We guessed wrong. No way Marino gets sacked the way O'Brien did. Marino had one of the fastest releases in NFL history and is probably the #1 gunslinger at the QB position in that regards. We wanted the nice Irish Catholic kid for the New York fan base, not some slick mediterranean type with a fiery temper and rumored attitude problem. We would have won a Super Bowl with Marino. And you're right the teams were of different qualities, the Fins did not have the Jets talent from 1983-1988, they just had Marino. Imagine Marino throwing to Al Toon, Wesley Walker and Mickey Shuler. Imagine him having a runningback like Freeman McNeil alongside him. Imagine him having the Jet's offensive line out in front of him. We were the great team in the AFC in the middle 80's, when no other team emerged to claim that role, except we screwed up the QB pick.
I was pissed when the jets moved up to number 5 and took Sanchez but then I heard what we gave up... We moved up 12 spots for a 2nd pick and 3 role players....WHAT A DEAL! We got a Mangina special, no doubt about it!! I cannot gurantee that Sanchez will pan out but the risk is worth the gain. If Sanchez was at the top of our draft board and we had a shot at him, then I say take the shot.
I think it bears repeating that Clemens is in his contract year. He can't be traded next off season unless and until the Jets extend his contract.
Even were I to concede the point about the quality of the draft, the draft of course is not the only way to fill holes. But others have argued here that the Jets might have done something about the problem at wideout, and may still in FA. Also as 227 pointed out they may have gotten help for the OL.
Kenny had poor OL protection. Of course he did not release the ball as well as Marino, but nobody did. It was not like he was holding onto the ball an inordinate amount of time.
The problem is next year is the year of the Qb not this one. If this does not work out our franchise is going to be screwed for another five years.
The Dolphins offensive line really was not any better than the Jets. Dwight Stephenson was a great player and Roy Foster and Jon Giesler were pretty good too. The Jets had Joe Fields, Marvin Powell, Dan Alexander and Jim Sweeney for almost all of O'Brien's career and they were a good bunch. O'Brien really did cause a fair number of the sacks he took, especially early on. He tried to do too much with the ball and rarely threw it away. Sometimes holding the ball until the last minute so you can complete a pass is not the thing to do for long-term viability and he not only took a lot of sacks he got crunched a lot after releasing the ball. I don't think he was slow to get rid of the ball early in his career but he sure wasn't fast about it and he took hits he did not need to take all the time. I also think Joe Walton's offensive schemes were lacking, especially after he lost Bruce Harper as an outlet back on third down. Johnny Hector was a good back in that role but he was not Harper and the difference showed. I think O'Brien probably took an extra 10 hits a year because he did not have Harper waiting for him in the flats when things broke down.
If Mark Sanchez can't make it in New York then it's hard to imagine any other young guy coming in here and turning into the guy. The Jets haven't had a franchise QB since Namath for a bunch of reasons, but the inability to stand up to the attention and the pressure is a big part of the equation. Sanchez will be able to handle the people side of the business in a way that will let him work hard on the on-the-field stuff without too many unexpected distractions. Hopefully he marries his girlfriend before he shows up and the nightlife is gone from the picture too.
As moose stated in another thread, he's going to become an RFA next season, meaning we either receive compensation or do a sign and trade. We have options for him.
He's a very cautious guy now after what happened his freshman year at USC. That was a huge wake up call, and he's been careful with his image. Sadly, I think a lot of him recognizes that his ethnicity does make him an easier target for accusations like that one. This is a mature kid. Leinart he's not. If we had brought Leinart in, the nightlife issue would have been a disaster.
My concern is him playing in that Usc system that makes their players look better than they are more often than not. I think he has all the personaility traits to make it in Ny if he plays well.
Sanchez would more then likely have been the top pick in the draft if he went back for his senior year.
IMO, that's a much stronger argument to use against drafting a receiver or RB from SC than a QB. While USC WRs and RBs benefit from teams' inability to focus coverage on any single skills player, and the QB certainly does as well, the QB still has to be able to make the throws, and his mechanics are much more on display. In other words, it's a good deal easier to analyze the QB's technique in that situation. If Booty were drafted simply based on production at USC, he'd have been taken a good deal higher. There's a reason why he was a mid-round draft pick. As for Leinart, I haven't seen anyone argue that his physical ability is the reason why he hasn't been a success. He's never had his head on straight and has never focused on football as much as he needs to. I don't see that problem out of Sanchez in the slightest.
A look at the RB's in 1984 might show you where the truth actually lies. (Leaving aside for a moment that Don Shula was a better coach than any we had in the time period..) Woody Bennett and Tony Nathan were getting the same YPC as McNeil and Hector (two younger and more talented backs).. maybe...and I'm going out on a limb here, but maybe our OLine just wasnt very good.... Not to mention Miami actually threw to the backs enough for it to slow the upfield rush.
Kenny O'brien was a better QB than Marino for the first 3/4 of the 1985 season, and that's it. If they had traded places O'brien's career would have been worse, and Marino's even better than it was. Joe Walton had an excellent offensive mind. Kellen Clemens trade value now and at the end of this year is zero. Chad Pennington had more trade value and we got zero for that one. I'm not saying Clemens has no value to the Jets or even some other team he may eventually play on, but no GM in the NFL is giving up draft picks for Clemens. I really have no idea if we made the right move with Sanchez or not. I've never seen him play. From interviews I've seen since the draft I'm sure he will be able to handle the pressure of playing in NY, and I'm sure he will be a well liked teammate. But I really don't know if he is going to be good or not. I do like to think that coach Ryan and coach Schottenheimer can properly evaluate talent in a private workout. But we will see soon enough.
They all look good in private workouts when it is 85 degrees and sunny with 100 pct visibility with no pass rush in shorts and a tee shirt. They all look good playing in the conference Usc does as well.
On the surface,All QB's look good in private workouts. But when you evaluate them for a living you can pick out "little things" to take away from those instances like footwork,release points, and throwing torque. All the playing shorts, nice weather and elite wr's in the world can't cover up those type of flaws. If it's simply a "USC" thing how come both Cassell and John David Booty didn't go in the first or second round? JDB put up some VERY good numbers and Cassell had some outstanding work-outs despite not ever playing a starting down for USC.
