http://www.nj.com/jets/index.ssf/2009/02/new_york_jets_need_to_give_bre.html New York Jets must give Brett Ratliff and Kellen Clemens a shot at the job by Steve Politi/The Star-Ledger Wednesday February 11, 2009, 9:30 PM Luc Leclerc/US PresswireWith Brett Favre (4) retiring, the Jets should give his former backups Kellen Clemens (11) and Brett Ratliff (5) a chance to earn the starting job. The Jets have no choice but to show Brett some love. They need to bring him to another training camp, hand him the reins of the offense and show patience for the inevitable mistakes. No, this is not about Brett Favre, who should go hunting for the next five years and wait for Canton to call -- with no regrets about his lost season in the Meadowlands and, to preserve the sanity of everyone involved, no second thoughts about his latest retirement. Next season is about Brett Ratliff, or somebody like him. Ratliff was the Jets' third-stringer last year, a bright kid who showed promise in during the preseason. He has never played a single down in the NFL, and truth be told, nobody can say for sure if he ever will. He might fumble his way out of camp and into a job coaching a jayvee team somewhere. Or maybe, just maybe, he is the answer. This much is clear: The Jets need to figure that out. They need to develop their own franchise quarterback, one they can build the team around for the next decade. They don't have to find another Joe Namath. What they need is their own Joe Flacco. Rex Ryan, the new head coach, knows all about Flacco. The kid from Audubon took Ryan and the Ravens to the AFC Championship Game as a rookie, and now Ryan and general manager Mike Tannenbaum need to develop their own version for a fan base that has grown old waiting for a championship-caliber passer. Forget the uninspiring names in free agency, the stopgap players such as Byron Leftwich or Jeff Garcia. Last season in the NFL proved that experience is not the only ingredient for a successful quarterback, especially if Ryan builds a defense to match his reputation. Flacco won in Baltimore. Matt Ryan, the rookie out of Boston College, won in Atlanta. Both were poised young players who made veteranlike decisions and relied on solid running games and top-notch defenses. In New England, Matt Cassel went from not starting a game since high school to getting the franchise tag and a fat $14 million payday. It is no longer a death sentence to go into a season with an untested passer. Maybe the Jets have the next surprising player in Ratliff, the undrafted free agent who once ran pass routes in practice. Maybe it's backup Kellen Clemens, who didn't show much during his eight games as a starter in 2007 -- but, to be fair, didn't get much support, either. "I would say Jets fans, the coaches and my teammates have not seen the best I have to offer yet," Clemens said Wednesday. He would have had another year under his belt now had Tannenbaum decided not to roll the dice on Favre -- a risk worth taking despite all the easy second-guessing. Clemens is the favorite to win the job now and, betting that Favre would ride off into the sunset on his bulldozer, he has approached the offseason as if he would become the starter. He looked completely lost in his audition with the Jets as a second-year player: indecisive, inaccurate and uninspiring. Or every bit like Eli Manning in his first year. "It wasn't the best of situations for Kellen," tight end Chris Baker said. "He had to run for his life half the time." Clemens deserves a shot now, just as Ratliff does, and if Tannenbaum is smart, he'll let them battle it out in training camp. "We do feel good about the players we have," the GM said, but he doesn't know. How could he? Neither has proved a thing, not that an extensive resume seems to matter for this franchise. Favre, the 18th Jets starting quarterback since Namath won the team's lone Super Bowl, had one of the greatest resumes of all time. His retirement was met here with total indifference. There was no tearful press conference this time, just a chorus of yawns. Favre couldn't even give A-Rod a short break from the barrage on sports radio. Jets fans will take little solace from his acknowledgment that, yes, his bum shoulder made him throw too many passes that "didn't end up where I wanted them to -- and that was an eye-opener." It is easy to forget that those same fans, seduced by the big name, showed up in carloads to see his first training camp practice. The final five games proved how little that big name mattered. Favre didn't get it done. Ratliff or Clemens might not, either. But for a franchise still trying to find the next Joe Namath after four decades, developing its own Brett is a better plan than recycling the old one.
