I would go on the side that Eli surely has it & I do not see enough of Brees to make any judgement of him. However, I see MS all the time & up to this moment he DOES NOT have the "it" factor that is required to be ELITE in the NFL. See Montana to see what the "it" factor is :sad:
Giants fans were calling for Eli's head twice. Eli has had an interception problem for most of his career. The flip side is that Eli was clutch in the Giants two Super Bowl runs... Sanchez' problem is turnovers... Sanchez upside is clutch. Not a perfect comparison but there are a lot of similarities between the two.
Neither Brees nor Eli had the same issues that Sanchez has. Brees was on an absolutely horrible team in his third year with the Chargers while Eli has always been known for being temperamental and streaky. IIRC, Brees made the Pro Bowl during his last year in San Diego. He was also scheduled to become a FA. San Diego had the choice of re-signing him or going with Rivers, and they couldn't afford both, so they went with Rivers. The fact is that Eli did lead the Gnats to two Super Bowls, and he did carry his team last season until the defense and running game got traction, enabling them to make an extraordinary run through the playoffs. If Sanchez did that, his crappy stats would be forgiven. The problem with Sanchez is that he's NOT so horrible that he gets kicked to the curb (ala David Carr) but he's just NOT effective enough to be good. Maybe he'll "get it" this year but I wouldn't bet the mortgage on it.
Sanchez has the "it" factor. The problem is he hasn't got consistency, a solid gameplan and a group of receivers who know him to go along with that. You don't do what Sanchez has done in terms of game winning drives and 4th quarter comebacks unless you have what it takes to get that done. The consistency is a huge problem and the fact that the entire Jets offense has been inconsistent around Sanchez is a big part of that. Some day we'll be discussing the Sanchez era in retrospect and I'm betting those conversations are going to be a whole lot more interesting than the ones we've had so far. It'll be easy to see what went wrong or right in hindsight. So far there's a lot of grist for that mill but we have at least one more seasons input also.
Why did the Bills trade for Drew Bledsoe? Why did Denver court for Peyton Manning? Why did the Jets trade for Brett Favre, and then trade up to get Sanchez? Why did the Deadskins trade for Donovan McNabb, and then trade away a good part of their future just to draft RGIII? All those teams were hunting for that "natural" QB like Aaron Rodgers ... maybe Washington will hit the jackpot.
My point is that many quarterbacks develop into the QB they are today. Just look at Tom Brady... he's ten times the quarterback that he was when he was winning Super Bowls. The fact that they haven't won one recently says more about the Patriots as a team then it does about Tom Brady. Speaking of Aaron Rodgers, he got a few years to simply sit back and study... a luxury Sanchez never had. Any quarterback can develop - good teams do develop them. If the Jets jump off the bandwagon every four years they'll surely never win.
I don't think anyone is saying that coaching isn't important. But, if you put a brick on the field, and ask a coach to make it a QB, it just isn't going to happen. It has to come from within. The QB has to "get it". BTW, just talking specifically about the development of a QB, not getting into whether a coach can win with a "game manager" versus an "elite QB". I say this because just about every "elite" QB I have ever heard from has said the same thing. That the game slowed down for them. The fog cleared. They just began to understand and "get" things better.
So why are we beyond the point where Sanchez can "get it"? The guy played one year in college and three years in the pros.
How is it even possible for any of you to forget this: Down by 6, 0:48 seconds, with no timeouts http://youtu.be/TUY6sd3DJOU It was all #6. Being there, and hearing the stadium louder than I heard it in over a decade, I for sure will never forget the madness of it all, and it made me a believer (even though at times he infuriates me to no end) that if given the time by our OL, Mark Sanchez will continue to prove he is in fact a gamer and the QB I want leading this team. With his rededication and Tebow pushing him, I believe year 4 will be one to remember.
The Brees situation was complicated by having an elite pedigree QB waiting in the wings. Brees himself was only a second rounder. He had already taken steps towards being an elite QB his last 2 years in SD. But he was part of an end of season collapse in 2005 and tore the labrum in his shoulder. Letting him go seemed pretty logical, bordering on necessary, given the circumstances The Eli comparison is better. In Manning's 4th year, his season numbers weren't great, his team went 10-6, and everything kinda came together the Super Bowl run. But let's be real, the Giants defense won SB XLII. And since then, starting in year 5, Eli has been an above-average-to-elite QB. Mark needs to show us something this year. I need to see more of those put-the-team-on-my-back type moments from him, which is something every team absolutely needs once in a while. The obvious most important area in which he needs to make strides is throwing under pressure. He's terrible at it, possibly the worst starter in the league at it. I've posted the numbers elsewhere, it's something like 30%/3 YPA when he's under duress. Chad Pennington was the comeback player of the year after he left Schotty's clutches. Brett Favre threw for 4200 yards with a 107 rating after he left Schotty's clutches. Now let's see what Mark will do.
Good article, but... I would hardly call a 1st, 2nd and a couple of depth players a "hefty sum". In fact, I'd go so far as to say we've already gotten out money's worth with two AFCCGs.
in all circumstances playing behind a poor o line = crappy play and bad decisions... unless of course you are Joe Montana, which 99% of players are not.
When you look back on it, you really realize how critical Braylon Edwards was to our success. Losing him hurt us more than anything last year. Even with the line under performing, the deep ball was crucial and we lacked it.
He wasn't even given the time by the offensive line on that drive. He got out of immediate traffic and went outside on the first play. He stepped up into a crowd on the second play. He let the ball go in under 2 seconds on the 3rd and 4th throws. What happened there was that there was no time to double think the play on the sideline or the line of scrimmage. Those plays were all one read and then checkdowns on the first two and completions to the one read on the last two. Sanchez has been a dramatically better QB for the Jets when he was allowed to just go out there and play football. He's been a dramatically better QB when the run game was the primary option. Under Brian Schottenheimer both of those things only happened under great duress. We'll see if Tony Sparano gets it or not. He's got two QB's now that have been at their best in a simplified offense where their natural talents were going to be what decided things, not a complex game plan that probed for weaknesses and gave away a lot of tempo in the process.
Fairly good chance this happens. I think San Francisco could also happen pretty easily if Alex Smith takes a step back.
I don't know that Sanchez needs to be elite with Rex Ryan's defensive scheming in town. Certainly Sanchez must be good enough, but non-elite QB's have won Super Bowls. Who cares about how much easier it is with an elite QB? Let me know when the Jets can afford to sign or draft a surefire elite QB, then we can talk have a legitimate discussion. Otherwise, it seems to me the best QBs available are Donovan McNabb or Jake Delhomme, and I'll take Sanchez and even Tebow over either of those guys any Sunday.
