First off, that loss today was pretty heartbreaking. Mark is really not playing well. His mentality sucks, and you can see the team rallying but it certainly doesn't seem to be around Mark. We've got a good picture of what Mark is all about now. I've been watching games through his rookie year on gamerewind and the Jets' Hard Knocks, and the data is in: Mark has great physical ability, and seems like a pretty nice guy, but he does not have the intangibles. Quarterbacks lead the offense, and the good ones even emotionally lead the defense. Mark does not handle pressure well, and I don't think there is really any evidence to suggest otherwise. We have all seen what he can do, but what he will do is another story, one that is much more prevalent right now. Mark does not lift the team, that much is clear. I'm not nor have I ever been a Sanchez hater, but 3.5 years of watching his development, you really can't argue this-> Yes, drops hurt the team. Yes, the line has had its issues protecting him. But the truth is, every team has its weaknesses, and if your QB isn't one, drops and QB pressures don't seem like such a big deal anymore. Even Welker drops balls sometimes, and Brady has gotten rocked plenty of times but guess what, he has 3 rings. Let me put it this way: If you put another QB on the Jets, we're 5-2. You can't blame his receivers anymore. Kerley has proven he's got the stuff, and Keller is reliable as always. Yes, Holmes has not been a team player, but a real leader puts a diva wideout in his place. A real leader also trains up inexperienced receivers, puts the weight on his shoulders so they only have to think about making the catch, not constantly trying to think down the field, trying to make a play. Don't get me wrong, great WR's can do that, but it's clearly too much for our guys right now and it is leading to disrupted concentration. I don't know what the answer to this problem is, I can only speculate. We may win a decent amount of games this year, but our ground game has to take off like it's 2009 if we are to have a shot at anything glorious this year. The truth also is that Rex has not lost the locker room. Our D is playing with fight, and kept us right there the last 2 weeks, and they seem to be rising to the occasion. The front office hits this offseason with a harder task even than last year... I really think Rex, Tanny, and Sparano will all be here next year. Now, I don't think Mark is our guy anymore. I'm not hating on him, I think he's worked very hard, and done his best to bring glory to the Jets, but I also think he is not up to the task. If anyone knows details of his contract extension, let me know, but the way I understand it is he is guaranteed money through next year. If this is true, no one will trade for him. It also means he will be on the Jets next year, because Neither Woody nor Tanny will let that $$ be totally wasted by cutting him. As I said, I don't think Mark is "Our Guy" of the future, so that means somebody else is. Do we draft somebody, and tell Mark he is competing for the starting job, and then just go with who's hot? If we do this, best case scenario is Mark grows emotionally, and leads what really is a playoff caliber team to something good, while we are developing a young QB the right way. Medium case scenario is that the guy we draft is an upstart and steals the job from Sanchez, so we have another year with a rookie QB, but one that shows some promise. Worst case scenario, Mark shits himself and our new guy isn't NFL ready. I see a team with less holes than we thought before, but we definitely need to work on depth. I'd look at the 1st round for an OLB, 2nd for a QB, 3rd for an RB (this one could change depending on how the season plays out, maybe we look TE, maybe OL, maybe even another OLB...) I don't know as much about contract matters, but I'd imagine the injury to Revis will actually give the Jets leverage in negotiations, because he will have to show he is the old Revis once he is back. With 1-2 new OLB's our D could return to dominance of the league. at this point it's starting to look like we might have 2 shutdown corners on the roster next year, so if we can bring in that OLB from the draft who can play every down and top off our pass rush we've got the makings of something great. That leaves an offense that is playing pretty good, and is really in need of leadership more than anything. If anyone actually read all of that, kudos to your patience, and thanks for taking the time to read my rants! I try to make them well thought out.
This is a classic Philip Rivers/Drew Brees case. The incumbent franchise QB in the making has lost the confidence of just about everybody but will be serviceable as a caretaker for the job for the year or two it takes to develop the new guy. The problem is finding the new guy without a top 10 pick and with too many depth issues to even consider trading up in the draft. Oh, and of course there's the problem of what happens if Sanchez turns it on and becomes the next Drew Brees while mentally checked out on the prospect of being a Jet.
I see the Jets drafting a QB in the second round. I also think they'll try to address their needs and give Sanchez a few more tools to work with (including developing some of the raw talent currently on the team.) It could go either way, IMO. Sanchez with a good team around him might do just enough damage to get another contract from the Jets. Or he could fail to meet the challenge and get traded to someone like the Browns or 49ers and just hope for another shot.
One of the things about Brees is that he didn't become a great QB until he no longer had any pressure on him to do so because the Chargers had already moved on and taken the guy he knew was going to replace him. Light mind, better play, Saints profit.
The current FO doesn't have the stones to find a good QB in the 2nd round. They're hackers on the golf course of life.
You're totally right on that, but the truth is it's a risk I'd take. Will Sanchez be the next Brees, and lead the Jags to a title? Maybe, but if it does we suck it up and focus on our new guy.
