Post by Just A Fan on Jun 12, 2013 20:44:31 GMT -6
The worst QB situation in the NFL: If you think the NY Jets have it bad, check out these messes
Joe Namath turned 70 years old on Friday. He was just 25 on that glorious January day in Miami in 1969 when the Jets beat the mighty Colts in Super Bowl III.
That’s just another way of saying it’s been a long time since the Jets were on top of the football world.
The NFL has always been a quarterback league, but even more-so today than when Namath played. It’s very hard to win without an elite quarterback in what is now predominantly a passing league.
That’s bad news for the Jets. Training camps opens in less than two months and they have one of the eight worst quarterback situations in the NFL. That puts them in the bottom 25%.
If Mark Sanchez’s $8.25 million salary for this season wasn’t guaranteed, there’s a good chance he would have been cut by now. Instead, the Jets are counting on him thriving in Marty Mornhinweg’s West Coast offense. At the same time, the Jets must hope that if Andrew Luck, Robert Griffin III and Russell Wilson can start from day one, play like veterans and lead their teams into the playoffs, then maybe Geno Smith can do the same.
Sanchez vs. Smith is not exactly Montana vs. Young, but at least the Jets don’t have the worst group of quarterbacks in the NFL.
Here are my bottom eight, starting with the worst:
1. Jaguars: Just think, Jets Nation, you could be on the edge of your PSL seats charting Blaine Gabbert and Chad Henne this summer. Even so, the Jaguars have no interest in bringing Tim Tebow home.
2. Raiders: Matt Flynn, despite signing a three-year $19.5 million free agent contract with $10 million guaranteed last year with the Seahawks, was beaten out by Wilson last summer, was traded to Oakland in April, and now could be beaten out by another impressive rookie named Wilson, this time Arkansas’ Tyler Wilson, a fourth-round pick. If Tyler Wilson is as good as Russell Wilson, then Oakland’s QB standing rises dramatically.
3. Browns: Brandon Weeden will face all the issues of a struggling second-year QB and he’s already 29 years old. Perennial backup Jason Campbell will pressure Weeden in training camp. Cleveland’s only hope is that Norv Turner, a better offensive coordinator than a head coach, can get Weeden straightened out.
4. Bills: They dumped Ryan Fitzpatrick and signed Kevin Kolb, which is just about an even exchange talent-wise. Kolb is always hurt. And when he’s not, he stinks. The Bills traded down in the first round and reached for Florida State’s EJ Manuel as the first QB off the board in this year’s draft, the 16th overall pick. He’s running third team in the OTAs behind Kolb and Tarvaris Jackson, but that means little right now. It won’t be long before Manuel starts.
5. Cardinals: In his 25-game Raiders career, Carson Palmer threw 35 TDs and 30 INTs and Oakland was 8-16 in games he started. Rookie Cardinals coach Bruce Arians did a great job with Luck last year in Indy and previously with Big Ben in Pittsburgh, but Palmer is a reclamation project on the downside of his career. Still, he’s got to be better than the dreadful Kolb-John Skelton-Ryan Lindley trio of last year.
6. Titans: Jake Locker had 10 TDs and 11 INTs last year and the Titans cut his mentor Matt Hasselbeck, who has been replaced by Fitzpatrick, whose game fell apart in Buffalo after he signed a six-year $59 million contract with $24 million guaranteed when the Bills were 4-2 in 2011. He then went 8-18 over the last 1 1 ⁄ 2 years and the Bills cut him.
7. Vikings: Christian Ponder was a little more appreciated after an arm injury suffered in the final game of the regular season kept him out of Minnesota’s wild-card game loss to the Packers and Joe Webb was 11-for-30. Ponder is one of the most maligned quarterbacks, but his job is secure because his new backup is Matt Cassel. The Vikes have since moved Webb to wide receiver.
