USC Quarterbacks: The Trojan Horse of the NFL

Towards the end of the Trojan War Odysseus had one last trick up his sleeve. Odysseus had Epeius and Athena build a giant hollow wooden horse. Greek soldiers, including Odysseus, hid inside the horse while the rest of the Greeks hid out of sight. When the Trojans saw the Greeks were gone they brought the Trojan Horse inside. The Greek men then jumped out of their hiding place and destroyed the Trojans from the inside out. Now, read that story again except replace Epeius and Athena with Pete Carroll, replace the Trojan Horse with any USC quarterback and replace the Trojans with one of the following teams: New York Jets, Kansas City Chiefs, Arizona Cardinals, Cincinnati Bengals.

Pete Carroll is now a head coach in the NFL and there should be a lot of teams lining up to beat his Seahawks. For several years now Pete Carroll, former USC Trojans head coach, and his program have tricked NFL teams into thinking that someone who leads a dominant program like USC must be a great NFL quarterback in the making.

It's only Mark Sanchez's second year in the NFL so maybe it's too early to fairly judge the Jets quarterback. So far Mark Sanchez looks like nothing special. The Jets better hope their defense have a 2006 Chicago Bears-like season because Sanchez might be more of a liability than Rex Grossman (Sexy Rexy could at least throw the ball downfield and put points on the board.) To be fair, Carroll himself said Mark Sanchez wasn't ready for the NFL so maybe Sanchez needs a few years.

Remember when Tom Brady was injured, a quarterback named Matt Cassel was inserted into possibly the cushiest quarterback job in the NFL and some actually thought he should be the permanent replacement for Tom Brady? Those were good times. The Patriots were smart enough to know that Cassel was good because of the Patriots, not vice versa. In 2009 Matt Cassel had a lower quarterback rating than Trent Edwards. Don't worry Cassel, maybe Derek Anderson will still be worse.

Is there anything else to be said about Matt Leinart? Matt Leinart has stunk out loud ever since he put NFL pads on for the first time and yet the whiney California kid recently said in an interview that he did everything he needed to win the starting job. Really? I though not sucking would be the best way to go about getting a job. Reggie Bush is at least enjoying some success in the NFL (while his college career is being erased) but has there ever been a quarterback and running back duo that was as overrated as these two?

The biggest USC Quarterback ruse of all is Carson Palmer. Carson Palmer actually came out of the gate with a few really good seasons to lull the Bengals into a false sense of security. Now the Bengals think they have a chance to compete with the Ravens and Steelers but soon Carson Palmer will emerge from the Trojan Horse once again and rape Cassandra on Athena's altar.