Matt Leinart is Arizona Cardinals' QB in Waiting
Former USC QB Matt Leinart Waiting for His Chance to Be Next Great Former Trojan
Leinart played during his rookie year with mild success. In 11 games, the rookie QB completed 56.8% of his passes for 2,547 yards, with 11 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. In 2007, Leinart shared the QB position with Kurt Warner, with both men rotating at various times. During a week 5 game against the Rams, Leinart suffered a season ending injury. Warner would take over as full time Cardinals quarterback, a position he still holds. Entering his fourth year, Leinart still waits behind Kurt Warner, who signed a two year deal with Arizona in the off-season, worth $23 million with $19 million guaranteed. The signing of Warner signals to Leinart, that his time is still not now. After starting during his rookie season, Leinart, like Vince Young, the first quarterback taken in the 2006 draft, finds himself sitting and waiting for another opportunity.
It must've been especially frustrating for Leinart watching rookie quarterbacks Matt Ryan and Joe Flacco get immediate playing time last year. Matt Cassel, another former Trojan, is now the starting QB for the Chiefs. Carson Palmer, himself a USC alum, is the starting quarterback for the Bengals. This year the New York Jets drafted, Mark Sanchez with the 6th pick overall. Mark Sanchez is now the new, flashy, good looking, former Trojans star QB. Matt Leinart used to be that guy. Now, the flash has dimmed a little, but a refocused Leinart has reportedly worked hard this off-season to make sure he's ready for his next chance.
Sources:
http://www.revengeofthebirds.com/2009/6/23/921155/how-much-longer-can-matt-leinart
http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3951664
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/nfl/players/7759/
http://www.azcardinals.com/team/bio.php?PRKey=89
Published by Vonda Menard
MFA in Professional Writing. My script, Return ot Darfur was performed in New York. Working hard to get this film made. Mother of two wonderful boys. Ultimate sports fan. Favorite sports football and ba... View profile
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4 Comments
Post a CommentHardHat I agree with your comments regarding the beginning of Leinart's career, and I'm not a Lenart fan, but I think he's finally learned he's not going to become an NFL starter without a lot of hard work. He's worked with Tom Brady this offseason and he's worked with the quarterback coach on his awful footwork. The Cardinals have seen a positive change in his offseason work this year. That's not to say that even with his hardwork that he'll be a success as a starter, but at least he's finally doing what he should have done all along, work hard.
... and with a good offensive line and 3 really good wide receivers, Leinart was awful. Awful in 2007, and awful in the 2008 preseason.
In short, Leinart is a bust.
What this article fails to mention is the important fact that Leinart doesn't even have a lock on the backup quarterback position.
A couple months ago, the Cardinals' free-agent 3rd string QB Brian St. Pierre was given a $1M raise and promised a training camp competition to unseat Leinart for the #2 QB position.
So Leinart may actually be 3rd string within a few months.
Leinart's story is that of a primadonna who arrived and didn't believe that he would have to work or compete.
He has never been in very good shape (flabby), and has never made an effort to understand the playbook, opposing defenses, or work on his atrocious mechanics (especially his footwork).
Also, Leinart has proven to be too fragile. 2 season-ending injuries in his last 5 sacks.
In his most recent season as a starter, he only posted the lowest passer rating in the NFL (61.9) and averaged the fewest passing yards of any NFL quarterback in the league (129 YPG). Despite having two really good wide re
You guys still waiting on Leinart are a joke - this guy was the weak link at SC and now he's a bust