Stafford vs. Sanchez

There are very few "complete" QBs with pinpoint accuracy, good touch, and a strong arm. That's what makes them such valued commodities. However, the likelihood of developing touch and accuracy isn't impossible, while you can't make Chad Pennington physically able to throw a 10-yard out. If the raw talent is there, the ceiling is higher. Stafford just is unlikely to reach that potential, while a Sanchez is much more likely to reach the ceiling, but it's lower for him. Same with Brady Quinn and Jamarcus Russell. Sanchez is like Quinn, with solid arm strength, but not the kind of ridiculous arm strength that Russell/Stafford has. Yet Quinn is probably better than Russell, just like Sanchez will probably be better than Stafford.

 

That's a bit of a biased appraisal you've got there. In all seriousness though, Stafford is the higher ceiling prospect that is going to take some time to develop. Sanchez doesn't have as much upside but is more able to play right now.

Physically, Stafford is the better product. He has a stronger arm, faster timed foot speed, and has a thicker and more durable build (which he'll need in Detroit, both on the field and if he actually chooses to walk around in the city itself). His accuracy isn't superb, but it isn't horrible. In addition to that his throwing motion is more overhead and traditional.

Sanchez isn't a slouch physically, mind you. He possesses more quickness than Stafford and has a more accurate arm. The reason for this most likely lies in his mechanics. Sanchez has excellent technique for a QB coming out of college, his footwork is great and his accuracy is the strength of his game because of this. When you combine that with the fact that he ran a pro-style offense at USC he clearly is the more polished of the two. His ceiling isn't as high as Stafford's, but his floor is higher. Stafford could improve his footwork and accuracy to become Sanchez-esque, but Sanchez isn't going to somehow make his arm vastly stronger.

The situations here are key. The Jets are in a great position to put Sanchez in the best position possible to win whereas the Lions are not. The Lions are asking a LOT more of Stafford than the Jets are of Sanchez and it shows. I don't know if Stafford will ever reach his full potential in Detroit. He does have megatron helping him out, but outside of that it's far from an ideal situation.

 

^I thought the general consensus was that Stafford was the more ready-to-play QB but Sanchez had the biggest upside?

 

Stafford has the same chance to be good that Jamarcus Russell had. That was a significant chance BTW, although it doesn't seem so in hindsight. Accuracy is huge, if Stafford can't get his accuracy to 60% or in the vicinity he'll never be a great QB.

Sanchez has the same chance to be good that Drew Brees had when he came out. The reason Brees was an early second instead of an early first is that he was 6' tall instead of 6'2" and he played for a second tier Big Ten power at Purdue. His accuracy, leadership potential and arm strength were never in doubt.

 

Other way around.

The QBs are playing as expected with Sanchez being more NFL ready and Stafford having the higher ceiling. By klecko's account, the smarts and strength are there, all he needs is accuracy. That might come down to practice and timing, and it may come down to he sucks. Only time will tell.

 

Oh, come on now. Back in the late 90s, Purdue was really good. Hell, Brees led them to a Rose Bowl in 2000. They were 6-2 in Big Ten play three of Brees's four seasons. They weren't Minnesota.

 

stafford was not impressive at all at UGA. doofey looking mofo and his wobbly passes.

he's played better than i expected in the NFL though. i thought he was going to be a bust, but i think he'll be alright. overpaid because he's the #1 pick, but he'll probably be a position they won't have to worry about upgrading in the long run. his best case scenario is a jake delhomme type when he was good....not comparing their skill set, just their numbers. stafford really doesn't have the intangibles and always had the tendency to fall apart when things went bad.

sanchez will absolutely be the better QB in his career.

 

From 1997 to 2000 (Brees career at Purdue) the Big Ten had 7 teams win double digit games in a season (Michigan 3, Ohio State 2, Wisconsin 2). They had Michigan win a national championship and Ohio State come a close second in another year. They had both Michigan and Wisconsin in the top 5 in a third year. Purdue's highest ranking during Brees tenure was 13, two places behind Michigan that year.

This all happened while Brees was setting virtually every conference passing record, most of which he still holds.

Purdue was a second tier power that was momentarily elevated by a great QB. That's really how it happened. If he had played at Michigan he'd have been taken in the first round. If Tom Brady had played at Purdue he'd never have broken an NFL roster.

