Jerrico Cotchery James Hasty Lance Mehl Rob Moore - had O'B at the end, Browning Nagle, an over-the-hill Boomer and Jack Trudeau as his Jet QBs. Went on to Arizona and continued to produce, including the 1997 season: 97 rec., 1,584 yds., 8 TDs, 16.3 yds. per catch, 99.0 yds. per game. Imaging him still with the Jets in '98? Ken O'Brien. Marino he wasn't but who wouldn't take a Ken O'Brien as the Jets QB going into 2015? And even though he gets the love, a case could be made for Chad Pennington.
I really liked Jeff Lageman. Maybe it was the fact that Mel Kiper ridiculed the Jets for the pick, but I always wanted him to do well and he turned into a really good defensive end. That game where Blair Thomas fumbled against the Bears on Monday Night Football was a monster game for Lageman. It was overlooked in all the hoo-hah about the fumble and the loss, but he was a warrior that day.
Chad Pennington. The guy was hated by a lot of Jets fans. Honestly if he didn't have the injuries he had, he would've had an incredible career with the Jets. http://www.pro-football-reference.com/leaders/pass_cmp_perc_career.htm His comeback season with the Dolphins was the only time in my life that I was happy for a Dolphins player.
But he did have those injuries, and the first season with the fish proved to be an anomaly. In fact I think Pennington was overrated by far too many posters here. They ignored that he could not stay on the field.
I acknowledged that his injuries kept him from greatness in my post, so that was my way of not ignoring it. I don't see the need to reinforce it further, we already know this.
I don't get it. What did the Jets do to him? He asked for his release and they gave it to him. Seems to me like they treated him fairly enough
History will prove to be kinder to Pennington. In the moment he was quite frustrating. A QB that was good but never great... and never healthy. I think as time goes on Jets fans will appreciate him more but its hard in the short term. There was an analyst on an NFL podcast I listened to that uses the "Dalton Scale" - - not looking at "elite" or "franchise" QB nomenclature, if a QB is perceived to be better than Andy Dalton he is considered a "Good QB' and if he's worse he's considered a "Bad QB' (Dalton is right on the edge) using the Dalton Scale Pennington would be considered a good QB and we'd kill to have a QB like that today but the injuries put him in Sam Bradford land...
Underutilized early in his career w/ Herm. Once he gets the opportunity, is a valuable player to the Jets, a leader. Jets trade for Holmes, all of a sudden that next season Cotchery wants to leave - we should've extended him for cheap like the Steelers did when they signed him. I think the Jets disrespected him - that led to the release. Jerricho IMO was better for this team long-run compared to Holmes. He had great leadership, and was a hard worker. Plus, he was the Patriots killer, always made big plays. Holmes, one of the worst contracts in Jets history.
Wesley Walker, James Hasty, Jeff Lageman, Richie Anderson, the list goes on and on. If these guys played for Pittsburgh they would have gotten a lot more respect.
