The 2010 NFL Thread

[mystikz]

apparently the Cardinals are dropping Matt Leinart before he even gets started. Leinart doesn't get the benching and I don't get this. are they really going with Derek Anderson .... backed up by 2 rookies Max Hall, and John Skelton? puzzling. I'm not sure who'd be interested in Leinart though. Buffalo?

[Lowerdeck]

I'm not sure who'd be interested in Leinart though. Buffalo?

Cleveland?

[HailtotheYo]

If he goes to Buffalo, I'll kill you.

Honestly, if they had a line Edwards would be good enough.

[mystikz]

I don't think Holmgren is interested... he seems content to the human turnover machine Jake Delhomme.

Edwards isn't that bad, not very good either. Leinart is easily as good as Edwards, and better than Fitzpatrick/Brohm. I don't see where else Leinart could go. unless the Giants want him to back up Eli.

[Hajjhowe]

Leinart should probably start, but he might be better off as a quality back-up for one of the better teams. QB depth isn't what it used to be so Leinart can be a pretty good commodity.

I'd have kept him though.

EDIT: As a comparison, here are the two men's pre-season numbers (Not exactly a great measure, but best I could do)

DA: 58.5%, 287 Yards, 2 TD 2 INT, 5.4 Per Attempt

Leinart: 82.6%, 161 Yards, 1 TD, 7.0 Per Attempt

Even if you double Leinart's numbers (And thus lower his completion percentage) he still seems to be more solid (And more importantly, safer) than DA. Lest we forget that Anderson completed less than half his passes and threw 10 INT's last year. Even on Cleveland, that's awful.

Edited September 1, 2010 by Hajjhowe

[naiwf]

Leinart is a good back up for another team in name only. He's only good if you expect him to get maybe 20-40 snaps this season. There are always plenty of weak armed guys who inspire no confidence in their teammates to be had.

[Maxx]

I wonder if Carrol will scramble to try and get him.

[Meacon Keaton]

With Sorgi being put on the IR, maybe the Giants will take him to back up Eli.

[MyKILLv2.0]

I don't get why it has gotten to this point. If the coaching staff had no faith in Lienart, then why wait to cut him till now? Stupid. They should have done this MONTHS ago. Possibly going after McNabb or another QB, and at the very least being able to possibly get something for Lienart around draft time....seeing how this year's QB Draft Class sucked monkey balls. But ya know, it isn't like the Cardinals have been ran all that well lately anyways.... ...

....Lienart could end up in a few places. I agree Seattle could be a nice spot for him. Buffallo, Kansas City, Miami, Jacksonville (especially if the move to LA is for real).....even Dallas could use him as a solid back up.

[naiwf]

I don't get why it has gotten to this point. If the coaching staff had no faith in Lienart, then why wait to cut him till now? Stupid. They should have done this MONTHS ago. Possibly going after McNabb or another QB, and at the very least being able to possibly get something for Lienart around draft time....seeing how this year's QB Draft Class sucked monkey balls. But ya know, it isn't like the Cardinals have been ran all that well lately anyways.... ...

....Lienart could end up in a few places. I agree Seattle could be a nice spot for him. Buffallo, Kansas City, Miami, Jacksonville (especially if the move to LA is for real).....even Dallas could use him as a solid back up.

It sounds like his teammates don't think he has the goods to lead them. I don't think Anderson has outplayed him, but the team feels more confident with him guiding them. There's no way they could have known that before camps and the pre-season games. Statistically Leinart's been better, so it has to be something else. I don't think they would have been able to get too much for him anyway since he's now had the keys to the car handed to him twice and had them snatched away both times. I don't think the guy is much of a fighter and the NFL's history is littered with talented guys who have been forced to the bench because they got lazy or by someone who outworked them.

[JStarr]

Leinart's had kind of a deer-in-the-headlights look most of the time, checking down constantly, and when he does try to go downfield, it's looked like he or the receiver forgot what play they were running. (The one pass against the Titans where the ball was about 10 yards off the receiver's back shoulder? Yikes.)

He's just wrecked at this point, and there can't be a whole lot of confidence left. A change of scenery, where he comes in knowing that he's there to be a backup, learn his way around, and possibly play in an emergency, might do him some good.

[HailtotheYo]

At this point, Leinhart is not anywhere near as good as Edwards. Buffalo doesn't need a lesser JP Losman. We did our time, thanks, move along now. I'd much rather have Brohm around because he's at least not been slung around and shit on like Leinhart. He can still be developed, his confidance isn't trashed, and he's got everything to play for. He's also not shown the "I just don't fucking care" attitude.

[gunnar hendershow]

Matt Leinart will end up in the UFL. I doubt an NFL team is going to want him as a backup, there's so many better guys to have fill those spots on rosters than someone with a poor attitude and no motivation.

