Logan Thomas Not Yet Ready to Win Games for the Arizona Cardinals

The Arizona Cardinals had an opportunity to win a game over the Denver Broncos Sunday. The final numbers on the scoreboard (41-20) don’t reflect it, and neither do some of the numbers further down the box score—especially those from Demaryius Thomas during his franchise-record-setting day.

Consider this: Peyton Manning passed for 479 yards, 226 of which went to Thomas, who scored twice—once on an 86-yard catch-and-run.

The Broncos had two pass-catchers with at least 100 receiving yards in addition to 92 yards on the ground, bringing the total damage to 568 yards of offense.

Yet when the fourth quarter started, Denver led by a meager four points. A field goal shortly after increased the lead to 27-20, leaving the Cardinals still only a touchdown away.

They needed quick scoring drives, and for that they also needed accuracy deep downfield—or just any accuracy at all.

Instead they had Logan Thomas.

Thomas was forced into the game when Von Miller made Bobby Massie look like Bobby Massie, who flailed as he tried to contain one of the league's quickest edge-rushers.

Here’s Massie doing his best pylon impression:

Credit: NFL Game Rewind

Nanoseconds later, Drew Stanton’s afternoon ended:

Credit: NFL Game Rewind

ESPN.com's Josh Weinfuss reported that Stanton missed the rest of the game and was later diagnosed with a concussion, making his status for Week 6 and possibly beyond uncertain.

That’s the nature of the concussion beast, with recovery times scattered and unpredictable. The human mind is not a thing to be messed with.

When Thomas entered, he was exactly as advertised: an athletic experiment—he’s a towering 6’6”, weighing 250 pounds—with an arm that could throw any object through a titanium-reinforced brick wall. The problem is he couldn’t hit that wall, no matter the distance.

Thomas was famous/infamous for both his athleticism and crippling inaccuracy as a college prospect coming out of Virginia Tech.

That’s why he was available in the fourth round at 120th overall, the ideal place for Cardinals head coach and renowned quarterback whisperer Bruce Arians to select his project.

In a perfect football universe, Arians would take the quarterback Play-Doh offered to him by Thomas and mold him into a beautiful masterpiece over the next year. At that point, if he's progressed enough, the Cardinals could move on from Carson Palmer—who turns 35 in December—and not pay him $10 million in 2015 during what’s essentially an option year.

Thomas needs time and some tender guidance after he rushed for 1,359 yards during his collegiate career while completing only 55.6 percent of his passes.

The concept of decision-making was entirely foreign to him at times.

The thing about carefully constructed, long-term roster plans in the NFL is that they’re one rip or pop away from being interrupted. For the Cardinals, two: Stanton is down, and although Fox Sports' Jay Glazer suggests there’s optimism that Palmer could return as soon as Week 6, a lot of uncertainty still follows him.

A one-loss team that currently sits atop its division could be forced to play at least one game with a rookie fourth-round pick under center, and quite possibly more.

What exactly does the current version of Thomas offer? Intrigue, and little else.

The highlight you’ll see played repeatedly is his laser-like throw to Andre Ellington, and deservedly so.

Late in the third quarter on Sunday, the running back ran a wheel route, heading up the sideline to Thomas’ right. Broncos linebacker Nate Irving actually had fine coverage on the play, trailing Ellington by about half a step and forcing a rookie who’s taking his first meaningful NFL snaps to cram a throw into an absurdly tight window.

Challenge accepted.

Credit: NFL Game Rewind

With Ellington 16 yards downfield, Thomas fired a cannon shot that was low enough to escape Irving’s outstretched arms, and it traveled fast enough to beat oncoming cornerback Aqib Talib.

Credit: NFL Game Rewind

Ellington’s speed then took care of the other 65 yards, at the time bringing the Cardinals to within four points as their top two quarterbacks watched. It was the sort of throw that only one quarterback in the building would even think to attempt—or so we thought. And he doesn’t play for Arizona.

The problem came with every other Thomas throw, because none of them were completions.

On eight attempts Thomas connected with only Ellington, finishing his debut with a grimy completion percentage of 12.5. He was in the game for six offensive series, and on five of them, he returned to the bench promptly after three snaps. He was also sacked on his first two dropbacks.

But that’s about what we should have expected from an undeveloped, still unprepared rookie pressed into an awful situation.

It was a quick reminder that looking like a Pro Bowler during Week 1 of the preseason against fellow third-stringers means so very little.

That inexperience with the speed of the game at its highest level was apparent immediately. The first time Thomas dropped back to pass, DeMarcus Ware was firing off the edge, as he does on pretty much every single snap.

He beat Jared Veldheer around the corner. However, the left tackle still did his part by steering Ware wide enough to maintain a clean pocket for Thomas to step up into, buying him precious time while tight end John Carlson attempted to do the same with Von Miller on the other side.

Credit: NFL Game Rewind

But instead of stepping up into that nice, warm, comfortable pocket where he could at minimum do something positive with this play—Ellington was open for a checkdown—Thomas kept dropping back.

He went several steps further and right into the path of the oncoming rusher, where Veldheer had directed Ware.

The adjustment to that speed simply takes time, something a rookie who was drafted in a higher position would have had in the preseason. Thomas spent August facing many defenders who were jobless by the end of the month.

During his one extended preseason look, when he started Week 4 against a slightly higher level of competition, Thomas completed only 45.9 percent of his passes for 3.5 yards per attempt while being sacked three times.

In fairness, two passes were dropped by Thomas’ targets Sunday, one by Ted Ginn that likely would have resulted in a first down. Also, learning the speed of the game is that much more challenging when Ware and Miller are cranking the knob and ripping it right off.

But forget fairness. In reality, Thomas isn’t ready to start in the NFL yet, and the Cardinals will be forced into becoming everything an Arians offense isn’t if Stanton and Palmer aren't available soon. According to Ross Jones of Fox Sports, both of their health situations are unclear.

Stanton was very much performing like a backup quarterback too, but he has enough accuracy to complete the deep passes that are central to what the Cardinals look to accomplish offensively.

He still gave Arizona an opportunity to win games, or at least he didn’t blow one. Thomas will struggle to meet even that basic job description for a passable backup quarterback.

Contract information courtesy of Spotrac.