Summer is a great time of the year. Sunny seventy degree weather, baseball stadiums are full with fans, both of the team and the weather, delicious foods are cooking on grills, NFL teams are starting their training camps, and millions of fans will flock to the practice facility of their favorite football team to get a glimpse of the star player of their team. That is probably the reason football is arguably the most popular sport of the four major sports. One season a person’s favorite team can be the worst team of the league. Then that team a few changes team and they go from losers to a championship. Some of those changes a team can make are hiring a new general manager, a new head coach, or getting a new quarterback.
The New York Jets had lofty goals for 2012 season. They were expected to make another run at the playoffs possibly a Super Bowl, but instead they had a below five-hundred season. Maybe the expectations of making the AFC championship game again were two high. After all they were one step from the Super Bowl two years in a row. But instead they fell backwards, badly. Who’s to blame for the misfortunes of the Jets last year? They did have injuries to several key players last year, but so did other football teams. Could it be the coach’s fault? You could blame Rex Ryan for those difficulties, but his system was in place the previous years that The Jets made the playoffs. Could you blame the quarterback? Although Football is a team a sport a strong quarterback is vital for the team’s success. That is true with The Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez.
Sanchez is starting his fifth season with The Jets. He has done relatively well in that time although he has some issues that hurt the team last year. He has strong leadership skills. Many times Sanchez led his team down the field to put them in a position to win the game. Many quarterbacks would crumble under the stress, but Sanchez held his own. Another skill that cannot be overlooked is Sanchez’s ability to deal with the New York media. Many people have tried and failed. Sanchez’s weaknesses are more tangible skills. He’s not a very accurate passer. In 2012, his completion percentage was fifty-four percent. Sanchez’s entire NFL career his completion percentage has never been above the mid-fifties. An NFL quarterback should be able to complete passes in the high fifties to low sixties for their team to compete year after year. Another weakness Sanchez has is that he is prone to turning the ball over. In 2012, he accounted for more than fifty-percent of The Jets turnovers. Too many times Sanchez led his team down the field, with a result of turning the ball over. Stopping any momentum the team had, or possibly cost the team the game. Sanchez is not a bad player but he may not be the player The Jets need to get a championship. This is why the team drafted Geno Smith in the second round of the 2013 NFL draft.
Comparing Smith to Sanchez Smith has better upside. Smith’s completions percentage for the 2012 season was an astounding seventy-one percent. Smith also completed more passes than Sanchez in fewer games. Smith only threw six interceptions last year. That is a third of the interceptions that Sanchez threw.
Smith won’t come into training camp and win the starting job he will have make a few adjustments in training camp. The New York media could be the biggest challenge but he seems to have handled that issue, but the season has not fully started and that is when the media will be at its strongest. Smith will have to get used to taking the ball under center. During his college career he mostly took the ball in the shotgun formation. That’s minor and can be fixed in training camp.
The quarterback controversy the jets have on their hands will be very interesting. Geno Smith is the more talented player and should be The Jets starting quarterback on opening day. There are no guarantees but if Smith is the player he was in college The Jets will be playing for a championship in no time.