8. Jets: What happened to the Sanchez who played well in the 2009 playoffs and even better in the 2010 playoffs when he outplayed Peyton Manning and Brady in back-to-back road victories? Can Mornhinweg bring him back? The Jets are looking for any reason to play Smith, so if Sanchez doesn’t take control this summer, he won’t have to worry about getting booed in the pregame introductions in the season opener. He will be wearing a baseball cap and headset.
ACTIVELY INACTIVE
Even though OTAs are non-contact practices, Giants wide receiver Hakeem Nicks broke his foot in an OTA last year and last month 49ers wide receiver Michael Crabtree tore his Achilles and Chargers linebacker Melvin Ingram tore his ACL. That’s why there’s no chance Victor Cruz shows up for mini-camp on June 11-13 without a new contract. Does Nicks owe the Giants an explanation for why he skipped the last two weeks of OTAs, which are voluntary? That would be a nice courtesy to extend, but until Nicks is required to be with the team for the mandatory mini-camp, it’s hard to blame him for not subjecting himself to injury — if that’s his motivation for staying away. He has one year at $2.725 million remaining on his rookie contract. Cruz is without a contract, so he’s not required to attend anything. The Giants have the right to reduce Cruz’ $2.879 million tender to $630,000 on June 17 — it would be surprising if they did that —and they clearly want to get him signed long-term. They’ve offered a deal averaging just under $8 million per year that includes $15 million-$18 million guaranteed. Cruz received his chance to play in 2011 because Steve Smith suffered a serious knee injury late in the 2010 season after he reportedly turned down a lucrative five-year $35 million deal with $15 million guaranteed. Once Smith was hurt, the offer disappeared. After bouncing from the Eagles in 2011 to the Rams last year and the Bucs in April, Smith retired last week. He was never the same player. That’s why there’s little chance Cruz will play for the tender just so he can become a free agent in 2014. If he suffers a serious injury like Smith, the big money will disappear on him, too. I think Cruz will sign a long-term deal in time to get himself ready for the season opener in Dallas, even if he’s not there for the beginning of training camp. … This also raises the issue about the value of OTAs vs. the injury risk. Football is an injury sport, even when there’s no contact allowed.
LATE HITS ...
- With the NFL giving serious consideration to moving the draft around the country after having to push it back to May 8 in 2014 because of a scheduling conflict with Radio City Music Hall, I would not be surprised if the league creates a bidding process for cities interested in hosting the draft, just as it does with the Super Bowl. The draft might be the NFL’s second biggest event and with the league always looking to maximize revenues, creating a bidding war to host the draft could be pretty lucrative.
- Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski has had four surgeries on his broken arm — he was hurt in November and again in January — and now will undergo back surgery later this month. It’s not realistic he can be ready for the start of camp. Aaron Hernandez, the Pats other indispensable tight end, had offseason shoulder surgery, but is expected to be ready for camp. Former Giants TE Jake Ballard, who tore his ACL in the Super Bowl against New England 16 months ago and then was claimed months later by Bill Belichick as the Giants tried to sneak him through waivers and put him on the PUP list, missed all of last season. He took part on a limited basis in the recent OTAs, but the Patriots web site reports Ballard is running with a “discernible limp.”
- The web site Blogging The Boys pieced together television shots of Jerry Jones doing interviews in front of the Cowboys 2013 draft board and came up with Dallas’ rankings. The ’Boys’ top rated QBs were Ryan Nassib, Matt Barkley and Geno Smith — they all had second-round grades. Nassib (Giants) and Barkley (Eagles) went in the fourth round. Smith was taken by the Jets in the second round. … Dallas had T Justin Pugh, the Giants first-round pick, with a second-round grade. The ’Boys had Jets first-round picks Dee Milliner as the best corner and Sheldon Richardson as the second best DT, both with first-round grades. Dallas had Richardson behind Shariff Floyd. Richardson was the first DT taken at No. 13. Floyd was third at No. 23 to the Vikings.