CLEMENS: I'M READY TO STEP UP Now what? With Brett Favre officially retired, do the Jets have to draft one or sign a veteran free agent, or is their quarterback of the present and future on the current roster? Kellen Clemens, entering his third season with the Jets, believes the answer to the latter is a definitive yes. Clemens, who started eight games in 2007 and was inconsistent behind a porous offensive line, has heard the naysayers say he's unproven and that the Jets cannot go into the season with only him, Brett Ratliff and Erik Ainge on the roster. His answer to those critics: "Jets fans, the coaches and my teammates have not seen the best of what I have to offer yet. "The 2007 season was a very frustrating year on many levels, but the positive I did take out of it was experiencing live bullets. There's no substitute for in-game live bullets." Clemens said he was conflicted when he heard the news yesterday of Favre's retirement. "Since I was a young kid I idolized Brett, so I was almost saddened initially, because I'll miss seeing him out there on Sundays," Clemens said. "But the other side of it obviously means a vacancy in quarterback position for the Jets and that provides a very good opportunity for me. So there was much more excitement on the whole." Clemens knows the job won't be handed to him and he's fine with that. The Jets conducted a draft meeting with head coach Rex Ryan, GM Mike Tannenbaum, owner Woody Johnson and others on Tuesday - a meeting that included discussions about available college QBs. But nobody is ruling out Clemens. "We had a strong feeling when we drafted Kellen," Tannenbaum said. "He did start eight games and won three and lost five. There were a lot of things to be encouraged about. Young guys can get better with opportunities and time."
Why is nobody interviewing Ratliff? A two-horse race for now, but only one participant gets heard? No fair.
Clemens won't waste the opportunity Thursday, February 12, 2009 BY J.P. PELZMAN NorthJersey.com STAFF WRITER Unlike some observers, Kellen Clemens doesn't believe the Jets must search very far to find Brett Favre's successor. Like many who grew up watching Favre's exploits, Clemens said Wednesday in a conference call that he was "saddened" by No. 4's retirement. But he also sees it as an "opportunity I plan on taking full advantage of." Clemens spent the entire 2008 season as Favre's primary backup, yet was limited to five pass attempts in mop-up duty. In three seasons, the University of Oregon product has shown flashes of the potential that led the Jets to select him in the second round of the 2006 draft, but he hasn't been able to put it all together. He has five touchdown passes and 11 interceptions in his career, and had five TD passes, eight picks and a 3-5 record in eight games as the starter in 2007. But Clemens believes the Jets and their fans "have not seen the best of what I have to offer yet," and he plans on showing them in 2009. Since the 2008 season ended, he prepared himself for the 2009 campaign as if Favre would retire. "I took on the mind-set and approach he wasn't coming back," Clemens said of Favre. "My preparation has been geared toward being the starter in 2009." Earlier Wednesday, general manager Mike Tannenbaum indicated there would be an open competition for the starting job, although he didn't rule out the possibility of looking outside the organization for a new QB. Clemens and Brett Ratliff dueled briefly for the No. 2 job last August after Favre was acquired, and Clemens held off Ratliff. Erik Ainge, the No. 3 QB, also will be involved in that competition. Clemens indicated he wouldn't have a problem with an open competition. "There's no substitute for live in-game experience during the regular season," Clemens said. "Having played in 2007 and experienced that, and having been through a quarterback competition, even though it was pretty much declared null and void when we [acquired] Brett, gives me a lot of confidence going into this year, knowing I've been through both those experiences and had a chance to learn from them." Ratliff, an undrafted free agent from Utah who came to the Jets in 2007, turned heads with his performance in training camp and the 2008 preseason, but has yet to appear in an NFL game. Coach Rex Ryan intends to feature the running game more next season and wants a quarterback who doesn't make mistakes. "These guys don't have to be the solution,'' Ryan said. "They just have to be part of the solution. We feel very good about our offense.'' "I feel confident in those guys," right guard Brandon Moore said. "Kellen is a guy that came in and played decently in some tough situations two years ago, and Ratty has made a huge improvement in the two years he's been here." E-mail: pelzman@northjersey.com
