Quote: "...Unfortunately he's been unable to stay healthy, ever. Now that's not his fault, but it's not the Jets fault either. He is fragile and he spends what seems to be half the time on the sideline with an injury of some type. The team cannot continue to rely on an injury prone starting QB..." Did Chad get hurt this year? Did Kellen get hurt this year? ...maybe I am missing something. When defensive lineman are as big and as fast as they are now, anybody on any given play can suddenly become "injury prone". I watched a scat back one time in college practicing live run backs against two linemen coming downfield. The defensive coach didn't like this guy very much (a blabber mouth, but fast and quick) so he threw the ball late. Two 260 lbs. running at full speed met at the scat back just as he took his second step after catching the ball. He didn't practice full speed again that Spring. Was he injury prone? Don't ask. With the quality of inconsistent and bad protection the NYJ OL has specialized in recently we need to reserve judgment about "injury prone".
Pennington got the deal he EARNED...the bench. He was terrible and no mountain of excuses can cover up that fact. He is done.
I'm sorry, I guess I'm giving Pennington a raw deal by calling him injury prone. Since he started in 2002. 2003 - injured 2004 - injured 2005 - injured 2007 - injured GMAFB
Quote: "...I fail to see how CP has been given a raw deal. He's been given many opportunities to thrive as a starting QB in this league..." Well, first off, I don't see how CP has been given a raw deal either. He has earned his many opportunities in this league according to his coaches (and he's had more than once regime that decided that) -- not just according to me. Quote: "...How many chances do we have to give this guy in order for him to be given a fair shake in your opinion?..." Well, I think that's up to the subject matter experts who watch him and Kellen very hour every day they are working. Theses SMEs have a helluva lot more information than us "Sunday Golfers", so as long as their so gainfully employed, it's the NYJ CS's call. I happen to like this coaching staff; I think they are intelligently building the team. I hope they can be successful sooner rather than later. They seem to me to be a vast improvement over the last two coaching staffs for the NYJ, even though they've only just started and their body of work should take 3 to 4 years to mature for real. Bill Polian said today that the draft is supposed to make every team believe it can go from worst to first in a single year. Well, that's great for the Fantasy Football fiends, but apparently it just doesn't work that way for football teams -- especially OLs and DLs.
He won 1 game for crying out loud! He did not win a few others and he outright lost the Giants game, the bills game, and the Bengals game with bad throws. He is not nearly as accurate as he was. he threw behind receivers all year. He is jumpy in the pocket. And he checks down way too soon.
I grant you all those things and I would simply say if that OL gave you 1.3 seconds every snap you would not have done half as well as Chad. I also think that most any other QB behind that OL would have fared the same or worse. Unless you are willing to take into account the whole offense, it's very hard to say what happened on the play. If all the line laid down and there was an all out blitz, I guess you would say the QB was injury prone when they carried him off. Kellen was a crazy thrower who threw the ball right to Hobbs at the NYJ 6 yard line for a gimmee touchdown. You guys would go ahead and lynch him right then and there, regardless of the fact that the LG has whiffed on that 6'5" DE who flew in and crushed Kellen before he finished his three step drop. The QB gets too much blame and he also gets too much praise. You guys are proving this all over again.
...you obviously have not been watching football for a long time or play Madden all day and have NO concept of how low a percentage of players can actually play this position at the NFL level...your post was stupid!!!
If I read my quote, I was saying how could anyone still want Pennington to start. All your points back up my assertion. Did you think I wanted Chad to still start? I would seriously rather Bret Ratliff start than Pennington. He was incompetent.
Well the number may be low, but it does not change the fact that Pennington is not among them anymore. Maybe if he did not have two surgeries it would be different, but the fact is that he is physically unable to perform at a NFL level anymore and win games for his football team. He was once a solid QB, but that time has passed. All players eventually get to the point where they are not effective anymore. Chad has reached that time for him. What he did in the past, his heart, his coming back from injuries is all irrelevant. You have to evaluate him on what he is now, and what this is is BAD.
Come on - you've got to be kidding. I've been watching football for more than 40 years, I've never played Madden in my life, and I understand as well as you do how rare elite QBs are. None of that has anything to do with my belief that Pennington legitimately played himself onto the bench last year (and actually should have been benched earlier), and that he is the wrong person for the Jets to turn to to lead them into the future. If you are truly incapable of seeing how that is a legitimate opinion (even if you disagree with it), you are remarkably clueless.
I think Pennington went to the bench because the coaches realized the NYJ were so bad Chad couldn't over-compensate for them no matter what he did. This freed them up so they could give some serious game experience to Kellen with impunity.
Let's not "over-think" the situation with the QBs. (1) The OL line gave no one any time to do anything most of the time. (2) Chad and Kellen will compete for being the starter again this year, according to Mike T and Eric M., too. Now, let's get down to fixing those OLs and DLs!!!
That's your opinion, and you're welcome to it. There is no question that the Jets wanted to give Clemens playing time, but that is not the same as saying that Pennington couldn't "overcompensate" for anything. I think Pennington cannot lead the Jets to being serious SB contenders, and as such should not be a serious candidate for the starting position. If he beats Clemens out that's bad for Clemens, and also not good for the team, as it just means that the Jets have no one who is good enough.
The coaches have the last say, though. They're planning a competition between Kellen and Chad. Now, we may disagree with their decisions all we want. But we still have to wait and see what happens.
Yes, the coaches have the final say, but if Chad starts this season, it means we're one season further away from a superbowl. Chad's not going to get us there. Another season of Chad means we still don't know if Clemens can get it done. Another season of Clemens not showing his true potential means another year we don't draft a QB.
We're all entitled to an opinion. Let's see what happens when Kellen and Chad get to compete behind a NEW, vicious, ready-to-hit, not-going-to-ever-quit, slammed-him-in-the-mouth-last-time Highly Offensive line....!
Nothing is wrong with a little faith, but, faith can't hit the sideline on a rope on a WR screen. Neither can Pennington. People talk about his lack of arm strength, and then others counter that with him throwing 1-2 deep balls early in the season as some sort of proof that he can throw deep. But deep isn't really the only test of arm stregths. Moreso than deep balls, ball speed is Pennington's current biggest liability. He is usually a very good descision maker, and is usually very accurate. Only, he throws the ball so slowly, plays take forever to develop. Any WR screen we ran with him this year went nowhere. Balls down the field, unless the guy was wide open, either were touch passes to the outside, or hospital balls across the middle. While both QBs benefit from a better O-line, even with more time Pennington still runs the offense in a 15 to 20 yard box from the line of scrimmage. He plays all 80 yards of the field in a virtual red zone, with limited plays in his arsenal. You rarely see plays go beyond that box in the air during the course of normal play. Our passing stats of plays over 20 yards reflect this, and our rushing game suffers too because stacking 8 in the box is a given when the safety has no fear of a deep ball. Look at the balls thrown by P.Manning & Brady, etc. The ball is moving so fast that defenders can't get to an open WR before the ball does, and completions happen. Long completions happen. Chunks of yards are gained in a flash. With Chad...that's just not the case. Clemens may not be the answer. We may have to wait 5 years for the answer. But Pennington can only offer us what we've seen in the past, and that's an opportunity to win games 16-13 with him going his usual 19-24 for 174 yards with 1 TD. If we go mistake free and the defense stands up, we have a shot against .500 and below teams. If they don't, or against a top team...we have little shot to win games. He can ride the bench in 2008 as a backup, but Clemens should start.