Read more: www.nydailynews.com/sports/football/myers-best-worst-qb-messes-nfl-article-1.1360664#ixzz2W3oDfCTR
Joe Namath turned 70 years old on Friday. He was just 25 on that glorious January day in Miami in 1969 when the Jets beat the mighty Colts in Super Bowl III.
That’s just another way of saying it’s been a long time since the Jets were on top of the football world.
The NFL has always been a quarterback league, but even more-so today than when Namath played. It’s very hard to win without an elite quarterback in what is now predominantly a passing league.
That’s bad news for the Jets. Training camps opens in less than two months and they have one of the eight worst quarterback situations in the NFL. That puts them in the bottom 25%.
If Mark Sanchez’s $8.25 million salary for this season wasn’t guaranteed, there’s a good chance he would have been cut by now. Instead, the Jets are counting on him thriving in Marty Mornhinweg’s West Coast offense. At the same time, the Jets must hope that if Andrew Luck, Robert Griffin III and Russell Wilson can start from day one, play like veterans and lead their teams into the playoffs, then maybe Geno Smith can do the same.
Sanchez vs. Smith is not exactly Montana vs. Young, but at least the Jets don’t have the worst group of quarterbacks in the NFL.
Here are my bottom eight, starting with the worst:
1. Jaguars: Just think, Jets Nation, you could be on the edge of your PSL seats charting Blaine Gabbert and Chad Henne this summer. Even so, the Jaguars have no interest in bringing Tim Tebow home.
2. Raiders: Matt Flynn, despite signing a three-year $19.5 million free agent contract with $10 million guaranteed last year with the Seahawks, was beaten out by Wilson last summer, was traded to Oakland in April, and now could be beaten out by another impressive rookie named Wilson, this time Arkansas’ Tyler Wilson, a fourth-round pick. If Tyler Wilson is as good as Russell Wilson, then Oakland’s QB standing rises dramatically.
3. Browns: Brandon Weeden will face all the issues of a struggling second-year QB and he’s already 29 years old. Perennial backup Jason Campbell will pressure Weeden in training camp. Cleveland’s only hope is that Norv Turner, a better offensive coordinator than a head coach, can get Weeden straightened out.
4. Bills: They dumped Ryan Fitzpatrick and signed Kevin Kolb, which is just about an even exchange talent-wise. Kolb is always hurt. And when he’s not, he stinks. The Bills traded down in the first round and reached for Florida State’s EJ Manuel as the first QB off the board in this year’s draft, the 16th overall pick. He’s running third team in the OTAs behind Kolb and Tarvaris Jackson, but that means little right now. It won’t be long before Manuel starts.
5. Cardinals: In his 25-game Raiders career, Carson Palmer threw 35 TDs and 30 INTs and Oakland was 8-16 in games he started. Rookie Cardinals coach Bruce Arians did a great job with Luck last year in Indy and previously with Big Ben in Pittsburgh, but Palmer is a reclamation project on the downside of his career. Still, he’s got to be better than the dreadful Kolb-John Skelton-Ryan Lindley trio of last year.
6. Titans: Jake Locker had 10 TDs and 11 INTs last year and the Titans cut his mentor Matt Hasselbeck, who has been replaced by Fitzpatrick, whose game fell apart in Buffalo after he signed a six-year $59 million contract with $24 million guaranteed when the Bills were 4-2 in 2011. He then went 8-18 over the last 1 1 ⁄ 2 years and the Bills cut him.
7. Vikings: Christian Ponder was a little more appreciated after an arm injury suffered in the final game of the regular season kept him out of Minnesota’s wild-card game loss to the Packers and Joe Webb was 11-for-30. Ponder is one of the most maligned quarterbacks, but his job is secure because his new backup is Matt Cassel. The Vikes have since moved Webb to wide receiver.