 

Sanchez easily has a better arm then Quinn (and is more mobile and a much better overall athlete)


and displays much better pocket presence

 

This just isn't true. Quarterbacks are scouted very heavily nowadays and what level division 1 program a QB went you means a lot less than it used to. (Ben Rothlesburger, Jay Cutler, Eli Manning, Phillip Rivers, etc, etc)

 

If Stafford played for the Jets, you guys record would still be 3-1. If Sanchez played for Detroit, their record would be 0-4 rather than 1-3. JMO.

Comparing the 2 is total speculation considering the obvious different dynamics of Detroit and NYJ as a team.

 

This is an interesting analysis. Laughable, but interesting nonetheless.

Funny you mention the first half of the Bear game as a knock against Stafford. His stats in that half? 14/23 221 yards. Kevin Smith's stats? 12 rushes, 14 yards. The play of Stafford was the single reason why the game was tied going into the break. Did he miss some throws? Of course, but name me one QB in the history of the game that hasn't. BTW, he finished the game 24/36. I know, simply horrible.

But let's talk about Stafford's accuracy issue:

Outside of Stafford's worst game against NO, the guy who literally can't hit the broadside of a barn has completed 62% of his passes. And CJ and Pettigrew account for 28 of Stafford's 63 completions in those three games.

Outside of Sanchez's worst game which also happened to be against NO, the extremely accurate passer has completed 59% of his passes. For comparison, of Sanchez's 49 completions in his three tilts, Cotchery and Keller account for 27.

This simply isn't an honest analysis, just a way for you to nitpick Stafford while completely overlooking Sanchez's shortcomings so far. Just look at your lists: Almost all positives for Sanchez and almost all negatives for Stafford. Why bother?

In reality, they both have shown flashes of brilliance and also made quite a few rookie mistakes. While the future looks bright for both, each needs to work on several aspects of their games before either is considered a legitimate starter in this league.

 

Good question.

But when there are guys like Delhomme, Trent Edwards, Jamarcus Russell, Quinn, Collins & Leftwich starting in the NFL, I would consider Sanchez & Stafford both legitimate starters, even at this infant stage of their careers.

 

I agree with this. Let's look at this objectively: http://www.nfl.com/stats/categorystats?tabSeq=0&statisticCategory=PASSING&season=2009&seasonType=REG

Both QB are near the bottom of the League right now at #25 and #29. Sanchez is only 0.5% more accurate, which is nothing. QB ratings pretty close too. Perhaps Sanchez is slightly ahead now, but not much. Really neither has been really good, and also I am not sure how costly Stafford's TOs were, but Sanchez alone gives up at least a TD in average per game. Our defense (and last week special teams) is what won us every game thus far. Offense did just enough.

 

I am very happy with what we have. Leading up to the draft I wasn't high on Sanchez at all. Now, that I really have seen him play and observed what he brings to the table, I am extatic he is playing for the NYJ.

Granted, I saw him almost do an epic fail last weekend. We all knew it would happen eventually. Might have been a blessing that he got that out of his system when he did so he knows just how horrible it feels. I listened to him in the after game presser. He handled himself great (couldn't ask a guy to do it better, really). This guy (Sanchez) will work his butt off this week and be totally ready to play come Monday night. I think he comes out of the experience a whole lot smarter, too.

 

What does the fact that I wasn't here last year have to do with an ill-founded premise you made a day or two ago about two players that weren't even in the NFL last year?

Stafford missed a few throws. Sanchez overthrew Cotchery on a simple bubble screen. Why do I get the feeling one is getting the benefit of the doubt?

Accurate college QBs fail just as much as big-armed college QBs do in the NFL.

Quick question: If two QBs have almost exactly the same comp %, then what makes one unable to throw the ball into the ocean and the other extremely accurate?

Stafford has the problem that most QBs with an arm like his have early in their careers: they're in love with their arms. Can touch be learned? Sure. Will he learn to take something off some of these throws? Maybe, maybe not.

Two things:

Polished, accurate and good pocket presence are not words I'd use to describe Sanchez's last 7 quarters of play.

I'm not angry.

 

I think that's fair. Sanchez has shown a lot of good things so far but also some of the maddening tendencies that almost all rookie QB's have. I've seen little of Stafford this year outside of a few highlights but it looks like he has really come on the last couple of games.

I do agree that Stafford has the higher ceiling and Sanchez the higher floor. I think that's true of most SC QB's as they tend to be much more NFL-ready than guys from other schools.