The Curious Case of Matthew Leinart

If I may take a diversion to talk about something that has nothing to do with Japan or anything geeky, I'd like to talk about one of my favorite things in the world: football. Football is a great, incredibly tactically interesting sport. Anyone who has listened to me talk about this before knows that I'm a huge Cardinals fan. The Cardinals moved into town when I was 3, so they were starting up just as I was actually being old enough to remember things. They were so terrible in my formative years that I actually grew more and more fond of them stubbornly defending them to others, trying to explain to others why they should be supportive of the new home team.


Well, flash forward almost 20 years, and here we are. The Cardinals are the two-time defending NFC West champions and two years removed from a Super Bowl appearance, which they were two minutes away from winning (you may have guessed, but this post is sponsored by the number 2). And, as usual, entering this season, they're being written off. Many different factors have caused the write off, so I'll take a brief look at them, from (in my mind) least important to most important.

1. Anquan Boldin traded to the Ravens: we traded our 2nd round pick in 2003 to the Ravens for a 3rd rounder and a swap of our 5th rounder for the Ravens 4th rounder . It seems pretty astonishing that that was all the Cardinals could net, given that the Lions got a first rounder and third rounder for Roy Williams, but them's the breaks. I don't think this one's a huge deal; Doucet was pretty clearly drafted to replace Boldin, and the Cardinals are rich in receivers (especially with Stephen Williams looking unbelievable in camp and the preseason, even with the first team. Not bad for an undrafted rookie. And even if he doesn't work out, at his highest he's our fourth receiver and an upgrade over Jerehme Urban). That being said, Boldin was a great receiver, had the respect of the clubhouse, and always gave his all on every play, and it's hard to replace that. I think the'yll be okay, though.
2. Antrel Rolle signed a free agent contract with the Giants: the Cardinals moved quickly to replace him by trading for Kerry Rhodes. Rolle was a fun player; he clearly wasn't worth his top 10 draft pick status as a cornerback or safety, but he was a solid player who was explosive if he managed to get his hands on the ball. That being said, he was inconsistent in tackling and Rhodes should be better at that area. This may be about a wash, although I'd lean towards a very slight downgrade.
3. Karlos Dansby signed a free agent contract with the Dolphins: this looked like a big deal earlier in the summer, with the Cardinals not having much to fall back on after Dansby left. This looked even more huge when Gerald Hayes went down with an injury that will keep him out a couple of weeks in the regular season. The Cardinals have done a solid job replacing him, though. Paris Lenon, while unspectacular, has been very solid in preseason, and Daryl Washington, the second round draft pick out of TCU has been a monster in the preseason as well, which gives hope that there's some depth there, especially until Hayes returns.
   
4. Kurt Warner retired: this is, of course, the big one. Having QB questions are the surest way for a good team to be not-so-good. Since 2007, Kurt Warner has been playing at a near-Pro Bowl level for the Cardinals and helping the newest incarnation of The Greatest Show on Turf. He's gone now, and left in the wings was the presumed starter in waiting Matt Leinart, the #10 overall draft pick in 2006. Or so we thought.

See, that last point is where this entire train of thought began. In 2006, the Cardinals had a similar situation to what they have now. They had a erratic, disliked quarterback starting with a hot backup waiting in the wings. I am, of course talking about when Matt "the savior" Leinart replaced Kurt Warner to save our 2006 season. Matt played pretty well, throwing for 2500ish yards in his 11 games, including a 400 yard game in Minnesota and a great debut on Monday Night against the undefeated Bears (lost in the "The Bears are who we thought they were!" rant was just how well Leinart played in that game. Seriously, look it up).

In the 2006-2007 offseason, Dennis Green was fired and replaced with Ken Whisenhunt, the ex-Steeler's offensive coordinator. Whisenhunt had Leinart as the starter and Warner as the backup, and the first few weeks of the regular season, Warner would come in for things like two minute drills in areas where he was clearly better. Still, both quarterbacks played pretty well, and the Cardinals got off to a very nice start. Leinart broke his collarbone and was out for the year, and Warner led the Cardinals for the rest of the year, when they finished 8-8, a much better season than they had had in a while.

In 2008, Leinart was the expected starter, but he played very mediocrely in the preseason, while Warner played great and earned the starter role. The next two years are history, as Warner led the Cardinals to back-to-back division titles and four playoff wins. Leinart played poorly, but not abysmally in his appearances, but starting games and coming in as a substitute are completely different animals.