[TCO]

Wouldn't bringing in a left handed QB as a back-up be less favoured too, considering the team would have to change it's offence should he come into the game? I'm sure it's not that big of a deal, but surely it wouldn't help either?

[Toe]

Leinart to the Toronto Argonauts!

[IzzyX]

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2010/09/02/nfl-star-troy-polamalu-insures-his-hair-for-1million-115875-22530978/

Found this...didn't deserve it's own thread...Found it funny as hell though.

[Hajjhowe]

So it seems Byron Leftwich has some undisclosed MCL injury which is pretty serious and pretty much hands the keys to Dennis Dixon. It sucks since Leftwich seems like a nice guy and can be solid, but with this o-line I am not surprised he was left out to dry and got clobbered. I think Dixon's mobility will help a lot and hopefully he can keep up his accuracy from his first pre-season game (The Denver one was atrocious). I am confident he can handle things though. Especially with more first team reps, another year with the playbook and another year removed from the surgeries on his knees from Oregon.

Gives Charlie Batch some hope though

As for Arizona am I the only one who think we could see Hall or Skelton playing for them at some point this year? I think DA's deal with the devil expired long ago and he showed me nothing in pre-season to build confidence in his abilities. Also, also, I heard Leinart was canned because players felt he was leaving them out to dry on some passes. Sucks for him, but as has been said maybe a change of scenery would help. He's kind of a douchebag but he has gotten a pretty raw deal.

[Mysterio2000X]

I don't get why it has gotten to this point. If the coaching staff had no faith in Lienart, then why wait to cut him till now? Stupid. They should have done this MONTHS ago. Possibly going after McNabb or another QB, and at the very least being able to possibly get something for Lienart around draft time....seeing how this year's QB Draft Class sucked monkey balls. But ya know, it isn't like the Cardinals have been ran all that well lately anyways.... ...

....Lienart could end up in a few places. I agree Seattle could be a nice spot for him. Buffallo, Kansas City, Miami, Jacksonville (especially if the move to LA is for real).....even Dallas could use him as a solid back up.

It sounds like his teammates don't think he has the goods to lead them. I don't think Anderson has outplayed him, but the team feels more confident with him guiding them. There's no way they could have known that before camps and the pre-season games. Statistically Leinart's been better, so it has to be something else. I don't think they would have been able to get too much for him anyway since he's now had the keys to the car handed to him twice and had them snatched away both times. I don't think the guy is much of a fighter and the NFL's history is littered with talented guys who have been forced to the bench because they got lazy or by someone who outworked them.

It's a combination of his ultra-safe, checkdown-heavy style of playing so far (Leinart's YPA is good, but only because the Cardinals receiving targets are that good at creating YAC, mostly all of Leinart's thrown are around the 5 yard range or lower, and this isn't going to cut it when the games really count), his stupid comments to the media, and losing the confidence of his locker.

While I agree that Leinart should be kept as, at the very least, a backup (if Anderson isn't benched due to performance, he might be due to having to stand behind that very pourous o-line), Whisenhunt has always been about installing a heavy "team first" mindset, and I guess they just figured he wasn't worth the trouble anymore.

In other news, Darnell Dockett earned himself a $48 million, 4 year extension with $31 mil of that guaranteed. If I'm not mistaken, that's more than what Fitz's 4-year extension came out to 2 seasons ago. That's a pretty nice chunk of change.

[Lint]

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=5527578

Suh was fined $7,500 for trying to take Delhomes head off..

Guy has a guaranteed $40 million..$7,500 is really teaching him a lesson there NFL

[Evil Chase K]

So it seems Byron Leftwich has some undisclosed MCL injury which is pretty serious and pretty much hands the keys to Dennis Dixon. It sucks since Leftwich seems like a nice guy and can be solid, but with this o-line I am not surprised he was left out to dry and got clobbered. I think Dixon's mobility will help a lot and hopefully he can keep up his accuracy from his first pre-season game (The Denver one was atrocious). I am confident he can handle things though. Especially with more first team reps, another year with the playbook and another year removed from the surgeries on his knees from Oregon.

Gives Charlie Batch some hope though

I want Charlie Batch in there and I wouldn't be surprised to see him.

Leftwich got hurt because he's a fucking statue. Dixon's mobile but he can't throw. Batch is the best of both worlds.

With Batch the running game can function normally because he's quick enough to get out from under center so they won't need to line him up in shotgun most of the time like they would with Leftwich. Batch is also a much smarter, safer, and better passer than Dennis Dixon.

You don't need a guy to win you the first four games, you need someone to not lose them. And I trust Charlie Batch much much more with that task than Dennis Dixon.