Matt Leinhart

[Blake]

Dont have a link for it, but heard it on Cold Pizza this morning.

If you find a source please help me out.



Should be today around 5-6pm.

[Blake]

http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaaf

[nunusguy]

What decision ? Its a no brainer. What else can he do in college- well lets
see, maybe he can go back to USC and blow out a knee out this fall. Hey, he's won the Heisman, USC is national champ, and his brand is as hot as it will
ever be. Just do it ! Take the money and run fool !

[THE_HONKEY_TONK_KID]

He has delayed his decision until tomorrow. It will be announced live on ESPNEWS at 4:30 our time, so I am guessing will all of this hoppla he will go the NFL and end up with the not-so-amazing 49ers.

I can't imagine him arranging all of this just to say, "yep I'm gonna stay at USC and try to win a national championship".

But you gotta love this kid..........he wants to stay and enjoy college and not go after the money. Then again he may be trying to aviod the 49ers..........

[TexansCanes]

i don't know what he is going to do. he can make millions but i think that he just loves USC. he is the man and it is almost a given that he can win another heisman and national title.

[jacquescas]

I predict Matt Lienart will stay at USC for another year. He is a king at USC, and that power is more fun than being a rookie QB, even with millions. Even if he has an average season he will still be a first round pick.

[Blake]

If he does stay, I will be shocked. All he has to risk is injury. Hes got the Heisman, hes got the championships, hes got the top 10 grade. What he doesnt have? Millions of dollars. An NFL contract. Endorsments. A mansion.

I just think he needs to move on as well. Hes done basically everything he can in college ball.

[Vinny]

Here is some banter from some NFL scouts. As usual, opinions vary, but some are not real high on Leinart apparently.

“Alex Smith can really run. Not just average. He can run. He had a 55-yard run. I thought he handed the ball off on one tape. I had to rewind it, and it was Smith. He’s going to test out of this world. Right now, he’s 6-3½, but he has to grow into the body. He has the build to be 225 or more. And that’s fine.”

One general manager who has seen each junior play said Rodgers could be the first pick in the draft. Size — he might measure under 6-foot-2 — could be a liability to evaluators.

“If you rate them as athletes, it goes Smith, Rodgers and Leinart,” he said. “Mentally, rate them Leinart, Rodgers and Smith. That’s kind of a readiness-to-play scale too. We don’t doubt (Smith) will be the best 3-4 years down the road.

“Hands down, Leinart was the best-prepared by his college experience.”

The college scouting director concurred, and said teams who criticize Smith’s arm strength might not be studying him closely enough.

“The thing with (Cal coach Jeff) Tedford, he has those guys so programmed to the system that they look like they always make the right decisions. But if you break down the tape, that’s the only read they have. You know what I mean? The same was true of Trent Dilfer, Joey Harrington.

“You know Leinart can read the field. That was a pro-style offense.

“Alex is up in the air. The offense they run was a lot of misdirection, option stuff. What we loved about Alex is this: If you watch him every week, especially in warm-ups, he carries himself like an NFL quarterback. People are wrong on the arm — he has the arm of an NFL quarterback, throws like an NFL quarterback. You don’t see it on tape, but that’s the offense. Once he works out for people, in-person routine, he’s a slam-dunk.

“Rodgers has the best arm of the three. I’d say Smith is two, Leinart is three. I’m not knocking Leinart for that. He likes to step into it; he’s good enough for the league. But he throws a touch pass too much, likes to drop in on the target. That makes you believe he might not have the strength, but he does.”

One scout who said he has seen Leinart play more than 10 times believes Leinart’s long, exaggerated release will keep him out of the first half of the first round.

“It doesn’t get out fast enough, not for a West Coast offense,” he said. “The three-step-and-out is a problem. Can you fix that? I think so, but he’s had it forever.”

That rap wasn’t a consensus, however.

“The kid is tougher than (nails),” said another college scouting director. “He takes some serious shots. More than the other two, I can say with confidence that he’ll hold up.”

Ah yes, confidence. The QB evaluation game isn’t foolproof. The human element disqualifies science from the equation, and the bottom line is, the only thing that is certain is that nothing is certain.

“These guys are hard to figure out, as you know,” one scout said. “The best grade I ever gave a quarterback was Ryan Leaf, the Washington State kid. That was the best grade. I saw him play live five times. I couldn’t find anything wrong with him.”

http://www.profootballweekly.com/PFW...olds011005.htm

[jacquescas]

pardon my language but Lienart's got to be up to his eyeballs in women, he has to run the school, and have a chance to go down as one of College footballs best QBs ever.

even if he had a cataclismic injury he would still be drafted cause some team would take a flyer on him. The money will be there next year, but he will never have the chance to play college football again.

[edo783]

IMO, you go to college in order to be better prepared to make a living (some do it for altruistic reasons, but generaly your there for earnings capacity). If you have a MAJOR boat load of bucks available you take it and protect your living. That's why your there. Screw the "RAH RAH become a majore legend" stuff, because if you get hurt, not one of those people will put up the bucks you will miss out on. Yes, someone will still pick him, but the money will be SOOOOO much less he will never be able to make it up.

[Jon Moxon]

USC QB Matt Lienart has decided to return to USC for his senior season....looks like he was trying to avoid the 49ers after all.

[WWJD]

I'm not really that surprised. I heard him say on an interview after the championship game that he'd be really hard for him to leave early and he thinks about what they've got rolling at USC. Can't blame him. The money will be there next year too.