After losing Carson Palmer and Drew Stanton to knee injuries in separate games versus the Rams, Cardinals coach Bruce Arians was desperate for a quarterback entering the 2014 playoffs.
Ryan Lindley set a record for ignominy, passing 229 times without a touchdown to start his NFL career. His 50.3 passer rating and 1-5 record (.167) were the lowest marks by any postseason quarterback in the last 30 years.
Held hostage by Lindley, Arizona managed an NFL postseason record-low 78 yards of offense in the Wild Card Round loss to the Panthers.
So why didn't Arians turn to rifle-armed rookie Logan Thomas, as originally planned entering the regular-season finale versus the 49ers?
Arians reiterated this week at the NFL Annual Meeting that Thomas simply wasn't ready to start games at the NFL level.
"We drafted him for two years from now, not November," Arians said, via the team's official website. "It just so happened his number got called (earlier.) I was not going to let him fail (in San Francisco) because once you fail those scars never go away.
"It's very hard to get the guys back in the locker room if you cost them the playoffs. I just wasn't going to put him in that situation. Right or wrong, it just was my decision."
Who can find fault with that logic from one of the NFL's preeminent quarterback gurus?
Thomas is a developmental project. Success stories in that category are few and far between, but that won't stop Arians from attempting to refine the former Virginia Tech star's immense physical gifts as an alternative to Palmer down the line.
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