Warner: A QB Never Has Too Many Weapons by John M. Crist of BearReport.com, November 4, 2009 at 4:27pm ET
Jay Cutler Profile
While fans wonder if Bears quarterback Jay Cutler has enough skill-talent talent around him to be successful in Chicago, Cardinals signal caller Kurt Warner does not have that problem in Arizona.
Warner threw to three different 1,000-yard receivers during his Super Bowl run in 2008: Larry Fitzgerald, arguably the best wideout in the NFL; Anquan Boldin, who plays with the toughness of a running back; and Steve Breaston, a No. 3 that could be a No. 1 for a lot of teams.
If there is a such thing as having too many weapons in the passing game, thereby making decision-making a little harder and keeping everyone satisfied a bit of a challenge, Warner isn't buying it.
"I don't think there's such a thing as having too many weapons," Warner said Wednesday via conference call at Halas Hall, "or if there is, I'm not telling anybody because I'll take as many as you give me."
The two-time MVP acknowledges that not every receiver can have a big game week in and week out, but simply throwing the ball to the open man every time ensures they all get opportunities to succeed over the course of a season.
"I think there's times where you can have trouble making them all happy," said Warner. "I think they all want to catch 10 balls every game, and sometimes defenses don't dictate that and I've tried to handle that pretty well. But I think the one thing that guys around me know is I'm going to throw it to the open guy, where the defense dictates it. And so one game, you may only get two catches. But then the next game, if the defense is giving a favorable look, you'll catch 10 or 12. And I think that's what keeps them happy more than me trying to force things to them every game, because a lot of times you're not successful in those situations anyway."
Chicago's triumvirate of Devin Hester, Earl Bennett and Johnny Knox has played better than expected thus far in 2009, but they've got a long way to go before they strike fear into the hearts of opponents like Fitzgerald, Boldin and Breaston do.
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