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New Jersey – In the latest edition of “One Jets Drive,” we have notes on Mark Sanchez, Kevin Kolb, Leon Washington and the quarterbacks in the draft . . .
Mark Sanchez is working with Jeff Garcia to learn Marty Mornhinweg’s West Coast Offense.
“He’s doing an excellent job — the progress Mark has made over the past three weeks is definitely very positive,” Garcia told USA TODAY Sports.
Perhaps that is accurate, but what would you expect his tutor to say? Hey, I hope he’s doing great. I don’t root against people, but you have to take what the teacher says with a grain of salt.
Garcia thinks the Jets constantly changing offenses is hurting Sanchez.
“The toughest thing is this will be Mark’s third offensive coordinator in six seasons,” Garcia said. “The guy has had to learn a new system just about every other year. From a consistency standpoint, that just doesn’t translate to success in the NFL. You really need to be secure in what you’re doing mentally in order to compete at the highest level.”
There is no question it’s true that it’s bad for the development of a quarterback to keep changing playbooks.
But let’s not forget something here, perhaps Mark’s struggles helped contribute to the constant changing of the guard at offensive coordinator.
In part, Brian Schottenheimer and Tony Sparano were thrown to the curb because Sanchez seemed to be going backwards.
So it’s really hard to sit here and totally feel bad for Mark about the revolving playbooks . . .
Speaking of quarterbacks and playbooks, many people assumed that the Jets would make a run at Kevin Kolb, since he played under Mornhingweg in Philly, and knows his system.
Well nothing has happened on that front.
Why?
A league source told us that the Jets brass doesn’t think Kolb is better than what they currently have at the position . . .
As we have mentioned many times, it’s an awful year to be a free agent. Aside from a few big contracts here and there, teams are being very frugal.
Today, I was doing some research, and I stumbled upon the Leon Washington contract details in New England.
It’s one-year deal for $840,000 with $460,000 of bonus money, so his one-year total is $1.3 million.
Look, I know that is a lot of money to most of us, but in NFL terms, it’s peanuts.
Remember when he turned down a Jets offer for $4 million a year?
It’s bad out there for players, and I’m telling you, there are some veterans that who are thinking – “is it really worth it to put my body through an NFL season for that?” . . .
As you know, I think Nolan Nawrocki of Pro Football Weekly is the best draft analyst in the business.
First of all, he’s one of the few guys doing that job who played the sport – he was a linebacker/safety at Illinois.
Secondly, he doesn’t pull any punches, and gets into things like intelligence and character to a degree that others are afraid to in this PC era.
Well his draft preview book is out, and he has Geno Smith as the sixth best quarterback in the draft.
Here is his order –
1. Matt Barkley – USC
2. Ryan Nassib – Syracuse
3. E.J. Manuel – Florida State
4. Tyler Wilson – Arkansas
5. Zac Dysert – Miami of Ohio
6. Geno Smith – West Virginia
I hate to keep picking on Smith, but I think the media is over-hyping him. He would be best served to be picked in the second or third round, and be allowed to sit and learn for a few years. He’s a project.
March 29, 2013
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