For all those jumping off of the bandwagon, thinking that Clemens ain't the answer lets take a minute and reflect on the FIRST YEAR Ssats of some above average QB's over the last 25 years...PErsonally, if Clemems turned into ANY of these QB's I would be happy... Peyton Manning: 1998 Rookie 16 games 57% completion 234yds/game 26 TD 28 INT Jim Kelly: 1986 Rookie (And this was after 2+ years in the USFL) 16 games 59% completion 224yds/ game 22 TD 17 INT Troy Aikman: 1989 Rookie 11 Games 52% completion 159yds/game 9 TD 18 INT Warren Moon: 1984 Rookie 15 Games 58% completion 209 yds/game 12 TD 14 INT Phil Simms: 12 Games 51% completion 145yds/game 13 TD 14 INT 3 QB's in recent history have come in their rookie year and hit the ground running. Marino - Rothlesberger - Brady... So what is the point...The point is...it takes time to learn the most complicated position in all of sports. Relax and look for him to mature each week. I'll say one thing that hardly anyone has commented on and it is a HUGE positive for a QB starting his 4th game. Even with all the pressure he has faced (and beside last week the pass protection has been pretty good) he NEVER looks at the rush..KELLEN"S EYES ARE ALWAYS DOWN FIELD LOOKING FOR A RECEIVER...Try doing that some day with your little brother rushing you in the back yard. It ain't easy and Kellen does it depsite 280lb guys chasing him. It's been 3 years and Grossman still can't do that..
Isn't it a bit early either way to declare him the guy or not? He hasn't looked horrible and he doesn't appear to be the second coming of JWN either. How about we give him a fair amount of time to evaluate how he will turn out and maybe build a bit more of a team around him. Most QB's in this league would have issues playing under the Jets center right now.
Dumb comparison – the game has done a 180 since these dinosaurs were rookies (with maybe the exception of Peyton who was on a horrible team as is KC). Try running it against some recent starters like Roethelisberger, Brady, Delholme, Romo, Garrard, Warner, Cutler, Bulger ETC. NFL is results driven these days – not get results in five years. For the record – I am holding judgment for KC until around 9 starts.
The Jets have no choice but to decide on him by the end of this year. That's exactly how long he has to prove himself.
Did Peyton Manning sit on the bench for a year and a half? I must have missed that. And was he the number one pick in the draft or a second rounder? I can't remember. Oh wait, maybe he was number 2 now that I think about it.
Each of the QB's you mention had excellent supporting casts. Not average. Excellent. Whether it was WR's, OL, RB's or a defense that often got their offense great field poisition - and with the exception of Garrard and Bulger EACH had all 4 of those things on their side You can not critique Kellens performance (or any QB in their first year) on Wins or Losses or TD's to INT. With the supporting cast around him and OBTW a coaching staff that hasn't yet completed it's 2nd year, he can only be evaluated on the progress that he makes week to week. NO QB in the histroy of the NFL has won a damn thing by himself. (e.g. Dan Marino) It takes 53 men playing as one cohesive unit. (That was the purpose of Bellichek having the TEAM not the unit announced at their first SB - he was trying to get the message out to the rest of the NFL.)
Peyton's first year was with a team demonstrably better than the Jets are this year, including Marshall Faulk at RB. Hardly a fair comparison in my opinion.
clemens is decent, but its fair to say he has zero top flight receivers to throw to. he has neither a line to protect him.
Brady did not start during his rookie year. He got his first start 3 games into his 2nd year. I think that the plan was to let Clemens hold a clipboard this entire season and then take over the reins next year. Pennington's poor play and the Jets being out of playoff contention derailed that plan. At this point I'm not panicking but I also haven't seen anything to get me real excited either. I am concerned that if KC does not pan out that it will set the team back another several years. I think that signing a veteran QB (maybe Jeff Garcia or John Kitna caliber?) in the off-season needs to be a priority.
So far I'm on the fence with Clemens. Of course he is making rookie mistakes but I don't want to see him develop bad habits as a result of being mugged by opposing defensive front 7 players aggressively schooling our O-line. I liked seeing them incorporate a little bit of play-action with him in the Pitt game, something that I had been waiting for, so it appears they're taking baby steps with him. I have to agree with Don, though, if he isn't the answer we have to know this by the end of the season, the league is too competitive in FA to sit on your hands and wait for the right players to fall into your lap. Which is why he should have been started sooner.
thanx for the stats but we need to look at the framework of those temas at the time of the QB play.... i would imagine the cowboy team was the worst on paper...... now the jets could finish 2-14 and rival that claim but it underscores the importance of looking at the entire team to measure the early failures of the QB in question. the way the jets are built right now is, IMO, not the best situation for a young QB. you know, &*&%* it, i am gonna make a new thread about this... jil
Give Kellen the O-line that Peyton has or similar to pass judgement. Like with Chad, they have been running for their lives out there with almost no time to go downfield or even get to a 2nd/3rd checkdown. Fix the O-line before we can get a accurate assessment of what we have @ QB.
