Matt Leinart Benched for Cards' Game vs. Bears

[GTripp0012]

Originally Posted by SmootSmack

I never really saw the hype in Quinn (maybe GTripp can clarify). Russell was one of the more obvious busts-to-be of recent NFL drafts. I thought Leinart would at least be able to be an effective game manager, who knows maybe he still can.

If we hadn't traded for Beck, I'd say keep an eye on the Redskins for Leinart if he were to get cut. Remember what I told you guys this past fall/winter, when Leinart was drafted Shanahan was originally trying to trade up to draft him but the Cardinals took just before he could so he went with Cutler.

There is a rumor out there about Leinart to Seattle, which I think was just made up by someone who figured Pete Carroll wanted him. But Leinart to Seattle really doesn't make sense to me.

Quinn was a very good vertical passer in college with a high completion percentage. What's killed him in the pros so far is the inability to throw the intermediate out route accurately, an NFL staple. It's been a big reason he's floating around a Grossman-esque 52% for his career and not a McNabb-esque 59%. I mean, no idea if he will ever improve even though he's only 25, but no matter what projections I have for him, you can't win in this league as a 52% passer. And completion percentage tends to predict itself better than any other stat.

It's almost the same thing for Leinart, who's struggles in the vertical game require a higher completion percentage to be successful, really around 61%. To this point, he's at 57% for his career. That's an improvement that can be made, I think, but it would be ludicrous for the Cardinals to give up on him and not let him go elsewhere to prove them wrong. Especially when letting him play, and fail, is a better alternative than anything Derek Anderson can possibly give you.