Coach Whiz says there’s no early leader in Cardinals QB race
May 17, 2012, 10:38 PM | Updated: 11:54 pm
As it pertains to the Cardinals QB competition, only one
thing is certain:
Neither Richard Bartel nor Ryan Lindley will open the
season under center.
Unless, of course, disaster strikes, in which case the
team may as well fold up shop because they aren’t winning
much this year anyway.
Assuming disaster does not strike, one of either Kevin
Kolb or John Skelton will be the team’s starter when the
season opens on September 9.
And, as of right now, neither has an edge in the race.
According to ProFootballTalk.com, which is
citing an interview Cardinals coach Ken Whisenhunt did on
Rome, both QBs have a chance to win the job.
“I think the knee-jerk reaction would be to say that it is
Kevin’s job to lose,” Whisenhunt said. “But then you have
to look at what John Skelton did last year in winning
those games when he was in there. So I think you have to
give John a lot of credit for winning those games. I
certainly have a lot of respect for Kevin and what he’s
done in this league and we made the commitment to bring
him in to our football team. So it’s going to start out as
even as it possibly can, and we’re going to let the best
player take it from there. We did that many years ago when
we had Kurt Warner and Matt Leinart, and it worked out
pretty good for us. So hopefully we’ll have that same kind
of magic.”
We’re not sure which of the two current QBs is Warner and
which is Leinart in this scenario, but it’s safe to say
neither has proven enough to warrant simply being handed
the job.
The team gave up a lot for Kolb, but struggles with the
offense and injuries led to a disappointing first year in
the desert where he completed just 57.7 percent of his
passes and threw for nine touchdowns against eight
interceptions.
However, for all the winning Skelton did, his numbers
(54.9 completion percentage, 11 touchdowns, 14
interceptions, 68.9 rating) are hardly the type that
remind anyone of a competent QB, let alone a guy of
Warner’s stature.
So, as it stands, the Cardinals will be deciding between a
pair of QBs, each of whom is unproven.
Good thing there’s a few months before the season opener
to sort this out.
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