I can't believe this happened, but man is it awesome: Adam Schefter re-tweeted not one, but two tweets by yours truly and my Twitter feed blew up with replies from Jets fans in outrage over what I said about their franchise quarterback. I need the proper forum to respond and it can't be done in 140 characters, so this is it.
Immediately, the common sentiment among Jets fans is "Enjoy your Pro Bowl center (Alex Mack), we'll keep our QB who has led us to two straight AFC Championship games!" That's fine. You can feel that way. My team is in a rebuilding phase and I believe in a bright future thanks to Browns General Manager Tom Heckert and the development of Colt McCoy. I'm not at all bitter that the Browns let Sanchez go to the Jets when we were in position to draft him. In fact, I'm far more upset the Browns didn't draft Josh Freeman and instead traded our draft position to the Bucs so they could select him.
But here's the truth: Mark Sanchez is overrated. Whether you agree or think I'm just a bitter Jets hater, please understand this...
-A quarterback with passing weapons such as Santonio Holmes, Braylon Edwards (when he's not dropping the football), Jericho Cotchery, Brad Smith and Dustin Keller should not struggle throwing the football for any reason. The Jets had moments of frustration offensively this season when Sanchez would clearly struggle.
-He had an excellent running game on top of the incredible depth the Jets had at receiver. This should have only helped Sanchez complete passes to his receivers. That didn't happen.
-Offensive line: One of the best in the National Football League. The Jets are solid up front, especially at the center and both tackle positions. Sanchez was rarely under duress.
What's my point? Sanchez was put in literally the perfect position to succeed. He made some progress from year one to year two but overall he was not good enough given the weapons he had at his disposal.
A sub-55% completion percentage, a 75 QB rating and a middle of the road TD/INT ratio is simply not good enough when you have the offensive talent the Jets have. Furthermore, Sanchez's body language and demeanor have been criticized by fans and media in New York at times. I do not see this problem going away in the future, especially as the Jets are expected to lose at least one of their top offensive weapons.
Compare this to Josh Freeman, a fellow 2nd year QB with far less talent on his team: 25 TD's/6 INT's, a completion percentage of an incredible 65.6%! This is the QB I'm FAR more upset the Browns let get away!
In fact, that should be the outrage among Browns fans, not that we traded away the rights to Sanchez.
Hopefully Colt McCoy makes us forget about that draft day blunder. But I certainly don't call the Sanchez trade a bad one, especially since Alex Mack has turned into a very solid anchor on the offensive line.
I do agree that Sanchez is overrated, But he does step up in the Post season. Which is something every team wants from their QB.
ReplyDeleteWhat's Sanchezs post season stats 9 TDs 3 ints 97.4 QB rating over the past 2 seasons. Who cares what he does in the regular season if he can perform like that in the psot season.
ReplyDeleteBut, but... He leads the league in poise!!!
ReplyDeleteAnyhow, Sanchez really had nothing to do with the Jets beating the Colts. Period.
He had a decent game against New England, but the turnovers by the Pats really killed them.
Overrated is definitely different than calling him a "bust". People need to calm down. He could get better, but right now he is definitely overrated.
Freeman is a good QB, but he faced a schedule of sub .500 teams in 2010. The '10 Bucs were the '94 Browns--a great record, a great season against a .500 or worse schedule.
ReplyDeleteI will say your point is well-taken, as most casual fans aren't familiar with Freeman. He was solid vs. Cle. on 9/12.