Question to Ratliff lovers...

not quite understanding the sense of your post. A strong backup QB is vital. If Favre goes down, I think Clemens will have a very short leash. Ratliff looks strong, and I'm not convinced he cant produce against 1st string defenses...

 

That's pretty much what I have been saying. He will be named the #2 whether he is or not. The only other choice is to trade him (possible - to Baltimore) or release him. Otherwise he will become another locker room problem.

 

I have to believe that while Clemens is the #2 guy, he is on a short leash. If he goes into a game in the first quarter and sucks for 2 quarters Ratliff could definitely see the field. No one knows how he will perform in a regular season game.

 

Based on everything we've seen from Clemens so far I don't think it's too big of a reach to think it's possible for him to suck that bad for 2 quarters. He seems to be very hot and cold to me, and we've seen more cold than hot.

Who cares if he was on the practice squad last season? All reports from the beginning of training camp were very favorable for Ratliff. Mangini has praised him for making significant progress since last year. If Clemens is sucking up the joint, why not throw him in to see if he can perform like he has from the beginning of TC in a real game? Just because he was on the practice squad last year? That's silly.

 

It's definitely possible. Like Tannenbaum loves to say it is the entire body of work. So it's not just how bad he has been this pre-season, it is also how bad when he played in real games last year and also whatever it was that got him demoted from 2nd to 3rd string in the middle of his rookie year. It is everything. I am sure the leash is exactly that short.

 

So if Mangini names Ratliff #2 its safe to say you would be shocked?

The fact that ratliff was a ps player last yr should have no bearing on his current evaluation. He has flashed big time...the it or whatever other refrence used. He looks better than kc did before he got the nod to start so why so farfetched to think he could be a #2. My eyes tell me this kid has the goods and i was all for kc over chad. Its all about potential, upside and ability or no fist yr qb would ever start; so for ratliff to take the #2 is not silly at all.

 

Clemens is garbage plain and simple, im excited when ratliff goes out there because he makes the plays. Clearly I don't want to see either one of them have to come in this year but god forbid something happens i want number 5 under center.

 

+1

Very well said.

 

Ratliff's play has justified him being the #3 Qb on the roster. But if Favre gets the chance to sit the fourth quarter, I'd like to see Ratliff be the one to come in and mop up (like Ray Lucas did in 1998 behind Vinny and Foley). If the unspeakable should occur earlier in a game, Clemens can come in.

 

Nobody will have the luxury of playing like crap for more than one game this year. They didn't spend 140 million BEFORE getting Favre in order for this to be another developmental year. If Favre goes down Clemens would have no more than the rest of that game to prove he looks like he might be able to win. If he doesn't, Ratliff will start the next week.

 

While I am not ready to write off Clemens, I think I detect the presence of some kind of Kool-Aid in the above statement. At least let Ratliff throw a freaking pass in the regular season before judging his ability.

 

Why wouldn't you call for him? What exactly has Clemmens done to make you beckon him? He is in his third year and he looks like the same kid form the first year. The bulb just ain't going off for this kid and honestly I feel skeptical it ever will.

Ratliff is not under pressure, huh? He was the 3rd guy and the Jets drafted Ainge, what is not pressure about that? He responded to the pressure by not only keeping his job but challenging for the #2 and in my mind winning it.

Pre-season mean nothing, huh? So I guess that Tangini just draw staws to decide who make the roster? If it were down to the last roster spot and I had to pick between Clemmens, Ainge and Ratty...Clemmens is gone in heartbeat. If you can't flash in third year you need a new environment or you need out of the game. His flashbulb is burnt out.

 

But Ratty only has done it against the second and third teams. We have not seen him against a first team unit. The one guy that was a first teamer, picked RATTY off! The management has not really allowed CLEMENS to do much. YThen there is the matter of dropped passes that hurt CLEMENS etc. Its nice to have young QBs developing but Jets fans ought to stop trying to dump on CLEMENS. The guy could have won 5 games last year but for DROPPED passes. And that was with a bad OL. RATTY could NOT have done it any better!

 

i have to wonder how much time he spent during the preseason tc playing against the jets first team defense. i dont know personally and dont recall reading about it at all but it would be interesting to see.

 

He got a lot of 1st team reps for a #3 QB. For a week, he got more than Clemens.

 

sweet.. another QB thread

 

We had 3 teams make it to the final game before the SB. Matt Robinson beat out Richard Todd in TC and preseason in one of those years. Robinson ended up lossing his starting job in a freak thumb wrestling injury. Todd ended up leading us very close to a SB that year. Robinson went on to be a total journeyman QB.

Its nice to have two QB's with skills neither of whom are ready develop. Its to early to make a judgement on who is the guy. Clemens lit it up in preseason last year.

 

The Robinson year was 1979, we went 8-8 and had to win the last three games to do it. That was after Todd broke his collarbone in 1978 and Robinson got the chance and played well. We didn't make the playoffs until 1981 and the AFC Championship Game in the 1982 season. Todd started every game from Week 2 of 1979 through the 1983 season, after which he was traded. Has we kept Todd we might have won in 1985 or 86.