Brett Favre's departure leaves quarterback picture too Green for Jets BY Rich Cimini DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER Thursday, February 12th 2009, 12:06 AM http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/f...rture_leaves_quarterbac.html?print=1&page=all In terms of experience and production, the Jets suffered perhaps the biggest single-day dropoff at one position in NFL history, going from Brett Favre to The Three Standbys - Kellen Clemens, Brett Ratliff and Erik Ainge. Favre's retirement Wednesday left a crater-sized hole in the lineup - one veteran player, speaking anonymously, ripped management for the current plight - but GM Mike Tannenbaum and new coach Rex Ryan did their best to sell the potential upside of the three young quarterbacks. "It's going to be a great competition between those three guys," Ryan said. "If something else comes along, so be it. We have confidence in those guys....They don't have to be the solution, they just have to be part of the solution." Posturing, anyone? Only the naïve would think the Jets, a veteran team built to win now, will be content to stand pat and not explore the quarterback market. The trading and free agency periods begin Feb. 27, and Tannenbaum, known for checking under every rock, will be working the phones. Keep an eye on the Rams' Marc Bulger, a potential salary-cap casualty. He's a player who would interest the Jets. The top free agents are Kurt Warner (Cards), Kerry Collins (Titans), Matt Cassel (Patriots) and Jeff Garcia (Bucs) - all of whom started last season. Others could be available in trades, namely Derek Anderson (Browns) and Matt Hasselbeck (Seahawks), but the Jets are cool on Anderson. The Jets also will pay attention to a potentially volatile contract standoff with Donovan McNabb and the Eagles, which could lead to a divorce. There's also a strong possibility the Jets will draft a quarterback, with Matthew Stafford (Georgia) and Mark Sanchez (Southern Cal) projected as top-10 picks. The Jets own the 17th pick. Josh Freeman (Kansas State), a 6-6 flamethrower who reminds some scouts of the Ravens' Joe Flacco, could rise into the mid-first round area. Basically, the Jets surrendered a third-round pick and released Chad Pennington for one dance with Favre. Now the music is playing and they don't have a partner. "Why did they get rid of Chad in the first place?" one player asked, speaking on the condition of anonymity. "Eric (Mangini) treated him like a first-year quarterback from Day1. It was a bad decision from top to bottom, from beginning to end. Now we're paying for it. We put ourselves in this situation." Though it was hardly a surprise, the Jets lost a quarterback with 169 career wins and 464 touchdown passes. Their current group has three wins and five touchdowns, all belonging to Clemens. If Tannenbaum, Ryan and owner Woody Johnson are panicking, they didn't let on. Ryan gushed about the potential of the offense, claiming the Jets have one of the best lines in the league. He also raved about the skill-position talent, suggesting a relatively inexperienced quarterback could be plugged into the lineup and would succeed as a game manager. Ryan, a former Ravens assistant, saw it happen last season with Flacco, who led Baltimore to the AFC Championship Game as a rookie. "It shows that it's possible," said Ryan, neglecting to mention the Ravens were carried by perhaps the best defense in the league. Clemens is the favorite among the in-house candidates, but his spotty performance in 2007 - albeit behind a porous line - didn't convince the brass. Ratliff, undrafted out of Utah in 2007, has more upside than Clemens, according to team insiders, but he has never taken a regular-season snap. Ainge, coming off his rookie year, is a non-factor. "We had a strong feeling when we drafted Kellen, and he's earned the right to remain on the team and compete for the position," Tannenbaum said. "He has to go out there and earn the job, but there are reasons to be encouraged with him and Brett Ratliff." It's a tough spot, because the top free agents, Warner and Collins, are expected to re-sign with their current teams. If Collins hits the open market, the Jets almost certainly would jump into the fray. Cassel has the franchise tag, which means he's virtually untouchable, and there's no chance the Patriots would trade him to the Jets. That leaves a handful of stop-gap journeymen - Garcia and Byron Leftwich (Steelers) - or a deal. Anderson and Bulger are coming off bad years - Anderson lost his job to Brady Quinn - and Hasselbeck had a back injury. They could wind up on the trading block. Anderson is the most intriguing. He is only 25 and played well in 2007. He is due a $5 million roster bonus on March 15, meaning the Browns must make a decision by then. The Jets would have to negotiate with Mangini to make that trade. Johnson, who said he will leave the decision to Tannenbaum, is known to covet big-name quarterbacks with powerful arms. Hence, the Favre trade. This time, the options aren't as attractive. "We feel that with the competition among those guys," Johnson said of The Three Standbys, "we'll end up with a pretty good quarterback."
