NFL Draft QB Follow-Up

As I wrote before the draft, I didn't really believe any of the 2013 draft class was worthy of a first round pick.  The Buffalo Bills selection of Florida State's EJ Manuel in the middle of the round caught many by surprise, including me.  I wrote for JoeBucsFan.com that Manuel might be a good option for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the third or fourth round, after Oklahoma's Landry Jones.  I based that opinion on mechanics.  Jones has solid mechanics, maybe the best in the draft, while Manuel is inconsistent with his.  Manuel has a bigger upside, probably the biggest in the draft and that is why the Bills reached a little bit with the former Seminole signal-caller.

Geno Smith became this year's Dan Marino/Aaron Rogers, though both Marino and Rogers were actual possibilities to go early in the first round and fell.  It sounds as if Geno Smith was being misled into believing that he was not only first round worth, but early first round.  I didn't see it, as you can read in an earlier posting right here at AmericasBestQB.com, and neither did any of the 32 NFL football clubs.  After publicly saying he wasn't going to stay in New York for Day 2 of the draft, someone talked some sense into him and he stayed for the New York Jets to get some photo ops on the big stage as they picked him up with the 39th pick, an appropriate landing spot and the best place he could go for an early opportunity to take over!

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers made a relatively surprising 3rd round pick of North Carolina State's Mike Glennon.  The tallest QB in the draft is slightly bigger than Bucs starter Josh Freeman and while he shouldn't push for playing time this year, if Freeman falters in his contract year, Glennon may get a prime shot to take over in Tampa in 2014!

USC's Matt Barkley probably didn't think he would last as long as he did, falling to the fourth round and the Philadelphia Eagles.  I think Barkley could end up a solid starter in the league, but doubt that he will ever achieve greatness.  The New York Giants added Syracuse's Ryan Nassib, thought to possibly go to his college coach's Buffalo Bills, but he will get a chance to learn behind Eli Manning, a pretty nice place to be.

The Pittsburgh Steelers picked up the aforementioned Landry Jones, where he will be given the proper development time to start fighting Big Ben Roethlisberger in a couple years, the way it should be done.

Overall, this year's average crop of slingers fell into some pretty good situations for success in the coming years.  Geno Smith may not be too happy about what he has gotten himself into or how early he will be getting booed in New York, as I'm sure Mark Sanchez is still surprised how fast the wheels have fallen off of his career that looked so bright not too long ago.

Jets' Problem Was Sparano's To Fix

Hiring a recently fired NFL head coach to coordinate an offense or defense is a bad move.  NFL head coaches have been their own coordinators over the years with moderate success, but most end up giving up the reins to others that can focus the necessary amount of time and energy to give the team its best chance at winning.

Tony Sparano was hired by the Jets to run the offense.  I don't like the move in the first place, regardless of having Tim Tebow dropped in his lap this off-season.  Older coaches are much like the saying suggests, "You can't teach an old dog new tricks."  All people gravitate towards what they know and are comfortable with.  Old coaches are going to stay with what they know as they have to show confidence to their players in what they are teaching.  Mix in Tim Tebow and you have something that nobody has ever seen before, other than the Denver Broncos, who didn't know what to do with him until he became the starting quarterback and changed the entire offense to suit his unique abilities.  But as a back-up QB to Mark Sanchez, Tebow had to be engaged differently in the offense and not as a quasi tight end.  That was just plain silly and didn't give the defense anything to think about or adjust to.  I didn't see every snap the Jets played this year, but never saw Mark Sanchez ever fake a handoff or toss to Tebow and raise up and throw a pass the opposite direction.

Last night the Atlanta Falcons hit a long touchdown pass on a very short quick screen.  They faked a toss to the right, which made everyone on defense start moving that way and gave the offensive tackle enough time to get out in front of Roddy White (most quick screens fail because of design and the tackles not getting their outside blocks) to make one of the easiest 40 yard TD passes of Matt Ryan's career.

