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It’s time for a heaping helping of Jets Whispers. Let’s get it started . . .
I got this tweet from the NFL a few hours ago – “Two signs Mark Sanchez is ready to lead the New York Jets – 1) swagger is back, 2) deep ball looks good.”
It was linked to a column that promoted this theme.
Maybe all of that is true, but isn’t it a little ridiculous to draw conclusions on a player based on one OTA practice.
But you know what – there was a lot of hyperbolic coverage of Thursday’s practice.
Like Tim Tebow being trashed for throwing two picks.
That is just dumb.
Keep in mind, he’s learning a new offense, and throwing to players he has no timing with.
Don’t get me wrong, I know that Tebow still has a lot of work to do as a thrower, but even with his flaws, the criticism he took on Thursday was unfair.
And also jumping on board, to make one practice into a referendum, was an unlikely person – one of Mark Sanchez’s agents, Brian Murphy.
Most of you of seen Murphy’s tweet by now – “No offense media, but of course Sanchez is going to outperform Tim (Tebow). Mark is a franchise quarterback and Tim is a great athlete.”
A couple of issues with this tweet – first of all, Murphy has zero credibility on this topic. He’s bought and paid for by Sanchez.
Sanchez is getting paid $20.5 million guaranteed over the next two years. Three or two percent of that (the going rate), is a lot of coin.
And let’s not forget, Sanchez rookie contract was five-years, $50.5 million with $28 million guaranteed.
They got a nice commission on that, also.
So his assessment of the Jets quarterback “battle” is a moot point.
And also, he’s jumping ahead of himself calling Sanchez a “franchise quarterback.” He has some work to do to earn that designation.
Also, Murphy’s tweet was unnecessary for another reason.
There is no quarterback competition here.
Sanchez is the starter, who as we mentioned before, is guaranteed a ton of money over the next two years. Starter money.
Tebow was brought in to run the wildcat, and perhaps perform some other roles to be announced.
If people want to turn this into a quarterback competition, of some sorts, knock yourselves out. It’s not accurate . . .
You know what was bigger news to me coming out of the first open OTA?
Kyle Wilson getting beat for a long touchdown by rookie receiver Stephen Hill.
“Hill had his defender beat by 10 yards when Sanchez threw the ball,” Kris Dyer wrote yesterday for jetsconfidential.com.
This should not happen.
We all know Hill is a work-in-progress as a route-runner. We all know he loves to go deep with his 4.3 speed. How could Wilson fall for this so easy?
Wilson continues to be overhyped by Rex Ryan, and Ellis Lankster should be given a chance to compete for the nickel job.
Do Rex and Mike want to be right about a draft pick, or put the best players on the field? I’m not saying Lankster is better, but if Wilson continues his wildly inconsistent play, the Jets need to give somebody else a look-see at the nickel spot.
To let Marquice Cole walk to New England wasn’t very smart. And a big reason they did that was because of this strange mindset about being right about a draft pick.
Wilson is very hard-worker, but his instincts seem very shaky. He fell for a double-move from Hill, who is at the embryotic stage of route-running.
Every time the Jets play the Miami Dolphins, Davone Bess seems to get the best of Wilson.
Wilson did improve a little last year, but he still has a long way to go.
As this Hill play pointed out.
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