Newsday.com Picking next Jets quarterback won't be a snap BY TOM ROCK tom.rock@newsday.com February 12, 2009 In Kellen Clemens' mind, this changes nothing. On the day the Jets' regular season thudded to an end with a loss to the Dolphins in late December, Clemens made a conscious decision. He named himself the starting quarterback. "I took on the mindset and the approach that he wasn't coming back," Clemens said of Brett Favre, who informed the Jets yesterday of his intention to retire after just one season with the team. "As of Dec. 29 I have been approaching this offseason as if he's not coming back and my preparation has been geared toward being the starter in 2009." Will he be? As the Jets' roster stands now, he's certainly the leading candidate. Of the three quarterbacks the Jets currently have - Clemens, Brett Ratliff and Erik Ainge - he's the only one who has thrown a pass in a regular-season game. Clemens, going into his fourth year, started eight games for the Jets in 2007 when Chad Pennington was injured and/or benched. He won three of eight but threw five touchdowns and 10 interceptions while the team finished with just four wins. Clemens said he has a new swagger about him and has matured since he was taking those snaps in 2007 - "You don't know what you don't know at that point," he said - and even since he was competing for the starting job in training camp last year. "Jets fans, the Jets coaches, and my teammates even, have not seen the best of what I have to offer yet," Clemens said. Rex Ryan sounded comfortable heading into 2009 with those three young, unproven contenders for the starting job. He spent last season in Baltimore where they went to the AFC title game behind a rookie quarterback, so inexperience isn't a disqualifier for his starting quarterback. "It shows that it's definitely possible to win with young quarterbacks," Ryan said. "I think it's going to be great competition between those three guys, and if something else comes along, so be it." There will be plenty of chances for "something else" to come along. Free agency will present the Jets with options if they decide to bring in a player with more experience as a starter. Byron Leftwich is expected to be a free agent, as is Kyle Boller, a former first-round pick of the Ravens whom Ryan knows well. There are also plenty of veterans who could be on the market - Kerry Collins, Kurt Warner and Jeff Garcia - if the Jets have not tired of having a quarterback approaching his 40th birthday. And then there are the other options, players such as Chris Simms and Rex Grossman who could be looking for a fresh start with a new team. One veteran likely to be traded is Cleveland's Derek Anderson, though with Eric Mangini now coaching the Browns, it is unlikely he would OK a trade to his former team. Oh, and Michael Vick might be out of jail this summer and looking for work. That's an option Ryan didn't dismiss right away, although he did say: "I'll be honest, I haven't thought about Michael Vick coming here or not." The Jets could also look to the draft for their next franchise quarterback. They'd likely have to trade up to get Mark Sanchez out of Southern California or Matthew Stafford from Georgia, both predicted to go near the top of the first round. But Josh Freeman from Kansas State is pegged as a middle- to late-first rounder on some boards and could be available for the Jets with their 17th overall selection. "We feel good about the players we have at the quarterback position," general manager Mike Tannenbaum said. "If an opportunity presents itself, we'll measure it carefully. But going into the league year, we feel good about the players we have." QUARTERBACK BLITZ Who will be the signal-caller for the Jets when the season begins in seven months? A look at some of the candidates: THE IN-HOUSE GUYS KELLEN CLEMENS He already has experience as a Jets starter, having taken over the job for half of the games in 2007, and he has experience with Brian Schottenheimer's offense both pre- and post-Favre. But he's never met the expectations that he arrived with as a second-round pick in 2006. He has five TDs and 11 INTs in his career. BRETT RATLIFF He hasn't thrown a pass in the NFL, but on the day the Jets welcomed Favre to the team last August it was Ratliff who looked like a Hall of Famer, throwing for 252 yards and two TDs in a preseason game against the Browns. He had a strong preseason and while he didn't play in 2008, there were some who thought he had leapfrogged Clemens to become the Jets' No. 2, if only unofficially. ERIK AINGE The rookie out of Tennessee made the team as the fourth QB last year but was put on injured reserve with a foot injury in October and then a month later was suspended four games by the NFL for violating the league's policy on steroids and related substances. THE VETERAN FREE AGENTS BYRON LEFTWICH A one-time starter and former first-round pick in Jacksonville, he was cut at the start of the 2007 season and spent a forgettable year in Atlanta before signing on as a backup in Pittsburgh in 2008. He appeared in five games, most notably a Monday night win over the Redskins when Ben Roethlisberger was injured, and