Or take the San Fran approach and put really good players around him and let him "manage" the offense. Build a really good defense so that Sanchez could have that in his back pocket so he doesn't have to win games for you.
The 49ers have already moved on also. Smith will have that job until he hits a few games in a row where he is down or gets hurt. He'll also lose the job as soon as the 49ers are sure Kaepernick is ready to go. That's the guy they want running their offense in the Super Bowl window. Smith is just the caretaker right now and profiting due to playing at the top of his range.
I read it all, which I rarely do, and I agree completely. However, I don't believe the front office will be thrilled with benching Mark this year, or next.
Today I claimed that I have given up on whatever hope I had left for Sanchez. I've done this a couple of times in the past, and every time get the same result. I think about the highlights he's had with us and the potential he's shown, and then I want him to live up to that potential with our team. I want that so bad. I like the guy and the good things we've gone through with him. I can totally see him finally taking that next step to being a great QB. It might be just some false hope. But I want that to happen, and I can see it. He has the potential and certain qualities that can do it. The question is, does he have it in him to use that potential and qualities to take the next step. The better question is, if he does, can/will he be able to do it on the Jets. His time is running out. I hope so bad that he can. This team needs that kind of QB to be successful. With a great QB, we would win so many more games than we are capable of now. I hope Mark can step up into that level. I don't want to go through the whole process of getting a rookie QB and giving him a few seasons to pan out. I'm tired of waiting for this team to finally become one of the competitive, dangerous teams in the league. However, it's going to happen if Mark can't step up. Only the little time Sanchez has left will tell. I'm excited to see what happens. I still have faith in him and the rest of this team (disregarding some player here and there). I will always have crazy passion for this team. I love this team, and hate seeing them lose and being disrespected. It's now or never to prove the haters wrong for Sanchez. End rant. I needed that vent, after the depression I went through after tonight's loss. :jets:
I don't think Kaep is even better than Smith IMO. At least back in 05 you got the sense that Rivers was just as good if not better than Brees.
Thanks for venting. I'm in a lot of the same places now. I've just checked out on the Monty Hall wheeler dealer aspect of the Jets at this point and I don't see how we get rid of that without first understanding that it's the root of all the problems the Jets have at this point.
I read it all! Sanchez is truly exasperating. He has the talent...no question. He can throw elite level passes and look scary good. Some of his passes vs the Patriots were beautiful, perfectly placed. Then you get the handoff (which was his fault), the missed TD turned INT, the fumble (the O lines fault too), and other cases where he doesn't seem to be aware of his surroundings and what is going on (e.g. The sack that nearly cost us a FG). I really don't know. It's frustrating. He, and the whole team, show moments of skill, but just seem to make mistakes at the worse possible time. Self-inflicted wounds. Sanchez can throw some great passes, but he does not look like the conductor of the offense like the great ones do.
Kaepernick is a big mobile QB with a strong arm. Every team wants that kind of guy now if they can find him. It's just really useful to be able to make the opponent pay for peeling their ears back and coming on an all-out rush.
A strong arm is useless if you're inaccurate which Kaep is right now. Smith is still in his 20's and has developed chemistry with Davis and Crabtree so need to get rid of him, especially when there aren't better options on the team.
All I know is the 49ers went after Manning in the offseason, and you can let me know as soon as the 49ers win the big one with "put great players around Smith and let him manage the game" formula. They look to me like the Jets of '09 and '10, great teams, same formula, but just couldn't get there. Kaepernick is a project player, not the future of the franchise (possibly he could become it).
The 49ers have vastly greater talent than the Jets do. They can "hide" a sub par NFL QB far better than we can. Sanchez, when called upon, cannot win a tough game, much like Alex Smith can't. San Fran wins because they have superior talent on both sides of the ball... the O line, the D line, the LB's, the RB's, perhaps closer in WR's and D backfield. BTW... Alex Smith is better than Sanchez will ever be.
I guess the fact that Sanchez actually threw for more yards and completed a higher percentage of his passes than Tom Brady was lost on everyone yesterday? The fumble at the end of the game wasn't his fault, he got blasted AGAIN because of bad protection, the Pats sent the house and the Jets O-line couldn't handle it, that's not Sanchez fault. The guy had a good game yesterday. He threw for more yards and completed more passes than Tom Brady , we shouldn't forget that, and he did it AT GILLETTE TOO... A little clarity wouldn't hurt right now.
Sanchez out played Tom Brady today........FACT Colin Kaepernick is good but he's not the future of that team, I still dont see him being accurate enough. Alex Smith is very accurate. He's actually very good he's just failed to live up to the #1 overall pick hype. Also everyone pretty much went after Peyton. Smith was a free agent at the time as well
The Pats scored a TD on a kickoff return. The D couldn't make a play down the stretch. That's why we lost this game. Sanchez played good enough to win this game on the road in the toughest place to win in the NFL. The Gay Mexican was not the problem.
