Saturday Blitz
Fansided

College football: Ranking the NFL careers of Heisman Trophy winners 1975-2005

By Nick Villano

Sep 1, 2018; South Bend, IN, USA; Tim Brown the 1987 Heisman Trophy winner poses with the Heisman Trophy at the Heisman House located outside Notre Dame Stadium before the Michigan Wolverines play the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 1, 2018; South Bend, IN, USA; Tim Brown the 1987 Heisman Trophy winner poses with the Heisman Trophy at the Heisman House located outside Notre Dame Stadium before the Michigan Wolverines play the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
10 of 31
Next
Matt Leinart
Matt Leinart (Photo by Julie Jacobson-Pool/Getty Images) /

Ranking NFL careers of Heisman winners: 22. Matt Leinart, QB, USC

Matt Leinart came into the NFL in what many thought should be one of the most stacked draft classes in history. It didn’t exactly work out that way. Leinart joins fellow stars Reggie Bush (a future name on this list), Vince Young, and Mario Williams at the top of the draft. None of them really lived up to the expectations.

Leinart took it to another level. He was projected to be the number-one overall pick of the 2005 NFL Draft. He would have replaced Alex Smith on the San Francisco 49ers, and it would have been a very interesting “what if” for the Niners, Green Bay Packers (would they still have taken Aaron Rodgers), and whichever team ended up taking Smith. Leinart ended up coming back for one more season, he took a dance class with his girlfriend at USC, and he played one final season of college football.

Leinart eventually went to the Arizona Cardinals. Former Super Bowl winner Kurt Warner was there, but he was getting older. Warner was coming off a terrible stint with the New York Giants, so the Cardinals knew he couldn’t be their only option. Just four games into his rookie season, Leinart replaced Warner as the starter. He was inconsistent, and he threw too many interceptions, but he had some amazing moments. Leinart was the starter during the famous Denny Green “the Bears are who we thought they were” rant. He broke some rookie passing records, including one where he threw for 400 yards in a game.

However, the rest of his career was all over the place. Warner would take his starter job back, and he eventually led the Cardinals to a Super Bowl loss to the Steelers. Leinart would have to wait until 2010 to get a chance to be starter again. He ended up losing the job to Derek Anderson and he was unceremoniously cut from the team before the start of the season. He went on to play a backup role with the Raiders, Texans, and a short stint with the Bills. His career was a massive disappointment, although two injuries early in his career really put him two steps back right at the beginning.

Home/College Football News