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New Jersey – Today we have a couple of notes – one on Stephen Hill and the other on Mark Sanchez and the Seattle game . . .
You have to know wonder how comfortable Stephen Hill is with the system.
On the first play of the Jets final possession, Mark Sanchez threw a deep incompletion to Hill down the right side.
Sanchez threw an out, and Hill kept running up field.
These kind of scenarios happened a lot between Sanchez and Santonio Holmes.
And one thing about Sanchez – he knows the system. He isn’t always accurate or reads defensive well, but he knows the playbook.
So when a receiver makes a mistake, I generally error on the side of Sanchez.
What was the Jets rush with Hill to get him in the starting lineup?
Why not let him be the third or fourth receiver until he’s truly ready? There is nothing wrong with that.
Remember, he came out of college early, out of program that barely threw, so he was a major project.
This might sound radical, but Chaz Schilens or Clyde Gates (who knows Tony’s system from Miami), should probably start ahead of Hill until he’s ready. Hill would still play, but why start him before he’s comfortable?
But Rex doesn’t roll that way. Whether it was Quinton Coples this year, Mo Wilkerson last year, or Hill, he loves to just throw rookies out there, ready or not.
It’s a weird bravado that seems counterproductive.
I can you assure you of this, Bill Belichick wouldn’t do that, neither would Mike McCarthy, Mike Tomlin and others. Rookies start when they are ready, and not before in those programs.
I truly think Rex is a terrific coach, but sometimes his machismo gets in the way of sound judgement . . .
This game is huge for Mark Sanchez. Not just because the Jets desperately need a win, but because it’s against Pete Carroll.
Mark played for Pete at USC, and things didn’t end on a good note.
Carroll was pissed at Sanchez for leaving school after this junior year, and made that clear publicly.
“The facts are so strong against this decision,” Carroll said after Sanchez announced he was leaving school. “After analyzing all the information, the truth is there — he should’ve stayed for another year. Mark’s chance to increase his value and become the top player in college football next year would have been worth $10 million-$20 million or more — likely more. One more year of running a team is almost priceless, so he lost the chance to fully prepare himself and become the very best he could be before going to the NFL.”
And when Carroll announced he was leaving for the NFL a year later, Sanchez tweaked him.
“I just wanted everybody to know I completely disagree with his decision,” Sanchez said. “Statistics show that it’s not a good choice.”
But honestly, the reason Carroll was so ticket at Sanchez, wasn’t because he was so concerned about him being successful in the NFL, but because it ruined Pete’s chances at winning a national championship in 2009.
USC was loaded across the board, and with Sanchez at the helm, they probably would have gone all the way.
But when Sanchez left, Carroll was forced to start a freshman quarterback, and things didn’t work out that well.
While these two men pretend everything is okay between them, it’s really not.
So there will be a battle within the battle in Seattle.
Pete would love to beat Mark, and Mark would love to beat Pete.
Pete will not forgive Sanchez for messing up his final year at USC . . .
November 1, 2012
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