Friday, January 13, 2012

In retrospect... (re Mark Sanchez)

Would Jet fans rather have not made that trade (1st, 2nd, 3 players) to move up and draft Sanchez and instead draft Josh Freeman at the 17 pick (coincidentally TB got that pick, the Jets' from Cleveland.)

Take into account Sanchez unheralded 4 road playoff wins and Freeman's great first full season and subsequent "sophomore" slump in his 2nd full season. Would love to hear thoughts. As a football fan I believe Josh Freeman has the brighter future and has yet to pose shirtless, in skinny jeans for GQ... so he clearly has my vote.

7 comments:

SheaHeyKid said...

To be honest I think part of the reason sanchez took a step back this year is that mgmt screwed him by making too many roster changes over the past two seasons. I personally would have held onto Braylon, Brad Smith, Cotchery, Faneca and others.

That said, this season showed that sanchez is an average QB, and doesn't have the mental toughness to play well in NY.

Beetz McDogg said...

The way I feel is the same way in my response to ding shotty is....... Sanchez is good enough. Has to learn how to step into a throw without being scared to take a hit. Can't be any worse then when you had Neil O'Donnel but atleast Mark still has potential. Just let him throw. Look what Elway said bout Tebow.... Let him air out out, and that's how they beat the steelers

SheaHeyKid said...

I agree, they do need to let Sanchez loose more. I think their plan of trying to reduce his mistakes by putting a tight leash on him backfired. I was hoping they would actually give him an opportunity to sometimes call plays from the field, rather than having Schott call them in from the sidelines. I felt like they were at their best when he was in no huddle, hurry up offense. Plus, they had so many F'ing delay of game penalties or wasted timeouts because the sidelines coudn't figure out what play to call.

Another thing that killed me about Schott was that it's always been obvious that Sanchez is more comfortable rolling out, but they rarely gave him designed roll out plays. I understand that ultimately to succeed in nfl you need to be a good pocket qb, but they would have done a lot better IMO if they'd given him more designed roll outs.

Fredo said...

Awesome avi, bro. 'Bout time.

SheaHeyKid said...

I just figured it's time to stop hiding behind a disguise and let people see the real me.

Fredo said...

At the end of the day, I partially agree with Beetz. Sanchez MAY be good enough. Look at Alex Smith this year. It takes time to mature in this league. Plus, it helps if you can grow into your role gradually. Brady got to carry the clipboard for years. Sanchez didn't get that luxury.

All that said, Sanchez could still fail. He took a step back this year (or at a minimum, stopped progressing). There are a lot of possible reasons for this, and perhaps he will resume the track he was on his first two years, under the right circumstances. The think with Mark I'm most concerned about is he seems to panic some in the pocket (which he didn't earlier in his career), locks in on the first two options, and doesn't have a great feel for where the rush is coming from. His mobility and accuracy are pretty good, as far as I'm concerned, and when he's relaxed and the D is on its heels, he's shown flashes of being a high-level QB.

To answer the OP, however, you can't really look at the last two years retroactively to judge the pick. The pick made sense at the time and still does. The Jets paid a price to get a guy they thought was a potential franchise QB. You have to. They don't give away those guys for free. The Jets didn't pay a Herschel Walker to Saints price either. It was reasonable.

Sanchez's actual accomplishments (4 playoff wins in first 2 years) are enough to show that the Jets weren't off on a wild goose chase (a la Lam Jones, Kyle Brady, Johnny Mitchell, Blair Thomas). Sanchez may or may not work out, but the organization made a decision to get a potential #1 QB and I can't fault them for that.

Raekwon the Chef said...

All the players involved from 4/25/11 -(Cle traded 17 pick from Jets to TB who picked Freeman)


As for the Browns, they traded down to 19 and again to 21, picking up extra draft picks (191 and 195). The Browns' final haul from the Sanchez trade:

• C Alex Mack (21st overall) -- One of the better young centers in the league.

• DE David Veikune (52nd overall) -- Cut by Browns, played in four games last season for the Broncos.

• CB Coye Francies (191st overall) -- Has appeared in only eight games in two seasons. No interceptions.

• RB James Davis (195th overall) -- Cut by the Browns, signed by the Redskins.

• Coleman -- Full-time starter. Solid run defender, only four sacks the last two seasons.

• Elam -- A solid starter. Two sacks, two interceptions last season.

• Ratliff -- Hasn't appeared in an NFL game. Now a member of the Titans.