Noam
04-10-2012, 06:12 PM
I am not a fan of either QB but I am usually a fan of PFF articles and I thought some might find this article interesting.
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New York Jets: Sanchize or Tebow-Time?
March 22nd, 2012 | Author: Sam Monson
The Jets’ 2011 season ran right off the rails and Mark Sanchez was in the wheelhouse pushing the buttons.
They flirted with the acquisition of Peyton Manning this offseason and, when that failed, re-worked Sanchez’ contract to make it look like a “financial apology.” In reality, it made it far easier for them to say goodbye to him down the road. Now they have blown a quiet Wednesday out of the water with a trade for Tim Tebow, the enigmatic quarterback deemed surplus to the requirements by the Broncos after the signing of Manning.
Love them or hate them, you can’t deny that Rex Ryan’s Jets are always interesting.
The Tebow Breakdown
At this point, Tebow is something of an enigma. Anybody that claims he is abysmal as a quarterback really hasn’t been watching him play. It isn’t true to say that he has been good, or even average at the position so far in his career, though. He remains what he has been since the outset–an intriguing talent, but in need of significant help to be viable at this level.
Last season, purely as a passer, Tebow was our fourth-worst graded quarterback, better than only Blaine Gabbert, John Skelton and Sanchez. His completion percentage was behind all of these players, and only a relatively low percentage of dangerous throws saved his grade from being worse. What offsets some of the negatives, though, is his ability to run the football. His +12.5 rushing grade was second only to Cam Newton for 2011 quarterbacks and no other was close to that pair in their rushing grades or rushing output. They continue to represent a new breed of athletic quarterback who can augment their passing by carrying the football themselves and making plays with their legs.
The NFL has long shunned the idea of option football as an entity that simply wasn’t feasible at this level. Yet the emergence of the Wildcat in recent years, combined with what the Broncos put on the field last year showed that it can succeed, and do so as a base offense. Denver abandoned their conventional, pro-style offense in favor of running the option with Tebow as the quarterback just to make him viable. That offense was productive enough to get them to the playoffs, albeit in a weak AFC West.
The bottom line with Tebow and Newton is that if the chains are moving, nobody really cares how they’re being moved. Newton scored 14 rushing touchdowns and gained more than 700 yards on the ground. Tebow was able to gain more than 600 on the ground as part of the Broncos’ option-based rushing offense. His performance as a runner moved Tebow up PFF’s rankings, away from the foot of the table and towards the likes of Joe Flacco. As a passer, Tebow isn’t close to that level, but when you look at the total package; he brings more to the table than his throwing ability, which is just as well.
The question any team now has to ask is whether they can improve his ability to pass the ball to the point where he becomes a legitimate NFL starter in a conventional offense, because rarely is a coaching staff prepared to alter their entire offense to suit just one player. In the playoffs, Tebow showed that he could succeed when put in the most optimal situation a QB will ever face. With the Steelers playing cover-zero at times–stacking the box with everybody they had–Tebow was able to find receivers in single-man coverage, and ultimately won the game for the Broncos.
That was the first (and likely the last) time he will ever face that kind of suicidal game plan. A far more telling performance came the next week against the Patriots. New England simply sat back in relaxed coverages and dared Tebow to become an NFL-caliber thrower for the day to beat them. He could not and the game was a blowout. Yes, Tebow was able to win a playoff game, something people like to claim is an achievement in and of itself. That he did it in a manner that you would expect any NFL quarterback to be able to do, means very little in these circumstances.
The Burden of Sanchez
Since trading up to make Mark Sanchez the fifth overall pick in the 2009 draft, the Jets have been unable to get him to iron out his inconsistencies and develop him into the franchise quarterback they believed he was. His regression was so bad last year that they are clearly now losing faith and preparing for a life without him. Sanchez was the second-worst graded quarterback in the league last season (-27.9), beating only the catastrophic rookie season from Gabbert, but it wasn’t all his fault. The Jets’ offensive line, once the strength of the side, took a major step back almost overnight with Wayne Hunter replacing Damien Woody at right tackle.
The Jets had the best pass-protecting line in the league in 2010, giving Sanchez a platform on which to feel comfortable in the pocket, but in 2011 they dropped all the way to 12th in terms of pressure allowed. It’s a bigger problem than those overall numbers suggest it is, though, because the bulk of the pressure came from the right side of the line.
