ESPN’s Clayton believes switch to Ryan Lindley is a mistake

ESPN NFL analyst John Clayton has one word to describe Cardinals coach Ken Whisenhunt’s decision to name rookie Ryan Lindley the starting quarterback.

“Mistake.”

Clayton, who was a guest of Arizona Sports 620’s Doug and Wolf Wednesday, noted how bad John Skelton played Sunday in Atlanta.

The quarterback completed just 2-of-7 passes before being yanked, but even though he was erratic enough to have Clayton say “I’m surprised they might have had people warned in the stands, duck if the ball is coming your way”, the analyst thinks it was the wrong move then and now.

“You’re going to put in a rookie quarterback with a rookie wide receiver and two rookie tackles, it’s like what are you doing,” Clayton said. “And now to come back and do this, I think it’s a very dangerous move and it’s a move that I don’t endorse, sorry.”

Clayton said Whisenhunt is one of the brightest and best coaches in the NFL, but views this move as one of pure desperation.

“He’s given up on John Skelton, obviously, and he’s looking for accountability, obviously, but also is this a move that’s going to give this team the best chance to win,” Clayton asked. “Sometimes you have to suck it up and say ‘OK fine, let’s just go with John, I know you didn’t do a good job.'”

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