Is Matt Leinart a Letdown To The Arizona Cardinals?

Matt Leinart was the man. He was, no doubt, the best quarterback in College Football when he was playing with the USC Trojans, along with his stellar running backs in LenDale White and Reggie Bush. But when he came into the National Football League, nobody expected him to go to the Arizona Cardinals, as most predictions told of him falling with the New York Jets, in whcih the team ended up with a very successful left tackle in D'Brickashaw Ferguson. His first year was pretty good for a rookie, tallying 2,547 passing yards, eleven touchdowns and twelve interceptions, along with a 74.0 quarterback rating. His passing stats were often most comparable to Vince Young's during the 2006-07 season. Young meanwhile won Rookie of the Year award honors and some people questioned of Leinart winning the award instead of VY. The next season, Leinart was scheduled to entertain Arizona football fans like he did back in California. Unfortunately, the 2007-08 season was not the case. Not at all. Leinart was out for the season after playing five games for the team. He had 647 passing yards, two touchdowns and four interceptions, along with a 61.9 quarterback rating. Those stats made fans blurting out the words "bust" when his name was mentioned. In the 2008-09 season, Leinart lost the starting quarterback job to veteran Kurt Warner. The Cards made ther right choice starting Kurt, who was a star in the Arena Football League (and with the Rams), as Arizona had a Cinderella season to the Super Bowl despite a 9-7 record. The Cardinals lost the Super Bowl in a close game to the Pittsburgh Steelers. That year, Leinart had 264 yards, one touchdown and an interceptions, and a 80.2 quarterback rating, which was his career-high. For the 2009-10 season, Leinart will remain the backup QB. As of right now, Leinart has only 22 passing yards with a 59.0 rating this season. It seems to me that Leinart is a letdown. So now about that word "letdown," that is pretty much what Matt is. He is a complete disappointment to the franchise. I don't know if he can lead the Cards. Leinart was picked ahead of many superstars in the first round of the 2006 NFL Draft. Players like Jay Cutler, Haloti Ngata, Antonio Cromartie, Tamba Hali, Manny Lawson, Laurence Maroney, Davin and Jonathan Joseph, DeAngelo Williams, Joseph Addai, Nick Mangold, Marcedes Lewis, and Mathias Kiwanuka. All those players mentioned have had far-by much more success than Leinart, no doubt. Entering his fourth season as an NFL quarterback, the stats don't show what he is: 3,480 career passing yards, 14 touchdowns and 17 interceptions, and 71.6 quarterback rating. Minus the rookie year, Leinart looks like an Akili Smith, having the stats of 933 passing yards, three touchdowns and five interceptions, along with a 67.0 rating. Right now, it doesn't look good for him. When Kurt Warner retires, I don't think the Cards will look to Leinart to lead the franchise. He hasn't shown anything in his time with the National Football League. Heck, maybe bringing Chris Leak from the Canadian Football League would be a whole lot better! I really wouldn't be surprised if Arizona could bring a quarterback from the NFL Draft next year. I don't think they'll be that bad of a team to take someone like Sam Bradford. But maybe Tim Tebow will be an option, or in the next couple of years, Robert Griffin could be a standout. Matt Leinart hasn't lived up to his potential. One of the issues from ESPN the Mag from about a month ago predicted NFL's quarterbacks' stats and said that Leinart will probably retire in his late-20's or early-30's with 18 touchdowns and 25 interceptions, something along those lines. His future isn't looking good, and when Kurt Warner retires, he'll have to make a move. He has a second-chance, but if he doesn't take advantage of it, someone else will and it'll all be over. Wasted talent is rising, it's up to Matt to fix it.