Erik Ainge: The Education of a Rookie QB Published: 07-01-08 By Eric Allen Senior Managing Editor Article Permalink: http://www.newyorkjets.com/news/articles/show/2258-erik-ainge-the-education-of-a-rookie-qb If you pick up Athlon Sports' annual college football preview and turn to the Tennessee team page, you?ll get an idea how much Southeastern Conference opponents respected Vols QB Erik Ainge. ?I don?t know enough about Jonathan Crompton, but he will have a hard time playing as well as [Erik] Ainge did,? said an unnamed opposing SEC assistant coach. ?Ainge was remarkable last year.? The numbers tell part of the story for Ainge, the Jets? fifth-round selection in the 2008 draft. He completed 62.6 percent of his passes, throwing for 3,522 yards and 31 TDs against only 10 INTs. Ainge, who showcased his mental prowess and cool temperament while running the two-minute offensive, credits David Cutcliffe, his former Tennessee offensive coordinator and now Duke's head coach, for his guidance. ??He didn?t say, ?When you throw the ball to the left, you need to open your hips a little bit,? " Ainge said. "He just said, ?Be a football player first and everything else will take care of itself. Be the toughest guy on the field, be the smartest guy on the field, know where to go with the football, know how to get yourself protected and just play ball. You have a God-given ability to throw the ball accurately and that?s what a quarterback has to do.' "And he kind of taught me the other things and how they all run together.? The Volunteers threw the ball 534 times last year and their offensive line yielded a nation-low four sacks. It was an impressive unit, but Ainge, a 6?5?, 221-pounder with average mobility, had tremendous pocket presence. A month before the Jets open their 2008 training camp, Ainge hasn?t taken many reps yet for the Green & White. He threw a little in rookie camp, but then had a procedure completed on his hand and was limited during OTAs and minicamp. ?He?s not doing any of the physical elements. It?s more mental with him. He was impressive this morning in the meeting,? said head coach Eric Mangini in the spring. ?He had to name every single person in the room. It was close to 100 people. He nailed them.? For the second time in three seasons, Mangini will hold a QB competition at summer camp. But Ainge will bide his time because unless something slightly miraculous occurs, either Kellen Clemens or Chad Pennington will start on opening day. Ainge, a multisport start at Glencoe High School in Hillsboro, Ore., has known Clemens, an Oregon University standout, and Pennington, a Knoxville, Tenn., native, for some time. ?It?s very competitive but it?s very respectful. We have fun.? Ainge says. ?It?s not stiff, it?s not like we?re in there just watching film and then no one is talking at practice.? Offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer and QB coach Brian Daboll encourage competition everywhere. If they direct a question at one of the signalcallers and he doesn?t answer immediately, the next man will get a shot to earn some points. ?Sometimes we?ll do the two-minute drill on the board and we?ll get magnets out and keep track. It will be first-and-10 on the 45 and you?ve got one timeout. Now what?s the play?" Ainge said. "You have to call the play and run the clock and Daboll?s throwing a tennis ball at you. He?ll pretend that you got sacked ? calling out ?strip-sack? ? while hitting you on the head with a tennis ball. We have a lot of fun and they do a good job of making hard work fun.? Ainge is taking the right approach, viewing his rookie campaign as an opportunity to learn without being "the guy.? But make no mistake ? this kid isn?t looking at the sideline as something permanent. He?s an outdoorsman who exudes confidence and you can view his leadership traits when he?s around members of the Jets' ?08 rookie class. Ainge lives to sling the rock and he?s looking forward to doing as much as he can come July and August. ?There is no substitute for live reps. You can watch as much film as you want, you can get as many mental reps in practice as you want ? and that?s obviously huge, it?s going to help you," he said. "But if you don?t do the physical reps, you?re always a step behind.? Former Jets QB Boomer Esiason, a top analyst on CBS, says the game is more complicated than ever for young passers because of all the substitution packages. ?There isn?t just one pass protection for a quarterback to learn," Esiason said. "He probably has like 25 pass protections to learn and he has to learn how all those pass protections correspond with the personnel groups that he has in the huddle with him. ?Then he has to be able to digest whether or not everyone is blocked if the defense blitzes. If the defense does blitz and not everyone is blocked, then he has to know who the hot read is and he has to know where that hot read is ? to the right or to the left. There is a lot of thinking that goes on here and that?s why it?s just not that easy.? According to Esiason, Ainge is going to have to wait a couple of seasons to make NFL waves. ?A guy like Eric Ainge, in my estimation, no matter how physically gifted he is, is a good solid two years away from even remotely having a positive impact on this football team,? Esiason said. But Ainge isn?t looking long-term. He?s thinking short-term, trying to achieve as much as possible each day. ?I?m not even thinking about the end of training camp or the season ? I?m focused on our work out tomorrow," he says. "I?m going to make sure I do extra. I?m going to be the first one there and the last one to leave." Good stuff there.
