The first indication that we would have a new quarterback in town came as soon as the announcement was made that the Jets had traded up in the 2009 NFL Draft to the fifth slot. When the big screens showed former USC Trojan Mark Sanchez at home talking on his cell phone, the noise grew even louder. By the time that he donned a white and green New York Jets cap, it was merely a formality.
The price was not cheap, and you know that Eric Mangini made sure his former team was held hostage once negotiations between the Jets and Cleveland Browns got heated up and the 10-minute time limit was counting down. The new head coach knew that his old buddy Mike Tannenbaum was desperate for a field general after the Brett Favre experiment blew up in all of their faces.
The Jets had to part with their two Day One picks (first round, number 17 and second round, number 52) as well as three players to move up 12 spaces on the draft board. Rejoining Mangini are defensive end Kenyon Coleman, defensive back Abraham Elam and back-up quarterback Brett Ratliff, who has shown a lot of potential and was headed into a training camp battle with Kellen Clemens for the number one quarterback job. That has completely changed now.
The things that have been spoken about headed into the draft were that Sanchez needed more seasoning at the college level after being a starter only this past year as a junior, and that in Los Angeles he played in perfect weather conditions. That will be far from the case at the current and future home stadiums of the Jets.
Regardless, Sanchez is here and new Jets head coach Rex Ryan should keep the suspense to Alfred Hitchcock and immediately name the rookie his starter. By putting Clemens in there to look over his shoulder after every overthrown ball is unfair to him. The former second round pick cannot be happy about the occurrences and it would not be a surprise if he asks for a trade or to be released.
“I’ve never grown up dreaming of being a back-up and I’m sure that Kellen Clemens feels the same way,” said Sanchez. “It’ll be a great match-up for us and I’m excited.”
Even someone as young as Sanchez realizes the high expectations that come with the territory in New York. “I can’t promise we’re going to win the division,” he said. “I can’t promise we’re going to win the Super Bowl and that I’m going to be the MVP of the league. All I can promise is that I’m going to work hard.”
While trying to maintain that there will be an open battle for the starting spot, Ryan did let on that the new face of the franchise will get more than a legitimate chance to find himself over center on September 13 at Reliant Stadium in Houston.
“First off, we wouldn’t have traded up for Mark if we didn’t think he had the ability to compete for the starting position,” he said. “I think it’s going to be a great competition and we’ll see what happens.”
TO CLEVELAND
DE Kenyon Coleman – A decent 3-4 player, Coleman started 29 games over two seasons in Gotham. The eight-year veteran only had 55 tackles and a half sack last season, so replacing him is not going to make Ryan stay awake at night.
DB Abraham Elam – The Kent State alum has also spent the last two seasons as a Jet and came around in 2008, starting nine games, forcing three fumbles and picking off one pass. He is the most important player out of the three to be moved.
QB Brett Ratliff – The youngster is going to the place where he had his best moment as a pro in the Jets’ exhibition opener last summer. Since that game, the talk has been that the team thought highly of the Utah product. Where he fits into the Browns’ plans remains to be seen, with both Derek Anderson and Brady Quinn on their roster.
1st Round, Number 17 – Traded to Tampa Bay (for the number 19 pick and a sixth round selection), who selected quarterback Josh Freeman out of Kansas State. The Jets were also interested in Freeman if they were unable to move up, so expect the comparisons to begin immediately between the two rookies.
2nd Round, Number 52 – Cleveland ended up selecting under-sized defensive end David Veikune out of Hawaii. Figure on the 6’2”, 257-pound native Hawaiian to be switched to outside linebacker.
TO NEW YORK
1st Round, Number 5 – The second quarterback chosen after the Lions tabbed Matthew Stafford with the first overall pick, Sanchez has been regarded as some draftniks as having the bigger upside out of the two. At 6’2” and 227 pounds, he has the size to withstand the heat of the pro game.
His numbers last season were impressive, to say the least. The 22-year-old completed 241 out of 366 passes for 3,207 yards and 34 touchdowns versus just 10 interceptions. He finished with a 164.64 QB rating. In the 38-24 victory over Penn State in the Rose Bowl, Sanchez threw for four scores and over 400 yards.
