Well to be fair Tannehill had a better rookie Campaign than Sanchez and you really can't argue that Tannehill didnt' have a worse supporting cast based on the players play from the prior year to the QB's rookie season. Tannehill completed 4.5% more of his passes. He threw 7 less interceptions despite having 120 more attempts. He averaged more yards per attempt than Sanchez, had a better QBR and a better Quarterback rating and fumbled less, albeit only 1 less fumble. Based strictly off of rookie season performance and translated to Calibur of the team each was playing for you have to say Tannehill had a better rookie campaign, but unlike Mark he didn't come on to a team that was playoff built
Tannehill also had the luxury of having his old offensive coordinator come in and call plays. I'm not sold on Tannehill yet and I don't think he had as good as a season as many thought but the Dolphins are doing everything in their power to make sure he blossoms. Even if it means paying 17M for Ike Wallace in 2014.
Sanchez blows so great comparison. Watching Tannehill play has yet to impress me. Not saying he sucks or whatever, I just find it funny when fins fans talk about him like he's proven something.
I usually don't judge QB's to harshly until their 3rd or 4th year in the league and atleast their second season starting. As far as rookie campaigns go he wasn't bad, he wasn't great, or even really good, but for a rookie season he did pretty well, especially in terms of not throwing interceptions, which is the biggest concern in my opinion with any rookie QB. In fact his interception rate was pretty solid and reflects that if nothing else he may develop in to a good game manager. If your going to be so so in your stats then take care of the ball, which he did pretty much overall. Except he did have fumbleitis which is a concern. Still he did at least what you'd hope for a rookie QB to do, not make a lot of mistakes. Though if he's going to be just a game manager, and I'm not saying that's his ceiling, he will need to improve his completion percentage at least 5 points and cut down on the fumbles. I dont think Mike Wallace will help him alot, except to stretch the field. Wallace is a big play reciever but he has a reputation for dropping a fair number of balls. In some ways he reminds me of Braylon Edwards when he came to the Jets, although much more expensive.
LOL who is he going to sit and learn behind? Sanchez? McIlroy? It's not like he has Brett Favre or Tom Brady, or Peyton Manning to learn from. Idzik's other QB signing just quit two weeks into camp in a very embarrassing fashion. Only way Idzik saves face on this is if Geno is successful this year. I don't want Geno sitting a year and have him hinder us from drafting a franchise QB next year. That is worse case scenario, we come up with the first pick in the draft, Manziel, Bridgewater (pick who you want) are ripe for the taking and we grab an o-lineman because Geno is "waiting" and we go another decade with no QB.
I understand Fins fans who are excited about Tannehill. He threw a huge number of passes for a rookie and did not fall all over himself in the process. He's got a chance to be very good. It's just a chance but it's there.
Don't forget that Hartline is pretty solid as an underneath slot receiver he should be good for YAC. Tannehill was better than expected and kudos to the Phins for going out and adding weapons I believe Wallace and Keller will help him develop into the best QB he can be.
Garrard was insurance before the draft in the event the Jets were not able to select a QB who could be competitive this season. When they were able to get Geno in the 2nd the Vet insurance (Garrard) wasn't as important. Not unimportant mind you, just not as important. It still would have been nice to have a healthy Garrard in the competition though.
You most definitely can make the case that Sanchez's supporting cast was worse his rookie year. His number 1 receiver was Cotchery until we traded for Edwards. We had a great O line and a pretty good RB in Jones with no real RB to throw to. Tannehill had Bush Bess and Hartline which I would take over Jones Keller and Cotch as far as the passing game goes. Sanchez started off the year real well and then fell apart in a few games which made his interception total look so ridiculous. Still if you want to say he was better than Sanchez as a rookie to say he will succeed as a QB is just silly.
I didn't say he will succeed as a QB, I just said he was better than Sanchez. don't forget that the 2008 Jets had the same exact record as the 2009 Jets, and that was with Brett Favre playing injured for a good part of the year. Main reason I give Tannehill the nod over Sanchez is that he took much better care of the ball than Sanchez did, Turnovers are a killer and Tanny only threw I think 12 interceptions with something like 130ish more attempts, I may be off I'm working off memory here. His other lines were slightly better. And don't knock Cotch, he was a hell of a reciever.
Great logic. The only play for Idzik, is for Sanchez to emerge as the starter. Otherwise, he has to figure out a way to deal with Sanchez making 8.5. And now you cant really cut him sanchez has no offset languauge. If Smith struggles, and Sanchez miraculously succeeds in another venue...or even this one, after Smith gets the nod...no one looks good. Sanchez fails...that falls on Tannenbaum. But at least they didnt they to ruin Geno, and they buy him a season to get acclimated.
Assuming a player is a starter only because of his salary is a foolish assumption. It only almost assures a roster spot, nothing else. Idzik has no ties to Sanchez and can move on from with no backlash from the fanbase. This much is clear, the Jets played the Sanchez is available card, noone bit. Idzik has already traded a popular and elite player in Revis, there is no reason to assume he wouldn't move on from Sanchez, who is a much worse player, with even more ease. Rex Ryan may, or may not, prefer Sanchez, but he's not going to stand up to Idzik and risk alienating himself and potentially putting his own job on the line . MM has no ties to Sanchez and there is zero reason to believe he has any preference one way or the other. He's an OC, he's going to recommend who ever he believes is handling the system the best. Most all of the front office that supported Sanchez are now gone. Most all of the coaches who worked with and supported or have ties to Sanchez are gone. Additionally Idzik may have already made his choice for all we know. But here's what we do know, he holds on to an asset he has no intention of keeping until he knows 100% that he's not going to be able to get anything back for him. How they handled Tebow pretty much illustrates this. Sanchez is sunk money whether he plays or not. The NFL is about winning so the Jets will go with who they feel gives them the best chance of winning and if it's a tie, or close, in training camp they will go with Geno over Sanchez, He's Idziks stamp. But Idzik won't hand him the job, he'll have to earn it. Idzik won't worry about how well Sanchez may, or may not, perform on another team. The fact they were floating feelers on trading Sanchez already illustrates this point, and that was BEFORE they drafted Geno. No, If Sanchez loses the battle he'll be a high priced backup, or traded to another team who has a QB go down or a QB severely under producing and that doesn't have an adequate backup. I am not predicting who will win, but I am saying that Sanchez is a crippled QB who is very vulnerable to losing his starting position. Sanchez has two former supporters left on this team and in the front office. One isn't saying anything because he know's he needs to win this year and can not afford to alienate himself from the new GM and the other a Wide reciever who has underachieved since coming to the Jets.