Boomer Esiason seems to think Ainge is 3 years away from taking a snap, but I disagree. We finally have a big QB on our roster now who's basically a combination of Penny and Clemens. He's smart as hell and will learn this offense quickly. I like him as a future option.
I've said it many times before but I loved this pick. I honestly believe he could turn out to be the best QB of the draft class. Nice article.
We will see what he is made of in preseason. I do wish we had one mobile QB on the roster and not slow moving targets.
I like his last name; it is a definite QB type name that would be good to listen to on TV. Hope he pans out. His attitude seems to be perfect. It will interesting seeing what he can do in pre-season, even though it may be 4th quarter viewing.
I've been on the Ainge bandwagon for a while now and getting him in the 5th on draft day was a steal...as far as experience, production, and tools guys the guys got an excellent little mix for the NFL. He was severely underrated IMO, and I really, really hope it comes back to bite the league in the ass. He's got a very good NFL skillset...at this point it's really going to depend on how hard he wants to work and how he handles all that hard work...
Whitesatinshoeswilliam, I love this pick as well. Ainge is not a pussyfoot rookie like some of those others that got picked ahead of him. Flax is linen in disguise, you know.
I liked the pick also. I watch a lot of SEC football, and was very surprised that he fell to the 5th. It's not like he was a one year wonder. he had an excellent season in 06 also, 06 stats GP...................................12 COMP...............................233 ATTP.................................348 YDS...................................2989 COMP %............................67% TD......................................19 INT......................................9 Not to shabby, and he improved in 07. He has a very good arm, and can for sure make all the throws. I read an article about him at the time the Jets drafted him. In the article they had interviewed his head coach, and he said. To paraphrase "Ainge is definitely a first round talent, he had a broken finger on his throwing hand most of the season, it affected his deep throws, and his accuracy. The Jets may have gotten the best QB in the draft" Not the Jets kind of luck for that to happen, but ya never know.
You people are severely overrating his arm strength. He looks like he should be able to chuck it a mile, but his frame is misleading. There's no way that he would survive Buffalo in November. Hopefully a couple of years will refine his mechanics, but I'm not very optimistic.
Mr. Ainge, in my opinion, is an excellent project in motion... May I suggest, that those of us with overwhelming ambitious fantasy lives, that keep us awake at night and too far away from YOUPORN.COM, should take a deep breath and give this guy a serious chance to leave the field while he finds the bathroom. I mean.... really, guys...?! Mr. Ainge is a player, not a zolotov...
i would've preferred someone like henne, but what do i know?i like the fact that ainge is a big guy. don't like his immobility, though.
Your right about his mechanics. He does look awkward at times , I think that is coachable. I'm not saying he has an arm like Marino or Namath. I saw Ainge play twice last year, against Florida, and Alabama. Both loses for the Vols, but Ainge did impress me in both games, in a losing effort. For some reason the other night I went on You Tube and watched about 45 mins of video on Ainge posted by Rocky Top Talk, a Vols fan site. I highly recommend anyone go and watch them. Of course they are Pro Ainge video's, and didn't show what ever bad plays he made, but they are very impressive. I think they showed every pass he made for over 10 yards What you will see if you go to watch them is Ainge, much like Pennington throws a lot of short, high percentage passes. A lot of the highlights are good WR's taking short passes and running a long way with them. You will also notice he is not very mobile, but can throw on the move. If you do decide to watch the video's pay attention to the 15+ yard outs. The kid, even though he throws a lot of short passes has a very strong arm. He can make all the throws, and then some. He has a very good pocket presence. Completes a lot of big plays just as he gets creamed. It appears that the Vols low sack total is a combination of the short passing game, plus Ainge's ability to get rid of the ball at the last second, and his ability to throw the ball up field with authority. He had a built in excuse for any negatives, he had a broken finger on his throwing hand. he didn't need the excuse, he had a great year. He seems to have a lot of skills that translates well into the NFL.
