Hard to say if 7th best in the NFL is where Leinart's at. But he does have to personnel in place to make a quantum leap to the elite few QB's there currently are in the NFL.
These are also fantasy rankings, mind you, not straight up talent. Given the weapons at his disposal, I'd say Leinart is easily top ten fantasy. Real life? We'll see.
"revamped offensive line"? I must have missed that one... Haven't they lost Stepanovich and Leonard Davis?
Stepanovich never really established himself as a legitimate starting NFL center. Davis just does not have the quickness to contain the outside rush at tackle. The Cardinals new look O-line will look completely different from last year's. Both Stepanovich and Davis suffered from coaching that was borderline incompetent. Davis may be very productive this year if Dallas plays him at guard.
Leinart will struggle with a sub-par OLine in front of him. I dont bye them saying Leinart is a top 10 QB yet. Not yet anyway.
The quick easy answer is "could it be any worse?" It will take a while since the new staff is installing a new offense. I expect there will be a huge emphasis placed on run blocking, but the pass blocking is bound to take a brief step back. If the line improves quickly then it is almost certain that Russ Grimm (the new offensive line coach) will be offered a head coach position at the end of the year.
It never hearts to get a little ego boost, I guess. Maybe this very article will help him be #7... (not comparing him to elway in any shape or form)
Matt Lienhart is not even close to being in the top 10 list....pls gentlemen stop with all this chit chat about him be an elite QB.....he has to show that when he has a 20-0 lead that he can keep it even if it is againsts the top ranked D-fense......and if we all could just think back to when the Cards played the Bears....Matty was one of the reason why they lost....he fumbled the ball and threw a pick or 2....so in the words of DA GREAT TUNA "lets not induct him into the HALL OF FAME yet".......tssshhhh Matt Leinhart in the top 10.....lets wait for the season to start.....GET'em BOYS
He's in the top 15, absolutely, but his numbers will be a little padded with WRs like he has. I'm sure of one thing though: He's better than Rex Grossman.
So I looked at last year's passer ratings and Leinart was 23rd. I asked myself which of these guys would I rather have: Peyton Manning, Carson Palmer, and Tom Brady are the only guys that I would trade for Leinart in a heartbeat. I would have to think about it if Drew Brees, Phillip Rivers, Jake Delhomme, Jon Kitna, Matt Hasselbeck, Ben Roethlisberger, or Alex Smith were offered up. I would pass on Damon Huard, Tony Romo, J.P. Losmon, David Carr, David Garrard, and Eli Manning because they haven't shown that they have enough upside in my book. I've seen enough of Donovan McNabb, Marc Bulger, Mark Brunell, Chad Pennington, Steve McNair, and Michael Vick to know that I would still rather bank on Leinart's upside than these talented, but injury prone guys.
I can understand that Wood and you should be confident that Leinart is going to be one of the top QB's for a long time to come. I wouldn't trade ya Jason Campbell for him though ;)