Regardless, 2010 hit, and Leinart was expected to be the starter. Everything coming out of Glendale was positive; his work ethic had improved, the team believed in him, etc.

There's just one tiny little problem: he played efficiently in his first two preseason games, but the first team offense didn't manage a first down in his 5 possessions. He wasn't helped by the offensive line (terrible) and running game (worse), but Ken Whisenhunt, stressing he had made no final decision, named Anderson the starter for the third (and eventually fourth) preseason game. By all statistical measurements, Anderson had been playing worse than Leinart, but he had managed to move the team a bit. Still, though, Leinart had something like an 85% completion rate compared to Anderson's 50%, and Leinart hadn't thrown any interceptions.

This all made me wonder, what had changed? It's not like Leinart not having the world's greatest arm strength was a huge secret. I suppose it's possible that Leinart didn't look like the team believed in him or act like a leader, but this would have manifested itself earlier. In fact, all the shots I heard coming at Matt Leinart were from outside the organization or people who thought they had inside connections, for instance, Cris Carter, who said that Larry Fitzgerald blamed Leinart for the injury, which Fitz denied, (even though it was pretty clear that the pass wasn't that bad and rule changes forcing defensive backs to hit lower is what really caused it).

Really, the only reason this all surprised me was that it looked like nothing had changed. At first I thought this just might be a mind game thing: Whisenhunt was trying to get Leinart pissed off so that he'd play more pissed off with an attitude, or that he was just trying to see how Leinart would respond. There was one last hope I had grabbed onto, though. I'll express it as a fake Onion article:

Ken Whisenhunt Still Can't Believe You Thought He'd Start Derek Anderson

(Phoenix, AZ) "Oh man, you really believed that?" said Ken Whisenhunt, gasping for air between bursts of racous laughter, moments after naming Matt Leinart the starter for the 2010 season. "I mean, you seriously, actually believed we'd start Derek Anderson? No way. Absolutely no way. You're killing me here."

"I mean, he couldn't cut it for the Browns. What made you think he'd be here?"

The newly reinstated starter for the Cardinals also seemed quite relieved. "You know, I was pretty worried, but I could only do what I'm in control. I had to go out and play my best and show my coach and teammates that I'd do what it takes. I mean--okay, I can't do this with a straight face anymore. I can't believe you thought we were serious. Coach Whiz and I came up with this in Flagstaff on the movie day. We thought it'd be a great bonding experience to watch our team rally around me as all the media attacked me. I'd like to thank Jay Glazer and Adam Schefter for playing along, as well as the Raiders, Giants, and Bills for being involved in the "trade rumors". But seriously, you thought we'd start Derek Anderson?"

When asked about whether all the other media was in on it, Leinart couldn't help himself, "Nah, but you know they love any opportunity to ruin someone else to make a name. I mean, a couple of them were in on it, but Cris Carter? Turns out he's just a douchebag."

The new backup was gracious in handling the news. "Man, they sure got me. I mean, I was surprised when I found out they were naming me the starter anyway. Matt had played pretty well, And I did go 2-17 in a game last year. Man, I can't believe I ever believed this."

Ironically enough, Mike Wise of the Washington Post, who had been suspended for fabricating a news story on Twitter, was one of the few people not in on the joke.




Whisenhunt seems like the kind of person who would try to outsmart everyone by doing this. I mean, as I've stated before, we haven't found out anything new about Leinart, and they did refuse to go after a real veteran QB in the offseason (McNabb, anyone?). It seems like they should be as confident with him now as they were before. Sadly, at least in my opinion (believing that Leinart can be a decent QB in the NFL), I'm pretty sure this is all authentic, or Leinart is a fantastic actor. I'm not sure I've seen a player look more unhappy when playing. I watched parts of the Redskins/Cardinals game last night and saw a disengaged teammate with no interest in playing or interacting with the team. And the final dirt on Leinart's grave? He was asked after the game whether the Cardinals had given him permission to seek a trade. His response? "I have no idea. I don't really pay much attention."

Oof. I don't suppose I'll ever understand the football reasons why Leinart is on the way out (if I had to guess, I'd say there's some issue with him and Whisenhunt). Maybe detalis will emerge later on that really explain it, but I don't think there's enough here (and trust me, I've been looking) to logically explain what's gone on. Nothing about him says future Hall of Famer, but he's a fairly smart, safe quarterback, and all told, I'd rather that than someone like Derek Anderson.


What's that? He's our QB now?


#^%$.