Max Hall Named Arizona Cardinals’ Starting QB

Added on Oct 07, 2010 by Jason Kearney in

NFL

Just a hunch, but do you think the Arizona Cardinals wish that Kurt Warner had decided to pull a Favre and return for another season? So far this year the Cardinals have had an acrimonious breakup with their presumptive starting quarterback Matt Leinart and have benched his replacement, former Cleveland Browns’ starter Derek Anderson. Now they’re trying option #3 at quarterback, giving the reigns to rookie Max Hall out of BYU. Hall played reasonably well in mop up duty after Anderson was yanked following two first half INTs in Arizona’s 41-10 loss at San Diego completing 8 of 14 passes for 82 yards. Hopefully he’ll get better protection from the offensive line in his first NFL start–Hall was sacked six times last Sunday.

Cardinals coach Ken Whisenhunt praised Hall’s maturity and confidence in announcing the move:

“I think Max certainly feels he’s ready for itI mean, he’s a confident young man. He’s been that way since he’s been here. He’s made progress. He believes in himself and carries himself with that confidence. I know that he wanted to play. I don’t think that’s ever been a question.“

“We do feel good about his ability to get in there and run our offense and that’s because of the way he’s handled himself since the day he got here. That’s a little bit unusual for rookies, to have that confidence, to have that ability to handle the huddle, make some plays. Once again, it doesn’t really mean anything until you see it on game day and we’re certainly expecting to have some success with that.”

“Hopefully we’ll make some more plays, be a little more efficient offensively. I think that one of the areas we need to improve in is just making the plays that are there. That’s what we’ve missed on.”

Hall is a native of nearby Mesa, Arizona and is anxious to take advantage of this opportunity:

“I’m just going forward like it’s mine. That’s the mindset that you have to have. They’re putting everything into me. The game plan and everything is going toward my strengths so I’m moving forward like it’s mine. You don’t get drafted, you wonder what’s going to happen. I was excited to be part of this organization. Coach Whisenhunt was always good and fair with me in everything that we did. We have a good relationship. It’s an exciting thing for me to have the opportunity that’s ahead of me to start for this team. I’m just going to give it my best.”

Running back Tim Hightower knows that its now the responsibility of himself and his teammates to make Hall’s transition to starting quarterback as easy as possible:

“He has his hands full. He’s got a plate full in front of him, I’m not going to lie. They kind of threw him in there but it comes back to us making his transition a lot easier. We’ve got to establish the running game. We’ve got to be physical. We’ve got to make plays and we’ve got to take the pressure off him.”

Hall certainly doesn’t catch a scheduling break, as Arizona will host the defending Superbowl Champion New Orleans Saints on Sunday.