Tebow should have been used in similar fashion and the Jets would have turned around a crappy season into another AFC Championship appearance at minimum.

Tony Sparano's lack of ingenuity cost the Jets another season of futility and possibly the jobs of Sanchez and Tebow.  I won't put all the blame of Sanchez's poor play on Sparano, the acquisition of Tebow was enough to unnerve him, because Sanchez played poorly in the offense that had nothing to do with Tebow's presence (I chronicled the guaranteed failure of this experiment before the season ever began).

Everybody in New York needs a change of scenery now, because even if Sanchez improves his level of play, it won't be good enough to erase the bad memories of the 2012 season.

Jets Answer: Sanchez + Tebow

The New York Jets are starting to relive too many of their years past, dropping their last game 34-0.  They started a soap opera in the off-season by trading for Tim Tebow, the left-handed H-Back and even though they are 2-2, it has looked bad enough to feel like they are 0-4.  Head Coach Rex Ryan can feel it and anyone watching his post-game press conference knows he feels it.

While not seeing every snap of every game, I'm not sure of Tebow's exact play count thus far, but I have seen them take Sanchez off the field and use him as a true "wildcat" QB a few times.  I have also seen them leave Sanchez on the field and use Tebow as a decoy receiver, but the answer for the Jets woes is to use both of them on the field, but to motion Tebow into the backfield like a running back and use him as a slash player.  Half the time pitch it to him and let him be a dangerous runner on the edge with the ability to throw the ball and the other half a decoy.  On those decoy throws, a quick passing game for Sanchez and other runs to their running backs will all be more successful as the defense absolutely has to react to Tebow's pre-snap movement into the backfield.  If Tebow's 250 pound body takes a pitch on the move to his left, there better be quick support from both LB's and DB's, or he will gain a lot of yards on the edge and when they come up to help and abandon the WR's and TE's for run support, he can flip it over the top.  And done quickly and correctly, the defensive front must also react and then create different creases for their running backs.
So many of the teams that have some form of the "wildcat" take their normal QB off the field, but keeping that QB and using an athletic QB in motion will create more big plays than what it has in its original form.

Feast Or Famine For Jets?

Acquiring Tim Tebow from the Broncos could be a real boon for the New York Jets if used properly, but most likely will become a nightmare before the end of the 2012 season and the coaches and fans will have an equal hand in what could have been a dream for all involved. 
If Tebow is used as a motion receiver coming across the formation quickly, causing the linebackers to respect quick pressure on contain, sometimes getting the ball and others simply a decoy, Mark Sanchez and the the New York Jets offense could be very formidable.  But the more likely scenario is taking Sanchez off the field or making him a worthless decoy as a receiver, which will not give them any advantage.
The real debacle is going to be the Jets fans and their reaction to Sanchez when he misses an early pass or two.  There will be a significant amount of fans calling for Tebow to get in there as the regular QB and that will start dividing the locker room and eventually lead to a losing situation for all involved.
Done properly, more Jets apparel and merchandise will be sold than ever before and the on field success will match it, but the more likely scenario is an ugly divorce in the not too distant future.  Then the smiles will be wiped off both of the GQ coverboys' faces.

Timmy and the Jets

While being quite disappointed that the Denver Broncos and John Elway didn't want to keep Tim Tebow and Peyton Manning on the same team and take advantage of both of their abilities.  There wouldn't have been a threat to Manning and would only have been replaced because of injury.  We all saw what happened to the Indianapolis Colts when they went to a back up QB, so why not go back to what took the Broncos to the playoffs last year if Manning goes down with a serious injury.  Who are the Broncos going to hand the franchise to if Manning goes down early in 2012?  They had a better backup plan than probably any other team in the league and one that was proven successful.
Instead, Elway and Company shipped Tebow to NYC and the Jets, where they just inked Mark Sanchez to a lot of guaranteed money.  This should secure him as their starter, but with his up and down performances, Jets fans will be quick with the hook (boos after their first 3 and out each Sunday) and will cause all kinds of contension in the locker room, coaches room and Big Apple in general.  At least New York is big enough to handle all of it and it sure will be fun to watch!

