Clemens doesn't see that in his future Jetzz. He views himself as a starter so chances are really good that Kellen is long gone by this time next year.
I know he does.. but if he throws himself out there to free agency and no one comes calling... he may end up changing his viewpoint. I got a feeling he's going to coming around before long... :grin:
Obviously not. He isn't accurate, doesn't feel the rush coming and makes poor decisions when pressured. But that doesn't matter if Sanchez is the one playing, Clemens' knowledge can still be helpful. Coaches don't share the same perspective as a guy who has been on the field and played. Long term Ainge may be a better answer as the #2, but I will guarantee you that if anything happens to Sanchez you will see Clemens in the game. Again, see Patrick Ramsey in 2006--he had no real purpose for the present or future except he had been in real games and could hold the fort for a few plays.
Yes, in the first two games the raw rookie and Clemens were close. Then the raw rookie stopped looking like a raw rookie and a huge chasm opened up between them. Clemens doesn't have the mental fit to be an NFL QB. That was understandable when he got his first shot in 2007 behind that horrid line. It's completely inexcusable now. All he had to do was look like a reasonable NFL QB, not a star - a reasonable QB - and he'd probably have gotten 4-8 caretaker starts at the beginning of the year as Sanchez got more seasoning. He couldn't even do that. One of the things you learn when you're evaluating people for different roles is that they usually tell you most of what you need to know by their presentation and results. You can tell fairly early on if somebody is fitting or not fitting and if they're likely to grow into the role a bit further down the road. Everything I see about Clemens right now tells me that he is not fitting and that the odds on him growing into a fit down the road are slim. He's making many of the same mistakes he made 2 years ago. He's still not comfortable dropping back to pass. He still throws too many sloppy balls. He still throws the ball into the ground too much, which is essentially a throwaway in the field of play. He still looks ill at ease and under pressure every time the blitz is on. You can't teach this stuff. It's how the player reacts and if his reactions are off he's not going to be a very good QB.
Sanchez isn't really raw, this is not a guy that should take 3-4 years to develop. The mentality of a starter and backup are very different. He's fine as a backup, what do people want out of a backup? you expect the backup to be as good as the starter? They wanted Sanchez to start from day 1, this wasn't an open competition. They didn't want KC to start early on and ease Sanchez in. if they wanted that to happen they would ahve signed an experienced vet and let KC go. I don't think KC will ever be an effective starter but we can certainly live w/ him as our backup.
For me, one of the biggest separations between the two by far has been Sanchez' accuracy of late. He's got zip on the ball equal to Clemens but with far more accuracy. That to me was a HUGE difference. Probably the biggest reason for starting him becasue the INT factor diminishes considerably with accuracy, something Clemens struggles with.
Buttle pointed out last night that Sanchez is very quick to move one way or another to buy himself time while still looking downfield. He's already better at that than Clemens, better at it than Ken O'Brien ever was in ten years.
Yes, Clemens accuracy is a big issue also. He just needed to look like a QB out there and a big part of the battle would have been over. He didn't even look like a QB in training camp. Really from day to day neither of them did. The entire competition was about who had had the worst day against Ryan's defense. Then in the last few weeks Sanchez suddenly started looking like a QB. That's something Clemens has not managed in 4 camps now. It's not an accident.
He also throws a much better ball than Clemens with a much tighter spiral. I really think Clemens' wobbly passes are why the receivers drop so many of his passes.
It can't be a coincidence that so many guys drop his passes that never dropped them from Chad, Favre or Sanchez. I thought Clemens looked great at times vs the Ravens, the TD to Clowney and the one Smith dropped were great, but then he throws the dumb pick to give away 7 points, like he did at New England the game he got hurt.
Sanchez did have VERY good protection last night in that series. Of course, Philly wasn't exactly throwing the kitchen sink at him either, but I was amazed at the time he got. So yes, he moved very well and still, when he had to, it doesn't seem to have much of an effect on his accuracy. Clemens, on the other hand, sort of gets into that Chad Pennington-like Chinese Firedrill Mode, which is always scary. My son and I nicknamed Ken O'Brien the "Praying Mantis," becasue that's what he resembled when the pocket started disintegrating. But there's an awareness with Sanchez... a pocket awareness that we haven't seen in a long time. Pennington had the awareness, but would then become rattled and then you'd have the Chinese Firedrill. Sanchez seems to have the awareness but is mobile enough to do something about it and make something of the play, something Pennington and most certainly Clemens lack. I just loved watching him get out of what was developing into a couple of bad situations. Michael Vick has that too... hate to admit it... but that bastard really knows how to make defenses run their asses off.
I was wrong about Sanchez and I admit it: I was wrong he needed to sit and learn with 16 starts under his belt at USC. I thought this kid would need more time to grasp the NFL playbook. He has the full confidence of his teammates and is becoming a leader in the locker room and on the field in a very short time. This is exciting.
In the Giant game he ran left, threw on the run and hit it on the money (forget the WR), right before the TD to Stuckey where he ran right and again threw it perfectly. It's encouraging.
His roll out was talked about on NFLN by Mike Mayock when they previewed either the Giants game or this last game against the eagles. They showed his highlights from the Baltimore game, discussing the rookie growing pains (the pick 6 to Ngata) and the "veteran moves" such as his roll out to Washington for the TD. His tendency to roll out was compared to Big Ben and a little to Old McNabb. Your spot on with his awareness, and that was talked about by Buttle last night. His ability to just slide and throw is excellent for a kid with little experience, and he's doing it in the NFL. Its great. It does have the possibility to become how well Brady moves in the pocket. But Sanchez has something that guys that can slide usually don't, and that's good mobility. If its time to take off or roll out to the sidelines he can make that throw, and do it with accuracy. To have a championship DL come at you only to scramble and hit a WR off your back foot for a TD is beyond amazing.
Yeah, to have a rookie do that is truly amazing. I hope we're not being too "Homerish." I want to see him in some real games with everything on the line and then you'll have to pinch me to wake me up from this wonderful dream. We might actually have a quarterback now. I can't believe it.
Sanchez has a GREAT pump fake as well. In a few years it's going to be the best in the league, like Boomer Esiasons play action passes where the entire stadium, defense, and camera men were following a football-less running back up the field. A few times he's going to spike the ball though, but that pump fake is ferocious.
He's an RFA and the rules are different with the capless year. I would tend to think, if the team thinks he's any good, they'll just 1st round tender him and no one will sign him, he's stuck here if we deem it appropriate. It's not about what he wants.