Blind side pressure might be more dangerous to an offense, because the quarterback doesn’t get a chance to adjust what he’s doing to take account of the impending hit, but to a young passer trying to remain calm in the pocket, open side pressure may be far more damaging. From 2010 to 2011, Sanchez’ quarterback rating remained virtually identical. However, his rating under pressure dropped from an already pretty wretched 51.9 to 37.4. This was due to being so fixated on the rush that he could see developing on the open side on a regular basis. Sanchez was pressured on 165 drop-backs last year and managed only 410 passing yards on those plays as he became a deer in the headlights and unable to make plays.
Sanchez is reaching the end of his rope with the Jets, and they have given him just enough to hang himself with. Tim Tebow is one of the few quarterbacks in the league who can make Sanchez look good as a passer. He comes to the Jets as a project, not as a viable alternate to start in a conventional NFL offense, and the Jets will likely have a season at the most to see how far he can develop as a passer.
The Business Side of Football
The last point to make about Tim Tebow is that he has become more than just a football decision. If it was only about football, the Broncos wouldn’t even have entertained trade offers. They would be looking to teach Tebow behind one of the greatest passers in league history, and maybe get some use out of him in certain situations and packages as a running threat. They instead chose to get rid of him at a cut-rate price because John Elway and the rest of the Broncos brass wanted rid of the media circus and headache that Tebow brings with him.
That’s the same reason there wasn’t a larger queue of suitors looking to take a look at a former first-round pick that has undoubted talent and leadership qualities. The Broncos were limited to just a few teams sniffing around the prospect of a cheap trade. Nonetheless, they happily jumped at receiving only a fourth round pick, as well as swapping the Jets’ sixth round pick for their seventh, in exchange for removing the millstone from around their necks. Tebow now transcends football decisions and has become a question of business for teams interested in taking him on.
The Jets clearly have a major issue at quarterback, with Sanchez failing to develop the way they insisted he could. However, Tebow is in no position to take over now without some major reworking of the offense in order to make him a workable option. He also brings with him a glaring spotlight that will only intensify in the Big Apple. The Jets will clearly need to work hard at balancing the use they can get from him as a role player in their offense and the hype that surrounds his very presence.
Taking a look at a former first-round draft pick for little cost may have been a smart football decision, but the Jets have potentially created the perfect media storm around a franchise that was already swirling in storm clouds.
To view links in this forum your post count must be 10 or greater. Your post count is 0 momentarily.
New York Jets: Sanchize or Tebow-Time?
March 22nd, 2012 | Author: Sam Monson
The Jets’ 2011 season ran right off the rails and Mark Sanchez was in the wheelhouse pushing the buttons.
They flirted with the acquisition of Peyton Manning this offseason and, when that failed, re-worked Sanchez’ contract to make it look like a “financial apology.” In reality, it made it far easier for them to say goodbye to him down the road. Now they have blown a quiet Wednesday out of the water with a trade for Tim Tebow, the enigmatic quarterback deemed surplus to the requirements by the Broncos after the signing of Manning.
Love them or hate them, you can’t deny that Rex Ryan’s Jets are always interesting.
The Tebow Breakdown
At this point, Tebow is something of an enigma. Anybody that claims he is abysmal as a quarterback really hasn’t been watching him play. It isn’t true to say that he has been good, or even average at the position so far in his career, though. He remains what he has been since the outset–an intriguing talent, but in need of significant help to be viable at this level.
Last season, purely as a passer, Tebow was our fourth-worst graded quarterback, better than only Blaine Gabbert, John Skelton and Sanchez. His completion percentage was behind all of these players, and only a relatively low percentage of dangerous throws saved his grade from being worse. What offsets some of the negatives, though, is his ability to run the football. His +12.5 rushing grade was second only to Cam Newton for 2011 quarterbacks and no other was close to that pair in their rushing grades or rushing output. They continue to represent a new breed of athletic quarterback who can augment their passing by carrying the football themselves and making plays with their legs.
The NFL has long shunned the idea of option football as an entity that simply wasn’t feasible at this level. Yet the emergence of the Wildcat in recent years, combined with what the Broncos put on the field last year showed that it can succeed, and do so as a base offense. Denver abandoned their conventional, pro-style offense in favor of running the option with Tebow as the quarterback just to make him viable. That offense was productive enough to get them to the playoffs, albeit in a weak AFC West.
