Andre Johnson in man coverage. Good luck with that. Get it within 15 yards of him and he will take it to the house.
I think Leinart will do fine in play-action. Most of Schaub's play-action passes were of the 7-10 yard tight end variety, anyway. Leinart hasn't had much of a problem with that in his career. They'll miss Schaub if thy get behind to Atlanta or Cincy, and Leinart has to try to throw more, but as long as the offense is simple, Leinart will do fine.
9 in the box against 2 pass catching TEs? Thats career suicide for a DC. Even if they stuff the box they have to account for Daniels/Dressen leaking out. Kubes will probably draw up a lot more screens on 3rd down now. 3rd and 13 dump offs to Foster = First Down.
Are the Texans going to stop running the play action? Something Leinhatt ran well at YACHT with an elite running game.
he may actually make one? as many have pointed out, it's not the physical tools here, it's the mental acuity. But in many cases, with people of Leinart's talent, that really just translates to two things: (1) how hard is he willing to work on Monday-Saturday, and (2) how does he fare under pressure, with a little more of a pass rush. Because if the big hurdle is defenders putting 9 in the box and focusing on stopping the run, then Leinart should do great. With AJ back, our receiving core (including TE's and RB's out of the backfield) is great. The bigger issue is what happens when defenses start bringing more and varied and confusing blitz packages. Has Leinart put in the time to study tape. Has he put in the time to get a good feel with the receivers. Obviously there's only so much he could have done thus far as 2nd string. But its an easy schedule, and he's the sure-fire #1 guy now. It's as much about how much he wants it now as it's ever been. He really couldn't have asked for a better situation. Sure there's pressure replacing the entrenched QB of a 7-3 team on the precipice of doing something its fanbase had never seen, but the alternative of being forced to start on a bad team, with not the perfect system for you clearly wasn't a good route for him. He's inherited a good offense, a system that seems like a fit and a weak finishing schedule. But asking for success come playoff time is really a pipe dream. Even if he has a good run to finish the season, the talent and scheme of the opponent's defense come playoff time will be another level for someone who hasn't taken any snaps regularly in 2 years.
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Jags and Bengals no longer have their (only) top CB - if they want to put 9 in the box, they'll get blown out. Falcons and Colts are below average defenses against the pass as it is. Leinart isn't Ryan Leaf bad.
Fantastic post, and the reason why I still remain somewhat optimistic. He clearly showed maturity by choosing to remain on the Texans this year, and further develop himself as a quarterback as opposed to just taking the job that would give him the most playing time. By all accounts, Kubiak and Knapp rave about him every chance they get, and that's encouraging since they are regarded as two of the best QB coaches in the business. I have a feeling Kubiak will develop a system that allows Leinart the opportunity to succeed with a lot of shallow crosses off playactions, and bootlegs that release the tight end. And of course, that will all be predicated on the running game of Foster and Tate still being there. As for the playoffs, I'm holding out hope that after 6-7 weeks of running this offense, Leinart will be comfortable enough to be able to improvise in the face of an exotic blitz. It's not as if the Texans are going to become a team that throws the ball 45 times just because they are in the playoffs now, so I'm not OVERLY worried about what playoff-caliber defenses will do to us. The running game and the playaction pass of the Texans is good enough to keep any defense in this league honest, no matter who is taking the snaps at QB.
You're very stupid when it comes to making arguments. Do I need to also play QB in the NFL to assess Leinart's abilities? See your error now? Good, try better next time.
So your counter argument is even though all the girls you date are far worse, you still reserve the right to call her ugly? I respect that.
How do teams not have to worry about playaction anymore? Leinart has a stronger arm than Schaub. Theoretically, he should be able to hit a wide-open Andre, or Jacoby with better efficiency than Schaub. Or were you being sarcastic? I suck at sarcasm over the internet, a lot.
All this plus a *much* better offensive line. Plus - and this is an overlooked key, IMO, because everyone focuses on the offense when discussing a QB - having a defense that keeps points off the board, makes stops AND forces turnovers makes a QB's job sooooooooooooooo much easier - less scoring, smaller fields.... This CAN happen. Even with Leinart, they can go 3-3, 4-2 down the stretch, get Leinart's feet wet (ie boost his confdence) and still make some noise in the playoffs. If this HAD to happen, this is a pretty ideal time - extra week off and he gets six weeks of mostly subpar competition to figure things out. Again, there was a time Leinart was considered a #1 overall pick-ish kind of prospect and he's just, what? 28? 29? It's not a long shot this could work. (.....it's unlikely to work but.....)
Or he took the job with the least amount of pressure....... I like your way of thinking but - who knows? I hope you're right.
I think Leinart's arm is a tad bit stronger than Schaub's. Neither one is winning a longest throw contest, though.
