Arizona Cardinals Coach Ken Whisenhunt Not Committed To Matt Leinart
By Josh Sanchez
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.