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Ryan Lindley will start for the Cardinals Thursday against the Denver Broncos.

It will be the last game he starts for a while.

Cardinals coach Ken Whisenhunt said Monday he has not yet made a decision on who the team's starting quarterback will be Week 1 against Seattle, thereby prolonging one of the more intriguing and frustrating story lines of camp.

Who will it be, Kevin Kolb or John Skelton? It appears they have just about wrapped up making their respective cases, as neither is expected to play in the team's preseason finale in large part because Denver is not expected to play its starters much.

"As far as evaluation of the quarterbacks, in trying to make it a level playing field as for the number of reps and who they're playing against, I don't know how much that would serve with John or Kevin out of this game," Whisenhunt said.

Instead the Cardinals will continue to take a look at the two in practice this week, and while Whisenhunt said he knows there are a lot of people looking for an answer, he simply does not have one at this time.

"I still think we have opportunities to evaluate the players and we're going to do that," he said. "And when we feel like we've made a decision we'll let you know."

So Lindley, a sixth-round pick out of San Diego State, will get the start, with Richard Bartel also seeing time in the game. The head coach made sure to let everyone know that there is nothing the rookie could do to supplant either of the two front runners.

Along with Lindley, running back William Powell and linebacker Reggie Walker are set to play a substantial amount of snaps, with the coaching staff hoping to see more of players who have done well this preseason.

"One of the knocks that you hear about those type of players is you don't get a chance to see them with your good players or against good players," Whisenhunt said. "So this is an opportunity for us, in a situation like this with a fifth preseason game, where we're going to get a chance to evaluate them with our good players against some of Denver's starters."

Arizona Sports' Craig Grialou contributed to this report

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    Fred T. wrote...
    The real problem
    Why is no one talking about the real problem? The offensive line stinks. It has for a few years. You can't expect ANY quarterback to perform well while they are running for their life and getting the snot knocked out of them on a regular basis. Look at the Colts. Their line is MUCH improved over last year and giving the new kid a chance. He'll still be over whelmed because he's a rookie, but at least it won't be from lack of a line.
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    tehQuagmire wrote...
    RE: The real problem
    Fred, Everyone has talked about that. Every draft for the past 4 years pundits have predicted the Cardinals taking OL in the draft with a smattering of QB and LB selections. As for QB- Kolb will start. No reason for him not to. Neither QB has outperformed the other. It wouldn't surprise me if Lindley plays this year due to injury and crappy performance.
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    mesa mad man wrote...
    great choice
    I get not having a decision yet. But if thats the case, then play your QBs. Dont start Lindley if you have a position that you arent satisfied with either of the players. Make Kolb and Skelton trot out there and show what they have.
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    sundevil7901 wrote...
    This is Lindley's tryout for the starter spot
    Whiz can't make it seem that way, so he's sitting Kolb and Skelton both.But if Lindley puts on a show, I have a hard team believing that the Cards won't at least think about giving him a shot. Again, I stress that Lindley would have to play perfect football.
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    mesa mad man wrote...
    No
    This is not Lindleys shot at a starting spot. This is Wiz being hard headed and indecisive. Whats worse is that if Lindley performs well, Wiz is going to have an uproar on his hands that he cannot handle from the fanbase. He wont start Lindley in week one, and the fans will all clamor for him and boo Kolb and likely Skelton at every misstep.
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    Rainex80 wrote...
    What this is
    Is Winsenhunts way of shutting the two down and justifying Kevin Kolb the starter. Claiming he was sharp in practice and hopes it translates to the field. If Kolb plays like crap this week, no way he can start him, so its a cop out. Im not 100 percent convinced the front office is able to admit the mistake of Kolb and are willing to let him sit while paying him a ton of money. So im almost close to being certaint he will start week 1. Even though Skelton, while not much, I believe has outplayed just a tad.
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    globalron wrote...
    Lindley...........Should be the Starter........
    What he lacks in experience, Lindley makes up for in "moxey". He will learn quickly from his mistakes, and 3 to 4 Games into the Season, will be as good, if not better than what we have....... But only if he gets to play. He will not get better, being the 3rd string QB. Play him now, and let's get past this QB Circus.
    Ron Passmore
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    hugUhbear wrote...
    @Ron - Your point is the right 1 IMO
    Lindley has more upside than either Kolb or Skelton. Lindley has looked good in preseason games against 3rd stringers sometimes 2nd stringers. I think Lindley should be "the guy." I know it would have ups & downs but at least we would have a talented QB to rally around and next yr. we can build off of Lindley rather than having this circus (QB controversy) next pre-season. This is the 3rd year of QB controversies and my geuss is Whiz will be fired before we have another.
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    John R. wrote...
    Don't even think about starting Lindley
    You don't even want to think of starting Lindley right now. Behind this O-line, he'd get killed. Yes Kolb or Skelton will get killed as well, but who cares. We don't want to risk Lindley getting beaten and shellshocked behind this O-line. Remember what happened to David Carr in Houston. A very promising career distroyed by the beatings he took. Let our sorry QBs play and save Lindley for the future. Then next year address the O-line in free agency and the draft, rounds 1,2,3,4,5. We need O-linemen in the worst way. Then, and only then, let Lindley show us what he can do.
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    IANAM wrote...
    Just Bad
    Neither of these two QBs would have a chance at starting for any other NFL team.
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