SI.com's Don Banks has put together a list of the five top storylines in each division heading into training camp. One, I will say, I disagree with within the NFC West. "4. It's a big year for Matt Leinart. Either he finds a way to push Kurt Warner in Arizona, or we start to think of the Cardinals' 2006 first-rounder as a top 10 bust."
Obviously it's going to be an ongoing story on judging Leinart and possible bust status. And I would understand this idea for 2009 -- if Warner was, for example, a Shaun Hill- or Kerry Collins-type. But Warner was the Pro Bowl starter for the NFC and had a spectacular 2008 season. And Leinart is a bust if he doesn't find a way to push Kurt? That's asking an awful lot. Is Kevin Kolb a bust if he doesn't push Donovan McNabb this year? (That's really the closest comparision I can find. There just aren't high picks that find themselves behind Pro Bowl quarterbacks).
The most recent situation kind of like this was the Philip Rivers/Drew Brees thing in San Diego, and Rivers never pushed Brees. The Chargers just kind of pushed Brees out the door (although it worked out for both guys). The bottom line, it doesn't matter how Leinart looks this year, unless Warner implodes, Leinart will be on the bench. And that doesn't mean he's a bust.