Kurt Warner retired this spring leaving the Cardinals without much of a safety net if 27-year old Matt Leinart fails as the starter as he has in the past.  The Cardinals will probably run a lot more than they have in recent years to attempt to protect Leinart.  Leinart played in 8 games for the Cardinals last season and he completed 51 of 77 passes (66.2%) for 435 yards with 0 TD passes and 3 INTs (64.6 QB Rating).  He also carried the ball 9 times for -6 yards (-0.7 ypc) last year.  Leinart has now played in 29 games in his career with the Cardinals and he has completed 340 of 595 passes (57.1%) for 3,893 yards with 14 TD passes and 20 INTs (70.8 QB Rating).  He has also carried the ball 46 times for 90 yards (2.0 ypc) with 2 TD runs in his career to date.  The Cardinals have a 7-10 record (41.2%) in games started by Matt Leinart.  He will have to improve his overall game or Derek Anderson will replace him at some point.

26-year old Derek Anderson has had two rough years in a row with the Browns.  But he was a Pro Bowl QB in 2007 and he definitely has big time ability as he has a strong arm and good feet to buy time.  He often throws the ball where he shouldn’t though and that’s the reason the Browns gave up on him.  If he can protect the football he could beat out Matt Leinart for the starting job in 2010.  Anderson played in 8 games for the Browns last season and he completed 81 of 182 passes (44.5%) for 888 yards with 3 TD passes and 10 INTs (42.1 QB Rating).  Anderson also carried the ball 10 times for 8 yards (0.8 ypc) last season.  Anderson has now played in 39 games in his NFL career and he has completed 587 of 1,109 passes (52.9%) for 7,083 yards with 46 TD passes and 45 INTs (69.7 QB Rating).  Anderson also has carried the ball 71 times for 180 yards (2.5 ypc) with 5 TD runs in his career to date.  Anderson has a 16-18 (47.1%) record as a starting QB in the NFL.

22-year old John Skelton was picked in the fifth round out of Fordham this past April and he will be the Cardinals’ #3 QB in 2010.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE CARDINALS QBs in 2010:  C-