In AFC it's Great vs. "Green"

Peyton Manning was this season's NFL MVP and many say he is the greatest QB of all-time. I say not yet. For all of his regular season heroics, he hasn't won enough in the "money" games to be given that title, hence the reason Tom Brady was the ABQB of the decade. Manning has a chance to change that with another Super Bowl title and the only way he gets that chance is a win against a very game Mark Sanchez and the New York Jets.
The Jets have won in similar fashion to last year's Baltimore Ravens and their rookie QB Joe Flacco. The QB manages the game, doesn't lose it, and gives the defense a chance to make enough plays to win it. They have held to that philosophy in the playoffs and now make another trip to Indianapolis for all the marbles.
The Colts win today because of Peyton Manning's greatness and Mark Sanchez's "greenness". The Colts' pass rushers will get enough shots on Sanchez to force mistakes by playing the old Tampa 2, making Sanchez hold it just a bit too long.

NFL Playoffs: QB Showcase

A strong running game and defense are the ways to win in January in the NFL. Well, that has been a successful recipe, but these 2010 playoffs are shaping up as the QB playoffs.
The Packers and Cardinals earned their name of "Wildcard" game, with offensive records breaking all over the place and both quarterbacks putting up outrageous numbers.
The Baltimore Ravens and New York Jets are built in the classic model and still left in the these playoffs, but the Ravens travel inside to the dome of the Colts and the Jets will be in warm San Diego, California to take on the hot Chargers, who have become a QB dominated team with Phillip Rivers' dominance this year.
The NFC stays inside at 72 degrees in New Orleans and Minnesota, probably the best four quarterback matchup in NFL history. Kurt Warner and Drew Brees regularly carry their teams through games and Tony Romo and Brett Favre can do the same.
I looked forward to the Green Bay/Arizona game last week with great anticipation, because I like Aaron Rogers as much as these other guys and expected a great shootout--not quite expecting it to be what it turned into, but this weekend's games should be just as entertaining.
And the only way for the NFL to get a cold weather game of any kind before the playoffs, is if both the Jets and Ravens--the old school teams left in the tournament--win. Otherwise, it is warm weather all the way to the Super Bowl. Wait, the Super Bowl in Miami, Florida may be the coldest game from here on in.

Sanchez Wins--Jokes With Former Coach

New York Jets rookie NFL QB won his first playoff game in grand fashion and gave his old college coach a good ribbing. Remember back about a year ago when Pete Carroll was trying to keep his star player from making the jump to the NFL and take advantage of a weak QB draft class. After cashing in as the fifth pick in the draft and now winning in the Wildcard round, he let his former coach, who is now jumping to the Seattle Seahawks that statistics say it's not a good choice.
What a difference a year makes. If Carroll was successful in keeping his QB in school, he may not be making that move after posting one of the worst years USC has ever seen by starting a true freshman as his quarterback all year. So Sanchez has a very big hand in what happened to USC's hard fall to alsoran and with Carroll's move back to the NFL for the third time.

Dolphins Find Their QB's Of The Future On MNF

Mark Sanchez looked like he had put up yet another win in his early starting career for the New York Jets, but the Miami Dolphins countered with Chad Henne, Pat White and Ronnie Brown at QB and outdueled the Jets' QB for the division win on Monday Night Football.
Chad Henne looks to be the real deal as an every-down quarterback, sharp in the short, long and roll-out games. Pat White was brought in later in the game in the "Wildcat" and picked up a key first down. Ronnie Brown played his usual role in the backfield and got the game-winning TD run as well.
Unless Pat White wants to become a full-time starting QB after his rookie contract expires, the Dolphins may have found a winning formula at QB for the forseeable future.