Why was QB Matt Leinart cut?

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If you look over the list of total busts at QB from high picks, there are as many reasons as there are bad picks to explain each one.

So what happened to Matt Leinart in Arizona?

First, I was not a big Leinart fan coming out of USC. While he won the Heisman, I didn’t like the high percentage of checkdown passes he threw. In his defense, he was throwing to the highly talented (and as we found out later well paid) Reggie Bush out of the backfield. Leinart would throw a 5 yard pass that Bush would run for another 60 yards and a TD.

And it was seldom the case that Leinart was forced to throw the check because he was pressured. USC was nearly always the vastly more talented team. The average opponent may have had 1 or 2 players that could have made the USC team. He was able to take all the time he wanted in most games to wait for a receiver to get open.

Leinart was “college accurate not NFL accurate.” In college, his receivers had a 2 or 3 yard cushion to the nearest defender. Leinart was able to get the ball … Read more at FryingPanSports

Niblets for August 2010

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Best comment of the month:

From Tena

I’m not a baseball fan, but this whole episode stinks to the high heavens. WHY in God’s name is congress (A group of liars if there ever was one) WASTING their valuable time on a baseball player who allegedly lied about taking drugs that may even kill him someday. The country is in the grip of a horrible mess caused by the inattention of politicians for the last 30 years. That boil is getting ready to burst,and here we have Congress trying to “look busy”. It’s really disgusting. It’s impossible for Congress to hold anyone in contempt, because that is the feeling that the entire country has -against THEM!…..

You must also become a reader of fryingpanpolitics.blog.com because I made EXACTLY the same argument. Well done.

Updates on previous columns:

LeBron, Gilbert, Miami and Cleveland LeBron came back to Cleveland for a bike fund raiser. He was roundly booed and expressed disgust that the city wanted to be paid to provide police protection for the riders. LeBron, if you though that was a bad welcome, wait till the Beach Boys come to play.

The NFL, NFLPA, and an 18 game season. If you … Read more at FryingPanSports

Notes and thoughts on week 2 of the NFL preseason.

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AZ @ TN

This game was a “Tale of 2 QBs.” Titan QB Young and Card QB Leinart both must have good seasons to stay on their respective teams.

Young looked better in replacing QB Collins last year than ever before. However, he has to take another major step forward to become an NFL quality starter. He has reportedly worked hard to learn the O. His footwork seems better than in previous years. But still when is pressured, his improved mechanics break down. But he is still a remarkable athlete. If he ever gets “it” he can become an outstanding QB. He did make better reads than he did even last year.

RB Johnson is the best back in the game. The O line is capable of opening small holes and Johnson squeezes through them. He has outstanding speed and can break any catch or run for 6 points.

The Titan D was blitz crazy despite being in the preseason. The LBs were getting to the QB and the coverage for the most part was good. Anderson hit on one long play vs the blitz.

Leinart’s problem has been accuracy. He is not a blitz killer like Warner was and … Read more at FryingPanSports

ANALYSIS: What do you do with a young benched starting QB?

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As things have worked out so far, the 2006 draft was not exactly the fountain of NFL quarterbacking excellence it was thought to be. That isn’t unusual. It is virtually impossible to judge a draft until 3 years have passed. Jay Cutler was taken by the Broncos and has done well enough to start. But even he was considered trade bait by new HC Josh McDaniels. So let’s take a look at 4 QB’s drafted in 06 that were supposed to be the future of the teams that picked them.

Vince Young TN #3-06 Earlier this off season, Young said he was not happy about being told he would back up Kerry Collins again in 2009. Now he has told The Sporting News and anyone else that will listen that he wants to start for Tennessee or be traded to a team that will start him.

In Young’s first year he started the last 13 games. The team went 8-5 over that stretch but it had very little to do with Young’s passing. His 51.5% competition rate and passer rating of 66.7 didn’t get it done. In 07, he started all but 1 game and had increased his competition rate … Read more at FryingPanSports

Saturday Niblets from around the net for 03/07/09

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Saturday Niblets from around the net for 03/07/09

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By Bill Smith

Best comment of the week from Jack Lochrie [Long-suffering Lions fan]

on Beware of the Combine Warrior‏

I have some unsolicited advice for the Lions: Ignore all of the underclassmen in the April college draft, regardless of their assumed future potential and press clippings. The seniors have an extra year or two of maturity growth that will serve them well in the teeny, tiny, remote possibility they will need to cope with some setbacks in their early years with the Lions. The Lions’s management needs to be focusing on building a winning team, without the distraction of providing day care for fragile egos.

Note: Martin Mayhew has not yet called me for my objective opinions on the draft. ;~)

Updates on previous articles:

On KC’s trade for QB Cassel resulted in some unforeseen repercussions.

Adam Schefter, of the NFL Network, reports Denver Broncos head coach Josh McDaniels said the team will not trade QB Jay Cutler. “Let me be as clear as I can about this. We are not trading Jay Cutler – period,” McDaniels said. McDaniels will meet with QB Jay Cutler next week.… Read more at FryingPanSports

Has Kurt Warner already punched his ticket to the Hall of Fame?

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Has Kurt Warner already punched his ticket to the Hall of Fame?

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By Bill Smith

Technorati Tags: Warner, Super Bowl, Cardinals, Giants, NFL, NFL DRAFT, Rams, Leinart, Manning, NFC, AFC, MVP, Whisenhunt, Green, Vermeil, Martz

Kurt Warner will be only the third QB in the history of the NFL to go to the Super Bowl with 2 different teams. But unlike Craig Morton (1970 Dallas & 1977 Denver when he had a passer rating of 0.0 in the Super Bowl vs. Dallas) or Earl Morrall (1968 Baltimore & 1972 Miami who was benched for a recovered Bob Griese) Kurt carried the entire franchise on his back all the way to Tampa Bay. Most of you probably know that.

Warner has also ranked right at the top since 2003 in NFL history for all time quarterback rating. He was #1 after the 2003 season, and is now #3 (as of the end of 07). Most of the other guys below him on that list are already in the Hall. But you probably never thought about the two teams that Kurt took to the Super Bowl.

1999 St. Louis Lambs—The lambs were perhaps the most dysfunctional team in the … Read more at FryingPanSports