Arizona Cardinals Expected to Name Kurt Warner the Starting Quarterback
We'll recap Saturdays shutout win over the Raiders later in the day, but for now the
bigger news is that ESPN is running with a story that according to "sources" the Arizona Cardinals will name Kurt Warner the starting quarterback. Matt Leinart had a horrible game against the Raiders and according to Chris Mortensen that was enough to seal the deal. Mortensen went on to say that the Leinart's training camp performance has been uneven and that the team is concerned with his "arm strength and consistency." The story hasn't been confirmed by Coach Whisenhunt or any member of the team but after practice today Whiz and Leinart will meet with the media.
Obviously Matt's performance against the Raiders was bad enough to warrant being sent to the bench but I'd still be surprised to hear Whisenhunt confirm this story and announce his starter. Kurt most likely will start the opener against the Niners but I'd be surprised if Whisenhunt announced that before the final preseason game. He's been coy about naming a starter so far and he seems content with letting this thing play out until the opener. What do you think? What would you do?
UPDATE: Ken Whisenhunt was on KTAR radio this morning and he refuted the ESPN story that claimed the QB decision had been made. He added that he hadn't seen the tape yet but that any decisions won't be made solely on this game:
“I haven’t read the paper today or seen the Internet,” Whisenhunt said. “Do we have a quarterback? … It seems like Chris Mortensen is making the decision on our quarterback for our football team. … But nothing has changed……... One thing I learned from (former Steelers coach) Bill Cowher is, you don’t want to make an emotional decision based on a half of football,” Whisenhunt said. “Look, we’ve put in a lot of work … and it’s based on a body of work. We don’t have to make that decision right now……We’re going to work on the things from the tape and correct it and when we do make a change of that magnitude, I’m sure you guys will know about it.”
This is about what we expected but I'm sure we'll get some more extensive quotes when he meets with the media. That should be a little later in the afternoon.
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wait till the last minute to name a starter.
Who knows. Kurt could have an equally disasterous final game. Does that mean BSP would take over as the starting QB. We all know Kurt should be the starter, but lets make the 49er’s keep guessing. We need every edge we can get to beat those guys. No matter how good we’ve been (or could have been) the last couple seasons, we still can’t seem to beat a terrible 49er’s team that can only get better. They couldn’t get much worse unless Smith started.
Niners
I agree, for whatever reason we’ve got our hands full playing the Niners and if we can keep them guessing, by all means, do it.
True for last season only
about the 49ers. Remember we swept them in both of the two previous seasons before that. The season before that however, their only two wins of the season came against the Cards. What a wierd division rivalry. Impossible to predict.
by AJ BirdWatcher on Aug 25, 2008 9:49 AM MDT up reply actions
Exactly what I was thinking hevchv...
Whiz won’t let them know so they will have to gameplan for Lienart and Warner. I am siked about this news though and I am about 90% sure this information is accurate. Usually, EPSN won’t run a story unless they’re pretty sure it is true. I think this is great for Cardinals fans this season because Warner gives us the best chance to win immediatly. He looked reborn last season and when he has the weapons on a team, he’s one of the best of all time. He got dogged in St. Louis, dogged in NY and now the if the Cards stick to their word, he will perform goingt into a contract year. Somehow, I see Warner finishing out his carreer here and doing some pretty great things in his last few season’s. They will end up bringing in another big rookie to compete with Matt, and Matt will never perform to his expectations.
Warner
I agree that this story is most likely very true and Warner is probably the best option for the 2008 Cardinals. I’ve been in Leinart’s corner from day 1, but having Warner right behind him is why I was never really concerned about the QB position. Warner’s very capable of leading this team to the post season, as you said.
Agreed
As much as I hate to see Matt degress from his previous progress, Warner does look like he gives us the best shot to win early & often. We certainly will need the W’s before the bye week. Hopefully 4 to 6 of them. Most of my optimism is coming from the defense and running game in that order.
by AJ BirdWatcher on Aug 25, 2008 9:53 AM MDT up reply actions
The Cardinals Want to Win Games
Like every team, and Kurt Warner gives them a much better chance to do so than Leinart. Good move.
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Thanks for the welcome
and good luck to you guys this year as well.
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Poker Face
As much as I like to keep opposing teams guessing as to the personnel packages on the field for the Cardinals, I don’t think the Niners will take any bluffing at the QB position seriously. They will prepare for Warner regardless of Whisenhunt’s poker face, as Warner presents the greatest challenge for the Niners. Also, the Niners have some insight into Warner’s trends with Martz on staff. If Leinart somehow salvages his QB cred and is named the starter, the Niners will be over prepared now, as it doesn’t take much scheming to blitz and have the secondary snag floating ducks for passes out of the air as INTs.
We all leave footprints in the sands of time, just watch out for the discarded fish hooks!
lol -- well said
I hadn’t thought about the Warner/Martz connection but that could be something to watch.
Talking about lame ducks...
Your lucky you were out of town this weekend Matt. Your so anti Leinart, pro Warner you would have tripped the F out seeing the way Leinart was throwing. It looked like he couldn’t throw a ball 40 yards if he tried. Underthrew a deep pass to Fitz by about 6-7 yards, just horrendous!
Salary plays into the equation too
Kurt will be making $4 million in the last year of his contract; Leinart makes $700+ this year. Looking at those numbers, who do think is the starting QB? The Cards can afford to keep Leinart as the number 2. If the D plays as well as we are hoping, he should see some “garbage” time to keep his skills fresh and build his confidence and feel like he’s part of the team.
We’re also going to have to accept that Warner is going to fumble once a game and throw his share of INTs. I just know that the TD-to-Turnover ratio will be much “friendlier” than Leinart’s.
We all leave footprints in the sands of time, just watch out for the discarded fish hooks!
Matt vs. Warner
I heard this point earlier today and it really rang true:
Matt’s biggest advantage over Warner was that he didn’t turn the ball over as much but if he’s throwing multiple picks a game then they might as well roll with Warner.
That may be simplifying the game a bit but it makes some sense. Warner will be more productive but it’s the negatives (picks and fumbles) that gave Leinart the edge but if both QBs are going to turn the ball over, they might as well use the QB who’s got more production. Does that make sense to anyone else?
well said
But don’t forget, including bonus, kurt only makes about 420k more per year. 5mil vs. 4.582 mil
Incentives
Both of their contracts are incentive based. If I remember correctly, Matt’s is based off % of snaps taken. Kurt’s I believe is more performance based.
Does anybody know how much Matt would make if he took 90%+ of the snaps this year?
by AJ BirdWatcher on Aug 25, 2008 6:49 PM MDT up reply actions
He has looked 100 times better since wearing the gloves in 07.
A little inspiration from Big Ben has done wonders for his fumblitis.
gloves
I notcied Warner wearing them as of last year.
by Michael Bean on Aug 26, 2008 6:09 AM MDT up reply actions
Grip
I believe Kurt started to experiment with the gloves in Green’s last season after he benched Warner. The fumbles were an issue and Kurt was trying to find something to help, in particular with the hand that had the weak thumb going back to his Giants days. If someone has the film, look at that last game of the season against San Diego and I think Kurt was wearing the gloves at that point and even the week before against SF when he replaced the injured Leinart.
We all leave footprints in the sands of time, just watch out for the discarded fish hooks!
Yeah. I saw an interview...
where he said the main reason he fumbled so much in 2006 was because his hands got real sweaty. He saw Ben Roethlesberger wearing the gloves all through the season and decided he give them a try. He didn’t fumble nearly as much last year once he started wearing the gloves.

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