Being patient and allowing your high-paid first rounder to learn the game is one thing, but after two years in the league shouldn't the light-throwing Leinart be ready to step up? Isn't that why he was a Top 10 pick? Is it okay for a kid who has never really been a starter going into his third season to go 4-for-12 for 24 yards? With 3 INTs? How about those numbers against a team defense ranked 22 last year? Not in my book.
To be fair to David Carr, he was thrown into the starting job as a rookie on a very bad Houston team. It's not the same thing as Leinart's situation. Don't get me wrong: Carr was, without doubt, an over-hyped media product who was never as talented as his Heisman campaign made him out to be. Just look at what he's (not) done since leaving Houston. A rookie Troy Aikman (pick 1) was also made the starter on a very bad Texas team going 1-15 in his first year, but I think we all know how that turned out.
But Leinart has been given the time to mature. He has two of the best receivers in the game. He has Emmitt Smith's leadership and JJ Arrington, a good looking 4th year back. The line isn't bad either: Mike Gandy, Reggie Wells and Levi Brown are a solid core. So the finger keeps pointing back to the boy with the ball.
For his 17 game career Leinart has 13 TDs and 16 INTs, which doesn't say much of anything. but what might be more revealing is this: Quarterbacks selected in the first round of the NFL draft more often end up as busts not franchise saviors. Consider this list:
- Tim Couch, pick 1
- Ryan Leaf, pick 2
- Rick Mirer, pick 2
- Heath Shuler, pick 3
- Akili Smith, pick 3
- Joey Harrington, pick 3
- David Klingler, pick 6
- Andre Ware, pick 7
- Cade McNown, pick 12
- Dan McGwire, pick 16
- Todd Marinovich, pick 24
- Tommy Maddox, pick 25
- Jim Druckenmiller pick 26
Yes, there have been very successful (Peyton Manning, pick 1) and moderately successful (Steve McNair, pick 3) first-round QB picks. But don't forget: the Cardinals used their 1987 first-round pick (#6 overall) on their QB of the future – Kelly Stouffer – and we all know how that turned out.
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