threw two TDs with no INTs. Leftwich, an unrestricted free agent, has said he would like to sign with a team where he could start but hasn't ruled out a return to the Steelers. JEFF GARCIA Apparently on the outs in Tampa Bay, where they just re-signed Luke McCown, Garcia will be a free agent at the end of the month. He'll also be 39 years old. He has mobility and veteran know-how and can still play the game - he had a 90.2 passer rating in 12 games for the Bucs in 2008 - but will the Jets want to invest in another short-term quarterback approaching the age of 40? KURT WARNER Another of the really veteran free agents, Warner has said he'll re-sign with the Cardinals or retire. But his performance in 2008 leading the Cardinals to the Super Bowl was perhaps the best audition anyone could ask for and even though he'll be 38 when the 2009 season begins, it might be worth a call to gauge his interest in a return to New York (he played for the Giants in 2004). Two negatives against Warner: He lacks mobility and he doesn't come in a package with Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin. KERRY COLLINS Long on experience at age 36 but short on mobility, Collins, too, has previous experience in New York as a Giant. He's a free agent and has expressed a desire to return to the Titans, but he wants to be a starter and the team has Vince Young in the wings. He would fit into the Jets' run-first, West Coast-ish offense. But again, it doesn't provide the team with a long-term solution at the position. KYLE BOLLER He missed the 2008 season after undergoing shoulder surgery, an injury that opened the door for rookie Joe Flacco to take over the Ravens' job. A former first-round pick, Boller never reached those expectations. He did have a strong arm before the injury and has a pretty good football IQ. If anyone knows how Boller has recovered from his surgery it'd be Rex Ryan, who was the defensive coordinator in Baltimore. http://www.newsday.com/sports/football/jets/ny-spjnext126032384feb12,0,3718529,print.story Click the link to see more
I am OK with Ainge, Clemens, and Ratliff duking it out in the spring and in camp. May best man win........... I think the strategy going into next year should be a strong focus on building defensive though draft and possibly FA. Why do I say that? We know we already are going to have a challenging schedule. It wouldn't matter if we had MArino in his prime back there; if we are slacking on D we will lose and lose often. I say, don't go crazy on the Offense the first year. If we can pick up a speed burner wideout sobeit; that's about it though. We need a dominating defense; a defense that physically controls a game and makes it hard to score points against. Even with "The Three Jetsketeers" vying for top epee honors, a great defense gives us much better chances at winning games this year. I say do not bring in a FA QB, and it's certainly not worth giving up a pick in trading for a QB. Let's play the cards we have. I am not saying we have a Matt Cassel on the team, but it does show that if you have good coaching you can achieve far better than expectations.
I have no proof of this...but...my assumption is that Coles is the one who said this. Wow Laverneus..I figured you would have the decency to at least wait 24 hours after Favre's announcement before crying to the press about Chad....pathetic.
Couldn't agree more. I cant imagine these 3 picks all flaming out. No more stop gaps or spending a pick on an crap shoot when we have 2 unknowns right here (Brett and Eric) and the jury is out on Clemens. All 3 guys are young, cheap and know our system. These guys have been good soldiers and deserve a shot. I will gladly swallow any learning pains that arises with a young QB knowing this could be "our" QB for quite a few years.
You said it, but everyone was thinking it. Matter of fact, EVERY time I see "an unnamed Jets player said..." I see a 80-20 chance it's Laveranues.
I dont buy into this "too green" garbage. We had a veteran of 18 years that left us home watching the playoffs while there was 2 rookies in the playoffs. Clemons has some playing time and has been around Chad and Brett so I am sure he has picked up a few things. Whether Clemens is the starter or backup, I think our group of Qb's will be fine.
I'm happy with the 3 guys that we've got competing for the position. Maybe I'd bring in a couple of untested players, like we did with Ratliff and see if they can beat out any of the guys we've already got. It's pretty simple, the best guy should get the starting job even if that means replacing someone early in the season. If our starter gets injured, then give it to the best healthy player. I'm just completly sick of seeing us play injured QBs and waiting until the season is over before giving another player a chance.
Sounds like the press is just jumping from one bandwagon to the next Didn't hear anything from them last year when this move was made The thing that I find funny is the excuses we give Clemens, but when I mention Vick as an option, people get there panties all up in a bunch and refuse to look at the circumstances in which he had to deal with. Selective Winning.
