http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/football/nfl/05/13/bc.fbn.jets.clemens.ap/index.html HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. (AP) -- It's been two days through a three-day rookie minicamp, but Kellen Clemens has already started to impress the New York Jets. The rookie quarterback out of Oregon, who was selected in the second round by the Jets in last month's draft, drew praise from coach Eric Mangini after Saturday's morning session. "What I liked out of Kellen this weekend is his presence and his ability to run the operation," Mangini said. "That's been really positive." Clemens said he feels more comfortable with each practice. "Right now, the main thing is improvement and we got that today from position to unit to team," Clemens said. "We all improved and things are going well. Things are coming more and more clear and I think the command part just comes with the position." Clemens was taken to help the Jets shore up a shaky quarterback situation, with Chad Pennington coming off his second operation on his right rotator cuff. Though the Jets traded for Patrick Ramsey, he only has one year left on his contract, effectively making this season a try out. Though he went in the second round, Clemens came to the Jets with high praise from many. For example, former NFL quarterback and current television analyst Ron Jaworski said he had Clemens rated higher than USC quarterback Matt Leinart, Texas' Vince Young and Vanderbilt's Jay Cutler. Obviously, the Jets' brass liked him a lot. Offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer flew out to Oregon to work him out in the classroom and on the field before the draft. As the draft unfolded, the Jets made no effort to draft Leinart or Cutler and patiently waited for Clemens. "I guess he liked me enough," Clemens joked of Schottenheimer. "What Coach Schottenheimer is looking for from his quarterbacks is intelligence, completed passes and moving of the offense." Clemens has heard the critics of his game, some of whom say he lacks accuracy with the deep passes. "I've just tried to work on every aspect of my game, tried to work as much as I could just to improve," he said. "There's a lot of stuff that's been said, but at this point I'm only concerned with the criticisms this coaching staff has for me here to get better." Copyright 2006 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
I would have liked to have taken Cutler, but I'm becomming intrested in in this kid. Hey; we JETS fans have to "Luck-Out" once in a while. We'll see.
From everything that I've read, This kid and Cutler are almost carbon copies of each other. The main difference is that this kid had a winning record (before he broke his leg) and Cutler didn't. Maybe this pick played into something the coaches said about drafting "Guys that can win." While I like the pick, I'm not going to get too hyped up on it just yet. Come back in about two (2) years and we'll see what happens.
i would have liked cutler too or a playmaker at that in first round but u cant go wrong getting the two best olineman at their postions i mean are line should be solid for atleast 6yrs
Its always nice to hear good news about sleeper prospects. I'm interested to see how he reacts to a full out NFL blitz in real time....I hope this kids the real deal. God knows we need a future franchise QB.
This guy is smart as a whip, and extremely diplomatic and poised for a rookie, from what I've seen of him. Hopefully he'll develop into the real thing.
interested in how he'll respond to an nfl blitz? he handled usc's just fine. and everyone on their line is going straight to the nfl. he handled oklahoma's just fine as well. that's not the concern. if you're worried about that, worry no more. worry more about his ball floating on the deep throw if he doesn't get his footwork ironed out (which he should with more attention from good coaches like he got his sr. year with crowton). andy ludwig is a joke and almost ruined him his soph. and jr. year. 19td's, 4 int's against pac ten competition says it all. he was a heisman darkhorse to be a finalist if he hadn't gotten hurt. in fact, some guys were pushing him ahead of leinart at that point. again, it's the nfl. whooole 'nother level as they say. but, he gets rid of it quickly and doesn't panic when chaos is around him. buys time and is willing to go down with it instead of throwing it late over the middle or panicking. all good signs. if he doesn't have to play immediately and has a little time to learn under pennington, he could be very very good for the jets for a long time. oh yeah, one of his neighbors growing up was the retired...dan fouts...took him under his wing. he's been learning from smart guys for a long long time.
You cant compare any college team with an NFL team. I appreciate your attempt, but as good as USC and some others are, they are not NFL caliber. The players are not as good across the board, the schemes are way different ( more difficult to read) and the speed of the game is much faster.
Not sure if it matters any, more along the lines of bull shitting while were on the tpoic. One of my buddies I'm stationed with is from Oregon and I asked him if he knew of Clemens. Of course he did, being it's Oregon and not a huge city. He told me in high School he played him a handfull of times. He said the guy is brilliant with the ball but when he got hit he went down hard. now yes I know there's an extreme difference between high school and NFL, just figure I'de share that with yous guys.