8. Jets: What happened to the Sanchez who played well in the 2009 playoffs and even better in the 2010 playoffs when he outplayed Peyton Manning and Brady in back-to-back road victories? Can Mornhinweg bring him back? The Jets are looking for any reason to play Smith, so if Sanchez doesn’t take control this summer, he won’t have to worry about getting booed in the pregame introductions in the season opener. He will be wearing a baseball cap and headset.
ACTIVELY INACTIVE
Even though OTAs are non-contact practices, Giants wide receiver Hakeem Nicks broke his foot in an OTA last year and last month 49ers wide receiver Michael Crabtree tore his Achilles and Chargers linebacker Melvin Ingram tore his ACL. That’s why there’s no chance Victor Cruz shows up for mini-camp on June 11-13 without a new contract. Does Nicks owe the Giants an explanation for why he skipped the last two weeks of OTAs, which are voluntary? That would be a nice courtesy to extend, but until Nicks is required to be with the team for the mandatory mini-camp, it’s hard to blame him for not subjecting himself to injury — if that’s his motivation for staying away. He has one year at $2.725 million remaining on his rookie contract. Cruz is without a contract, so he’s not required to attend anything. The Giants have the right to reduce Cruz’ $2.879 million tender to $630,000 on June 17 — it would be surprising if they did that —and they clearly want to get him signed long-term. They’ve offered a deal averaging just under $8 million per year that includes $15 million-$18 million guaranteed. Cruz received his chance to play in 2011 because Steve Smith suffered a serious knee injury late in the 2010 season after he reportedly turned down a lucrative five-year $35 million deal with $15 million guaranteed. Once Smith was hurt, the offer disappeared. After bouncing from the Eagles in 2011 to the Rams last year and the Bucs in April, Smith retired last week. He was never the same player. That’s why there’s little chance Cruz will play for the tender just so he can become a free agent in 2014. If he suffers a serious injury like Smith, the big money will disappear on him, too. I think Cruz will sign a long-term deal in time to get himself ready for the season opener in Dallas, even if he’s not there for the beginning of training camp. … This also raises the issue about the value of OTAs vs. the injury risk. Football is an injury sport, even when there’s no contact allowed.
LATE HITS ...
- With the NFL giving serious consideration to moving the draft around the country after having to push it back to May 8 in 2014 because of a scheduling conflict with Radio City Music Hall, I would not be surprised if the league creates a bidding process for cities interested in hosting the draft, just as it does with the Super Bowl. The draft might be the NFL’s second biggest event and with the league always looking to maximize revenues, creating a bidding war to host the draft could be pretty lucrative.
- Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski has had four surgeries on his broken arm — he was hurt in November and again in January — and now will undergo back surgery later this month. It’s not realistic he can be ready for the start of camp. Aaron Hernandez, the Pats other indispensable tight end, had offseason shoulder surgery, but is expected to be ready for camp. Former Giants TE Jake Ballard, who tore his ACL in the Super Bowl against New England 16 months ago and then was claimed months later by Bill Belichick as the Giants tried to sneak him through waivers and put him on the PUP list, missed all of last season. He took part on a limited basis in the recent OTAs, but the Patriots web site reports Ballard is running with a “discernible limp.”
- The web site Blogging The Boys pieced together television shots of Jerry Jones doing interviews in front of the Cowboys 2013 draft board and came up with Dallas’ rankings. The ’Boys’ top rated QBs were Ryan Nassib, Matt Barkley and Geno Smith — they all had second-round grades. Nassib (Giants) and Barkley (Eagles) went in the fourth round. Smith was taken by the Jets in the second round. … Dallas had T Justin Pugh, the Giants first-round pick, with a second-round grade. The ’Boys had Jets first-round picks Dee Milliner as the best corner and Sheldon Richardson as the second best DT, both with first-round grades. Dallas had Richardson behind Shariff Floyd. Richardson was the first DT taken at No. 13. Floyd was third at No. 23 to the Vikings.
Read more: www.nydailynews.com/sports/football/myers-best-worst-qb-messes-nfl-article-1.1360664#ixzz2W3oDfCTR