I was having a debate with a buddy the other day about whether Cassel was a legit NFL QB or more of a system guy who's benefited from being in a good situation, but that discussion got me thinking more and more about our very own Matt Leinart. As we all know, Leinart started ahead of Cassel during thier time together at USC, even though Cassel had a year of experience on him. Cassel, seeing that his time at QB would be limited to an injury fill in or mop up duty, played some at wide receiver, tight end and even on special teams during his four seasons at USC. So what does all this have to do with Matt Leinart?

Well if Leinart was that much better in college, could it be assumed that he could put up comparable numbers at the professional level? The simple answer I guess would be that there are too many other factors to consider. On the other hand, Leinart obviously had better physical tools when he won the job over Cassel, a player with a year of experience on him. So if he's still more physically gifted, we could stand to reason that if he's committed himself to improving on the mental side of the game and he's receiving similar coaching that he's still the better QB, or at least a comparable player.

With all that being said, Leinart and Cassel are at surprisingly similar points in their NFL career. Cassel has one more year of experience and he's played in nine more games (although Leinart does have edge in starts by 3), but their attempts are very close. Cassel's attempted 511 passes while Leinart is currently sitting at 496. The stats are, as you might expect, in Cassel's favor across the board. He's completed a much highter percentage of passes (63.2 to 56) for more yards per attempt (6.9 to 6.5). His touchdown to intereception ratio is also much better (20/13 to 13/16) and his QB rating is better (85.9 to 71.3). Now obviously most of Cassel's stats have come this season (his fourth in the league) while most of Leinart's stats came during his rookie season so it's not quite apples to apples but it's the only thing that we've got to go on. So, my question to you, which QB would you rather have starting for the Cardinals next season?