QB Comparison
There were a lot of questions about the conservative game plan last week and it made me wonder why it was such a big deal to make Mark Sanchez play more under control when Matt Leinart made a career off throwing passes to tight ends and running backs?
So here's a good way to explain it: Mark Sanchez tends to be too aggressive and has to be told to reign it in against a defense like Cal's. If Leinart faced Cal, he was good enough and patient enough to read defenses that the coaches could make aggressive calls and know if the receiver was not open, he would quickly find a running back to dump the ball off to.
On the other hand, John David Booty sometimes played too conservative and needed to be forced to throw the deep ball.
Hopefully, this explains the difference between the last three quarterbacks. And please note I was actually positive abou Leinart!
This is just goes back to what I said about Mark a couple of weeks ago. He is just like Brett Farve, a real gunslinger. That's not a knock by me on Mark, because with the gunslinger mentality, also comes great leadership that Mark has shown. He is full of fire on the field and on the sidelines (and I'm sure that he also has it in the locker room).
Yes, I would love to see the "O" putting 50 points a game, but as long as the "D" continues to dominate (and that's not even a strong enough description of how good this "D" is), then I just want to see the "O" not make any mistakes (they need to cut back on the "dumb" penalties) and just continue to "WIN".
SCREW THE STYLE POINTS! You're never going to please the east coast bias and mentality (nor are you going to please Wolfeee either). Just keep winning.
Fight On!
Noted! The Leinart comment is both fair and right on. As for the negative ones, seems to me that you (and others, I believe) have had negative personal interactions with Matt and that impacts the comments about him. But would any of us be different and fairly comment on people who treated us badly?
That said, it seems as though Sanchez is a bit hyper sometimes, but that's the other side of the coin from Booty's seemingly laid-back and unexciting personality. So many people on this site screamed for Booty to get "fired up" and "throw the ball long" ... now I read comment after comment about Sanchez the excessive gambler.
Wolfee Boy obviously was dumped on by Leinart many times. Would you want him as a friend?
Also, Wolfee Boy fails to point out the huge differences between the three QBs he mentioned. Leinart had a good arm, but was better at touch passes and dumpoffs - the kind closer to the line of scrimmage.
Booty had a better arm, but didn't have the size to play the style of football he wanted to.
Sanchez has the best arm of the three. He can throw the deep ball. The USC coaching staff has gone on record many times saying he has the best arm among USC quarterbacks since Carson Palmer. That said, shouldn't he be throwing more deep balls (like he has)?
Sometimes I wonder if Wolfee Boy ever watches football and studies it. Or if he thinks he just knows everything (and more than the coaches) just because he's the Daily News USC beat writer. Many other writers of his era have gone on to the LA Times, ESPN and other big media outlets. But not Wolfee Boy ... gee, I wonder why?
I think this is a decent (if radically simplified) version of the differences between the three quarterbacks... but I'm not sure I'd say Leinart "made a living" throwing to running backs and tight ends. Dwayne Jarrett was a two-time All American, all-time USC reception leader, and career Pac 10 leader in touchdown receptions. I seem to remember Steve Smith catching a few passes, too.
Every problem with the offensive is for one reason and has been the same reason for four years. SarKiffin has been a disaster since day one. Both of these guys should have been sent along with one of Petes other guys who have failed so miserably as head coaches.
I was going to comment, but "Scott Wolf has really lost it," basically said it all.
The short version: Sanchez knows he can go deep and is always tempted because he has a cannon. Leinart knew his limitations and was happy to dink around with the short stuff because he had a pistol.