerald, as well as a much improved rushing attack. The puzzles are set for Leinart to have one last shot at being the man in Arizona and it is up to him to finally show the leadership and ability to make it happen.
It would not be shocking to see Arizona target a quarterback in the middle rounds of the 2010 draft or in free agency. They need to have a back up plan in place incase the Leinart experiment falls down in flames.
Josh is a lifelong sports fan who brings his passion out through writing. Josh studied journalism at Seton Hill University and is now using NFL Spin Zone as an outlet for his NFL opinions. Prior to joining NFL Spin Zone as the lead editor, Josh was the lead editor at TheLandryHat.com and NFLMocks.com. His work has been featured on various media outlets including: ESPN.com, SportsIllustrated.com, NFL.com, FOXSports.com and CBSSports.com.
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27g 525cmp 882att 59.5% 5392yds 10.2avg 28td 31int -3 ratio 2002+2003 stats Drew Brees
29g 340cmp 595att 57.1% 3893yds 6.5avg 14td 20int -6 ratio 2006 through 2009 stats Matt Leinart
Keep in mind that these stats are more weighted toward Brees seeing as he played every game in 2002 and nearly 70% of the games in 2003. Leinart has only played his rookie year in 12 games and has then been used inconsistently after that.
In Peyton Manning’s rookie year, he had 28 interceptions with 26 TDs and a QB rating of 71.2, Matt Leinart 11int/12td and a rating of 74.
All this Leinart hate, dislike, whatever you want to call it is a bit premature. He really hasn’t had much of a chance to even showcase much of his talent. Really, it’s ultimately on him as he has all the weapons he could want or need in Arizona. If he can change his reputation for not having a good work ethic, and put more time into his planning/preparation, he might just impress many naysayers.
Dude get your facts straight. Dennis Green benched Kurt Warner in favor of Leinart. Leinart started 11 games his rookie season
Five games into his SOPHOMORE season he was benched… that is year 2. I never said Leinart was benched in his rookie year… I also said that Leinart started 11 games his rookie season. Not sure what you were reading.
As to the first Chris, Leinart may be able to lead the team, but his lack of leadership really does scare me. The fact that players were begging Kurt Warner to return speaks volumes.
Great article, Josh.
As an Arizona Cardinal fan, I can say that Leinart has been nothing short of awful.
And he was a team cancer, too. When Warner was wrestling the job away from him, he took his case to the press and cried to Michael Silver in the now-infamous “whine bar” interview… and after Warner took the Arizona Cardinals’ offense to new levels and started them on their 3-year run of excellence, Leinart openly pouted on the sidelines.
Not only is he a poor player, he is really kind of a classless bum, too.
Arizona Cardinal nation will sorely miss Kurt Warner.
@HardHat – great to hear from a Cardinals fan.
The part that troubles me most about Leinart is that he was given opportunity after opportunity to take his job back, but he never capitalized on those chances.
It is also important to note that Whisenhunt has no loyalty to Leinart. He isn’t his guy.
Warner is one of the NFL’s best and should be a Hall of Famer in my opinion. He leaves a giant hole in the Cardinals line-up that I don’t believe Leinart is capable of filling.
The NFC West is wide open again.
Wow. This article is ridiculous and it’s hilarious that Sanchez is drawing support from hardhat. Hardhat is well known on multiple AZ Cardinals fan websites for being a weird rabid Leinart hater. There is widespread speculation that he has some kind of unrequited man-crush on Leinart that fuels his hatred. Check out his ridiculous comments for yourself:
http://www.azcentral.com/members/User/HardHat
So where are the facts Sanchez? I’m not sure what Whisenhunt said to indicate that he’s not committed to Leinart. That quote from Whis doesn’t support your title at all. Who among the Cardinals brass or coaches is saying that they’re not committed to Leinart? Is that just your random speculation?
As an ardent Cardinals fan and season ticket holder, I am definitely not sold on Leinart. It doesn’t take a genius to guess that the offense won’t be as good without Warner. However, I do think Matt deserves to start with a clean slate. Let him play a year as the starter and then pass judgement. He performed well in the game he played as a starter in 2009 and should have beat the Titans. The defense gave up a long 4th quarter drive and three 4th downs to lose the game.
As far as the begging for Warner to stay another year – Warner is a HOF QB that helped turn the franchise around. Of course fans and players are going to beg for him to play another year!
Stop writing silly articles with no facts to support your own silly opinions!
Your article doesn’t show any validity about Leinart not becoming a starting QB next season. Please show us all the exact quote where Whisenhunt said he is not committed to Matt Leinart. There is also no discussion that they are going to pursue or draft another QB to compete with Leinart. ProFootballTalk or anyone else can state opinions but it isn’t proven that the Cardinals are doing anything at this point with the decision on the QB spot. Leinart shows better stats than most in his position and having to sit for two years hasn’t helped. Let him play a full season and show us what he can do.
WOW. This is ridiculous Sanchez, get your facts straight and listen with your ears not your mouth. Whiz has been nothing but supportive of Matt and has already named him the starter. Leinart lost the starting job because he got injured and then once he was healthy along came a Hall of Fame QB, you dont pass that up for the “future”.
Now moving on to HARDHAT (comment #4). Please become a fan of another team. Nobody in the Red Sea likes your rediculous comments and your hatred of Leinart. Did he steal your milk carton in elementary school or something? Give the guy a chance or go cheer for the niners.
I beleive Leinart will play well. He will in no way be what Warner is, they both HAD success with two totally different styles, and Leinart will continue to have success playing HIS game, not Warners. He wont be as great most likely but he will be solid and lead this team in the right direction.
Oh and of course they will draft a QB and sign a veteran, LEINART IS CURRENTLY THE ONLY QB ON THE TEAM.
I saw Leinart against the Titans….21/31 for 220 yds and no TDs or INTs. He looked pretty good to me. I believe he drove the Cards to the go-ahead TD, before the defense couldn’t get off the field on multiple 4th downs. I have no doubt he has the skills. If he has the work ethic, I suspect he will be very good, atleast. But, they had better get a Left Tackle soon, or he may never get the chance.
Leinart doesn’t have the abilities to lead an NFL team. There have been a number of QB with impressive college careers that don’t make the transition (Ryan Leaf). Pick up Pennington and let him teach the next QB the NFL skills.