I am giving that man a lot of credit. I am approving his existence within the tight quarters of players that is NFL. Yes, he belongs. The likes of JaMarcus Russell could not even stay for three seasons, so that speaks volumes about being able to handle the backup job. That said, you cannot really compare QBs unless they have been in the same system for an extended period of time. If anything, his mechanic is pretty darn bad, with varying degree of launch point of the ball and absolutely horrible footwork. (Fitz is worse than Sanchez in this regard.) Sure, you won't be able to set your feet and have stable pocket on every drop back, but that does not mean you can have horrible QB mechanics and succeed in NFL. That just does not happen. If anything, watch how Tom Brady or Drew Brees throws - or Joe Montana for that matter. (Montana gives better example actually, since Walsh trained him to throw from various situations with varying degree of collapsed pocket and DLs chasing him.) They usually have very consistent launch point of the ball - which Fitzpatrick does not have.
Not sure how this got hijacked to be a Fitzpatrick thread but the league has seen success from QBs with flawed throwing motions and poor footwork. It can happen. Philip Rivers comes to mind for modern guys.
I am not talking about "throwing motion." I am talking about "launch point" of the ball. Phillip Rivers may not have the kind of throwing motion we are all accustomed to, but he has stable launch point (which is somewhat lower than most; this is why his passes are batted down at LoS often) Or take Tebow. His MLB-style wind up leaves him with unstable launch point. Why is stable launch point important? That's because stability of the launch point is directly related to the accuracy of the pass. Ok - Fitzpatrick is somewhat better than Sanchez in terms of completion ratio - I will admit that - but that does not say much. Last year was the only year he had 60+ % completion ratio. Compare that to Rivers's completion ratio. (Rivers missed 60% mark only once in his entire career - and that was sophomore year, where he played but 2 games. He never hit below 60% since starting for SD)
Here is some nice information collected on Rivers throwing motion and mechanics. bleacherreport.com/articles/1239218-who-is-the-most-mechanically-flawed-star-in-the-nfl
As others have said, I love this move. It helps us in possibly our worst area of need, has high upside, and the cost wasn't prohibitive to the team's success. Excellent move.
U His mechanics are poor and it is something coach Lee is really working on this off-season. The results in the mini camps were promising, though that really doesn't mean much. This is the first off-season Fitz has ever had as the starter. Never has a team been more invested in making him better and one thing Fitzy will do is take to coaching. 62% completion is a nice place to work from. I believe he was at 68% before the rib injury and then the parade of injuries on offense. I dont see why he can't improve.
That would of involved getting someone healthy who sucks balls, or getting someone healthy who is good, giving up an early round draft pick, and paying him a ton of money even though were relatively cap strapped, and still having WH on the books. I think outside of getting a free agent and not resigning WH, this was the best route to go.
The message is a good one. People who don't perform at camp will be cut. We don't have the luxury of repeating the awful performance of last season's OL. If Otah pushes WH to step it up - GREAT !!! If Otah is healthy and motivated - GREAT !!! btw I think clearly Ducasse is our LG/RG of the future which is where he was originally projected.
I dont think thats really the message WHs salary is guaranteed and this guy is an injury risk so theres absolutely no way we cut Wayne Hunter this year. And if this guy gets cut its because hes not healthy and has nothing to do with his performance. because realistically theres no way this guy wont outperform WH if healthy.
Low risk, high reward type scenario. I love it. More competition for Hunter is good. Worse comes to worst he gets hurt again and it doesn't affect us much at all.
also think its a great move..we didn;t really try to do anything in regards to tackle which was our biggest whole..its a risk but could really pay off..atleast we did something. something to put some hope in... I am pretty worried about Landry too..things don't sound positive..if he is healthy it would change the defense.
Like most here, I view this as a high reward, low risk trade. The Jets did a nice job with this deal. That being said, fans that expect him to be a sure thing, immediate upgrade to the Jets OL are being premature. Even back when he was starting 12 and 13 games in his first 2 years, he was never "dominant". At best he was capable when he was healthy....and that's not a bad thing. A capable, healthy Jeff Otah would be a big help to the Jets OL depth. But there were more reasons besides his health that caused the Panthers to chose a former UDFA over a former first rounder to play OT for them. But like I said since the Jets don't have much of an investment in him its certainly worth the shot. If the Pats had made this move, I suspect it would have been viewed as a shrewd, but underwhelming low risk, high reward move that added depth and competition to TC. I think that's exactly the way it should be viewed by Jet fans and others. I can tell you that on Pats boards, most fans don't think it will work out, because of the health and attitude issues, but no one thinks it wasn't a good trade or worth the shot BTW- One quick question. Its being reported that the Jet gave up a "conditional" 7th round pick. Does that mean if he doesn't make the team the Jets won't have to give the Panthers a pick, or does it mean the Panthers get the 7th no matter what, but if he starts a lot of games. the Jets will have to give up more than a 7th?
