Leinart, who signed a six-year contract in 2006 for a total of $50 million with $14 million in guarantees, will be given the edge in his battle with Kurt Warner because the younger quarterback is considered the franchise’s future based on his age, talent and the amount invested in him. But if he doesn’t step up and seize the position, the Cardinals could give the ball to Warner short-term and go looking elsewhere next season.

If Bush does not have a superb year in 2008, he could take the dubious prize as the biggest bust of the vaunted troika. Quarterbacks like Young and Leinart tend to take longer to ripen. The position is complicated, and sometimes it can get even more confusing when coaching changes are made. Young is dealing with a new offensive coordinator, while Leinartwill be experiencing his first full season under head coach Ken Whisenhunt and his staff.

But Bush is a running back, which, relatively speaking, is among the easiest jobs on the field to learn. So Bush really can’t use a faulty thinking cap as an excuse.

Bush was the second overall pick in 2006, behind Mario Williams, a defensive end taken by the Houston Texans who, incidentally, has played in all 32 games over his two NFL seasons and had 14 sacks in 2007, tied for third in the league. Bush signed a six-year deal with the New Orleans Saints in 2006 worth an estimated $62 million, with just over $26 million guaranteed.

The Saints were hoping that they spent that money on more than just a specialty back who could occasionally take one to the house. Yet so far, that’s exactly what he’s been, although his statistics have been solid. Last year he rushed for 581 yards, with four touchdowns. He also caught 73 passes for 417 yards and two touchdowns before he went down late in the year with a partially torn posterior cruciate ligament in his left knee.

Bush’s flaw is similar to Young’s. What worked in college doesn’t necessarily work in the NFL. The speed and quickness that Bush wowed opponents with while at USC elicit only yawns in the NFL, because veterans see that level of speed and quickness regularly. Bush has yet to prove he’s a reliable, every-down back who can take a continual pounding.

For these three young stars, they will either skip arm in arm down a path to more riches and glory, or they will head in the opposite direction, to the arena league or card shows or car washes. The third year in the NFL usually reveals the truth, and not even a wizard can change that.

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