Gruden: Leinart ‘hasn’t taken advantage of his opportunities’

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ESPN’s Jon Gruden, a Super Bowl-winning coach and quarterback expert, just gave a very blunt assessment of why Matt Leinart hasn’t panned out in Arizona. There are multiple reports the Cardinals are actively trying to trade the former USC star, picked 10th in the 2006 draft.

‘I just say he hasn’t performed,’ Gruden said Wednesday morning on the network’s ‘Monday Night Football’ conference call. ‘He hasn’t taken advantage of his opportunities. He’s clearly been average. He hasn’t been a guy who’s really taken control and choked the opportunity that’s been given to him, and obviously there’s something missing there.

‘Ken Whisenhunt has been watching him closely -- a young guy that has been put in place there in the first round to be the future of the franchise, and he hasn’t taken advantage of his opportunities with an outstanding supporting cast. And for that reason I believe the Arizona Cardinals are looking to improve the position. It’s that simple.

‘There’s a lot of guys who don’t realize their potential. That’s not to say he won’t in the future. But the people that know him best in Arizona don’t believe he can take them where they want to go, and for that reason they’re going to try to upgrade the position.’

-- Sam Farmer