Leak problem is back . . . . not really

The Jets do not have a leak problem. Let me repeat – the Jets don’t have a leak problem.

There was an internet story last week, supposedly quoting a Jet saying that most players don’t want Mark Sanchez to be the team’s quarterback this year. It was written by Mike Freeman of CBSSports.com.

“Everyone on the team likes Mark (Sanchez) personally but there’s a general feeling among some of the players that maybe it’s time to give someone else a chance,” wrote Freeman, Freeman also claims the player went on to say that he estimates that 80-90 percent of the team feels the same way he does.

On SNY, the Jets’ TV partner, on a debate show, they were talking about how the leak problem from last year is back.

I don’t agree.

First of all, I’m not buying the story.

This unnamed quote thing has become an epidemic in the sports journalism world. Hey, I do it once in a while, but not very often.

You gotta pick you spots, or it loses some of it’s muster.

Some people do it so often, it makes you wonder . . .

I’m not going to go much further with this, but you know what, if somebody quotes an unnamed player, and I don’t know who it is, it’s my right to say, “I don’t buy it.”

That is my prerogative.

I’ve been around the Jets close to 20 years. I know the lay of the land. This story doesn’t pass the smell test.

And the SNY talking heads, accusing the Jets of still having a leak problem, are wrong.

The entire organization was read the riot act after last season, and nobody is leaking stuff, I can assure you of that.

I ran into a Jets official in Indy, and he told me they were reminded before they left for the combine, to not talk to anybody.

Think about this off-season – what leaks can you think of?

Manish Mehta reported that Geno Smith was the top quarterback on the Jets’ draft board, but I can assure you that didn’t come from the team. It likely came from one of his former agents, who he fired after the draft.

But other than that, no much doing as far as leaks.

Woody Johnson cracked down after the season, and John Idzik has taken the baton from him. They aren’t messing around.

And Idzik wasn’t one of these “rising star” executives who was kissing the media’s butt to get a GM job (by leaking scoops to them over the years). He was a dark horse candidate, who came out of nowhere, to land the Jets’ job. He wasn’t hanging out at the “cool table” with the national writers who cover the NFL, who often tout candidates, because they give them info, in exchange for getting their name out there, as future GM candidates.

Idzik’s not buddies with a lot of writers. It’s not the world he came from.

And one other thing about that CBSSports.com story.

Okay, now that Garrard is gone, do 80-90 percent of the players want Geno Smith to be that “somebody else?”

Smith isn’t ready.  He is a major project.

“He operated an offense where he received adjustments from the sidelines and was often out of sync with receivers,” Nolan Nawrocki said “Has average field vision and coverage recognition – forces throws and doesn’t work through his progressions. Takes unnecessary sacks and does not feel pressure well.

“He’s not an elusive scrambler. He’s shaky lower body mechanics – does not stand tall in the pocket (crouches, hops, dances and elevates to this toes when he throws). Has pin legs and bad pocket posture.

“Has small hands and glaring ball security issues (32 career fumbles).”

Do you want that player or Sanchez?

I’m not writing-off Smith, but he needs to sit for a year or two.

Sanchez is a better option than Smith in 2013, there is no question about it.

Smith is a major, major product.

Sanchez, even with all his shortcomings, knows a lot more about playing in the NFL than Smith, after four years of going through it.

I understand the frustration of Jets fans, but to want Smith immediately, is foolish. It’s cutting off your nose to spite your face.

I think Greg McElroy would be a good option, but it seems like the Jets don’t think he’s on the rarefied level of Sanchez and Smith (though it’s early in the process – he could re-emerge).

But in closing – no there is no leak problem, and take that story with a grain of salt.

May 27, 2013

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