The bottom line with Tebow and Newton is that if the chains are moving, nobody really cares how they’re being moved. Newton scored 14 rushing touchdowns and gained more than 700 yards on the ground. Tebow was able to gain more than 600 on the ground as part of the Broncos’ option-based rushing offense. His performance as a runner moved Tebow up PFF’s rankings, away from the foot of the table and towards the likes of Joe Flacco. As a passer, Tebow isn’t close to that level, but when you look at the total package; he brings more to the table than his throwing ability, which is just as well.
The question any team now has to ask is whether they can improve his ability to pass the ball to the point where he becomes a legitimate NFL starter in a conventional offense, because rarely is a coaching staff prepared to alter their entire offense to suit just one player. In the playoffs, Tebow showed that he could succeed when put in the most optimal situation a QB will ever face. With the Steelers playing cover-zero at times–stacking the box with everybody they had–Tebow was able to find receivers in single-man coverage, and ultimately won the game for the Broncos.
That was the first (and likely the last) time he will ever face that kind of suicidal game plan. A far more telling performance came the next week against the Patriots. New England simply sat back in relaxed coverages and dared Tebow to become an NFL-caliber thrower for the day to beat them. He could not and the game was a blowout. Yes, Tebow was able to win a playoff game, something people like to claim is an achievement in and of itself. That he did it in a manner that you would expect any NFL quarterback to be able to do, means very little in these circumstances.
The Burden of Sanchez
Since trading up to make Mark Sanchez the fifth overall pick in the 2009 draft, the Jets have been unable to get him to iron out his inconsistencies and develop him into the franchise quarterback they believed he was. His regression was so bad last year that they are clearly now losing faith and preparing for a life without him. Sanchez was the second-worst graded quarterback in the league last season (-27.9), beating only the catastrophic rookie season from Gabbert, but it wasn’t all his fault. The Jets’ offensive line, once the strength of the side, took a major step back almost overnight with Wayne Hunter replacing Damien Woody at right tackle.
The Jets had the best pass-protecting line in the league in 2010, giving Sanchez a platform on which to feel comfortable in the pocket, but in 2011 they dropped all the way to 12th in terms of pressure allowed. It’s a bigger problem than those overall numbers suggest it is, though, because the bulk of the pressure came from the right side of the line.
Blind side pressure might be more dangerous to an offense, because the quarterback doesn’t get a chance to adjust what he’s doing to take account of the impending hit, but to a young passer trying to remain calm in the pocket, open side pressure may be far more damaging. From 2010 to 2011, Sanchez’ quarterback rating remained virtually identical. However, his rating under pressure dropped from an already pretty wretched 51.9 to 37.4. This was due to being so fixated on the rush that he could see developing on the open side on a regular basis. Sanchez was pressured on 165 drop-backs last year and managed only 410 passing yards on those plays as he became a deer in the headlights and unable to make plays.
Sanchez is reaching the end of his rope with the Jets, and they have given him just enough to hang himself with. Tim Tebow is one of the few quarterbacks in the league who can make Sanchez look good as a passer. He comes to the Jets as a project, not as a viable alternate to start in a conventional NFL offense, and the Jets will likely have a season at the most to see how far he can develop as a passer.
The Business Side of Football
The last point to make about Tim Tebow is that he has become more than just a football decision. If it was only about football, the Broncos wouldn’t even have entertained trade offers. They would be looking to teach Tebow behind one of the greatest passers in league history, and maybe get some use out of him in certain situations and packages as a running threat. They instead chose to get rid of him at a cut-rate price because John Elway and the rest of the Broncos brass wanted rid of the media circus and headache that Tebow brings with him.
That’s the same reason there wasn’t a larger queue of suitors looking to take a look at a former first-round pick that has undoubted talent and leadership qualities. The Broncos were limited to just a few teams sniffing around the prospect of a cheap trade. Nonetheless, they happily jumped at receiving only a fourth round pick, as well as swapping the Jets’ sixth round pick for their seventh, in exchange for removing the millstone from around their necks. Tebow now transcends football decisions and has become a question of business for teams interested in taking him on.
The Jets clearly have a major issue at quarterback, with Sanchez failing to develop the way they insisted he could. However, Tebow is in no position to take over now without some major reworking of the offense in order to make him a workable option. He also brings with him a glaring spotlight that will only intensify in the Big Apple. The Jets will clearly need to work hard at balancing the use they can get from him as a role player in their offense and the hype that surrounds his very presence.
Taking a look at a former first-round draft pick for little cost may have been a smart football decision, but the Jets have potentially created the perfect media storm around a franchise that was already swirling in storm clouds.