Well they brought in the media circus, everything will be about Tebow. No matter what happens in a game, expect the media to play up Tebow. Will the team mind this, who knows. It is slightly new to them that a backup QB gets traded and then is the talk of the media with any question you get being asked about him. Also, Brad Smith was never the #2 QB on the depth chart. It seems strange to promote Tebow straight to #2 but then say he is going to be used in every other package. And, Kerley ran the WC well the few times the Jets ran it. I feel like a 4th rounder could have been better used to find OL depth, S, WR, etc etc. They just signed Stanton so backup QB was not a need. Also, it can help this football team, I am not denying not. But the sequence of events before the trade makes it very strange. Extend Sanchez aka keep him an extra year and create more cap room, sign Stanton as backup #2, trade for Tebow? Could this be a great more, sure and I really hope it does and I think it will be. But it was a very strange scenario to get Tebow and then name him #2 QB but then say he will be used all this different ways. Also, a new offense is being established with Sparano. Hopefully they don't really mean two "separate playbooks". There is always a learning curve to a new offense for the whole offense, but what happens when the lineman, TE, WR have to learn two new playbooks? That should be a slight concern. Just because Tebow/Sanchez don't have to learn each others, it doesn't mean the rest of the team only has to learn one.
This is a fair response, here are my feelings. The media has nothing to do with what the Jets play on the field looks like. They can freak out about Tebow all they want but it won't make a damn difference at all unless the Jets make it do so.. Brad Smith was never no 2. on the depth chart but he got more snaps than the no 2. and his competition was better. Does it really matter what the "depth chart" says? Personally I think Brad Smith is a better NFL player/ backup QB than Drew Stanton./Mcelroy, but I think the same about Tebow. Make no mistake, the loss of Brad Smith made a difference on the Jets last year. Maybe he didn't have great success in Buffalo, but his departure hurt the Jets last season. They tried to make up for it with Kerley, had limited success but Kerley didn't bring the Jets what Brad Smith brought and can't what Tebow will. He's got his role as a WR. The playbook thing I think is a little overrated as well. The Jets were going to run Wildcat formations / plays this fall no matter what based on Sparano's past. If they didn't bring in Tebow the offense would still have had to learn "separate" plays / formations, etc. So if they were going to have to do it anyway, why not bring in a guy who can do it better than what they had on the current roster?
Fair enough, all reasonable. I think I am more on the pessimistic side and you are more on the optimistic side of the deal. True the media doesn't affect the play, but they can make things worse than it seems. We saw what they did with the lockerroom and anonymous quotes last year. Watch Sanchez have one bad game and all the media will say is "what do you think about Tebow starting, what do you think about so and so". The media will push for Tebow to be the starter at the first Sanchez slipup. Everyone says Sanchez needs competition, but who did Flacco, Ryan, Eli have as "competition" when they were in their first 3 years? I don't think Smith is a better backup QB than Stanton or McElroy. Backup QB's are most successful if they can come in when the QB is injured and continue the same offense. Smith/Tebow had to have the offense slowly built around them if they were to fill in for an extended amount of time. They are better football players, but not backup quarterbacks in my eyes, if that makes any sense. And yes Brad Smith leaving the Jets hurt, but I would venture to say that they had bigger problems/holes than lack of a WC QB. I would put RT, O line depth, S, OLB, #2 WR above WC QB. It seemed like we addressed the 5th most important need. Now we can hit the others in the draft, but it just seemed strange to me to use the 4th on Tebow. I feel like a 4th and 6th for a S,OLB,OL and 7th could have been made and it would have better helped the team.
I personally think Smith/Tebow are better than Stanton but that's just me. Its possible the Jets didn't even think so and wanted to keep Stanton as 2 and Tebow as WC QB, (similar to the way things were with Smith) but Stanton conceded the no 2. QB position by default when he bitched out asking for a trade. I will say alot of what you mention as positions of need I agree with. We can differ on how badly they needed a WC QB, or whether Tim Tebow was worth a 4th rounder ( which I think is a more valid argument than others use against the trade) I happen to think it was worth a 4th round pick. I will say that I will be really pissed though if the Jets neglect some of those other needs you mention or sacrifice them by trading up thursday.
Like I said, I think Smith/Tebow are better football players than Stanton, but Stanton is a better backup QB. It makes sense in my head, but when I type it out it doesn't make sense haha. Oh man if they trade up in the first, I might throw my remote at the TV. If they trade up in the 3rd/4th or lower, I could live with that depending on who they choose.
I assume you are agreeing with me, since my point was it is silly to say that bringing in Tebow allows the Jets to better assess Sanchez. On the other hand, helping them assess how Sanchez reacts when he goes back in is, let's face it, not a significant metric for understanding what makes a qualiity starting Qb in the NFL. If it were, more teams would use that kind of metric. I can't think of any right now that do.
"little overrated" All DPF said is that one should not ignore the need to have ALL the players on O learn a new playbook. Now, with a brand new OC, someone who has never been an OC before, we start out with a roster choice that only make sense with a more complicated playbook. So, not only a new playbook, but a more complicated one. Ftr I don't think it is impossible for this team to handle it. I just think it is baseless optimism to act like it is no issue whatsoever. So how important is it before we "overrate" it? Actually, there is no point in answering that right now. We shall see.
Let's just take advantage of the fact that Tebow's too nice to say no and ship him off to Jacksonville.
