Inside Christian Hackenberg's exhaustive NFL prep: He's 'a slam dunk'

[JETSfaninNE]

From January through mid-March, Christian Hackenberg’s introduction to the NFL would begin every morning at 5:30 at Jordan Palmer’s Southern California home.

Palmer, an eight-year NFL veteran, spent 2 ½ months preparing Hackenberg for life in the pros, which Palmer says the 21-year-old the Jets selected in the second round on Friday is ready for.

“He’s going to be confident enough to be the face of the franchise for the Jets when that time comes for him,” Palmer said Saturday. “In the meantime, he’s going to be a guy that’s going to get in line and learn and be humble. I think it’s a great fit.”

Palmer met Hackenberg at an Elite 11 camp when Hackenberg was in high school. He watched his college career at Penn State, where Hackenberg was a star under Bill O’Brien as a freshman then struggled as NCAA sanctions took their toll on the Nittany Lions’ roster and the transition from O’Brien to James Franklin stunted Hackenberg’s growth.

Palmer worked with Hackenberg last year before his junior year then took on a more official role after Hackenberg left college in January to prepare for the NFL. They started by watching every college snap Hackenberg took and dissected what went right and wrong.

“There’s a franchise player in there,” Palmer said. “He showed it his freshman year and he was put in a very difficult situation the last two years. The first thing is pulling that out.”

The Jets took North Carolina State cornerback Juston Burris in the fourth round Saturday and tackle Brandon Shell from South Carolina in the fifth round, a pick they traded for with Washington. All of the attention still was on their second-round pick, though, because of how polarizing the Hackenberg pick is.

Hackenberg’s mechanics suffered at Penn State as he played behind a porous offensive line that got him sacked 103 times. He began to look at the pass rush instead of downfield and had trouble setting his feet without getting hit.

There were plenty of reasons for his struggles, but Hackenberg had to sit back and listen to the critics pick him apart in the pre-draft process. He could not blame the offensive line or Franklin without sounding like he was making excuses and shifting the blame.

All he could do was take it.

“He’s just been a dartboard for three months,” Palmer said. “Now, all of that is irrelevant. He’s a Jet.”

Hackenberg rented a house down the street from Palmer and they began to work a week after his college career ended. They would do classroom work in the morning, then go to the field after breakfast. After lunch, Hackenberg would work with a personal trainer, then he would have 3-5 hours of film study at night.

Palmer had Hackenberg watch film like NFL quarterbacks do. They adopted the Cardinals, where Palmer’s brother Carson is the quarterback. As the Cardinals prepared for playoff games with the Packers and Panthers, Hackenberg watched each team’s last five games on Monday, their base pressures on Tuesday, sub-package pressures on Wednesday, third-down calls on Thursday and red-zone situations on Friday. Before the game, Hackenberg would compare notes with Carson.

“We literally knew more about the game than anybody watching it,” Jordan said.

After the Cardinals lost in the NFC Championship game, they broke down the Broncos before the Super Bowl. Then they studied the 2015 seasons of Carson and Jacksonville’s Blake Bortles and the rookie season of the Colts’ Andrew Luck. Hackenberg would have to give Jordan Palmer a report every morning off his film study, and Palmer would try to teach him about the coverages he did not recognize.

“He’s just obsessed with football,” Palmer said. “He loves it. I think it’s a slam dunk. For me, all this negative stuff is hysterical to me because so many people are so wrong.”

Palmer said all of the issues Hackenberg has dealt with in college makes him ready for New York.

“To have to deal with the amount of adversity he dealt with, he is well-equipped to take on you and your colleagues and the fan base and AFC East, too,” Palmer said. “He is in a good position to do that.”

Source: https://t.co/bnQvZ7tg0H

 

I hope we keep hearing more of these type of stories about him, Jets might have finally, after so many years caught a freaking break at the most important position.

[dbatesman]

Wow, so the guy Hackenberg paid to fix him thinks he's fixed? Was his QB coach not available to give a scouting report? What about his high school teammates? His mom maybe?

[ljr]

Liked hearing he was working the mental preparation on Catson Palmer's games 

[LunAticcalm]

4 minutes ago, dbatesman said:

Wow, so the guy Hackenberg paid to fix him thinks he's fixed? Was his QB coach not available to give a scouting report? What about his high school teammates? His mom maybe?

Hey the Jordan Palmer seal of approval is all a qb needs

[Copernicus]

Very impressive 

[Copernicus]

11 minutes ago, dbatesman said:

Wow, so the guy Hackenberg paid to fix him thinks he's fixed? Was his QB coach not available to give a scouting report? What about his high school teammates? His mom maybe?

I think the bigger picture is how humble and dedicated Hackenburg is to improving. This is a player who did not get down on himself or think he was so good that he didn't need to reach out and get help. Personally, I am very impressed with this player  and everything I'm reading is positive and hopeful

[FTL Jet Fan]

Great read , thanks for posting. It's great to hear how dedicated this kid is. I hope he can gain back his confidence. We have to be patient with this kid. The the thing that is most concerning is that Palmer said he was looking at the pass rush instead of down field. It's going to take a lot of work for him to feel comfortable again. 

He definitely needs to sit a year and work out his footwork and get down Gailey's system. This is a very encouraging article. Let's hope this kid has balls of steel, as  he is going to need them. Our FO can't **** this up. 

[JETSfaninNE]

1 minute ago, Copernicus said:

I think the bigger picture is how humble and dedicated Hackenburg is to improving. This is a player who did not get down on himself or think he was so good that he didn't need to reach out and get help. Personally, I am very impressed with this player  and everything I'm reading is positive and hopeful

Some people want to piss in all the cheerio bowls they can.  But yes, exactly, I think its great that in the beginning of this year he got to pretty much study like a NFL QB with an NFL QB that is in the playoffs.  That has to be incredibly valuable and hopefully helps his development transition into the NFL.

[Colgateman]

IT's Official I love christian sackenberg

that penn state program being a sh*t show was a blessing in disguise jets family, we finally have the chosen one

[BowlesMovement]

It's going to be so much fun when every incomplete pass this guy throws will have a thread dedicated to I told you so's from the JN scouts.

[BowlesMovement]

19 minutes ago, dbatesman said:

Wow, so the guy Hackenberg paid to fix him thinks he's fixed? Was his QB coach not available to give a scouting report? What about his high school teammates? His mom maybe?

I know right! I mean who does this schmelkingberg think he is getting people to say good things about him!! F him and the horse he road in on, cuz da Iz di int pick him!

[JETSfaninNE]

3 minutes ago, FTL Jet Fan said:

Great read , thanks for posting. It's great to hear how dedicated this kid is. I hope he can gain back his confidence. We have to be patient with this kid. The the thing that is most concerning is that Palmer said he was looking at the pass rush instead of down field. It's going to take a lot of work for him to feel comfortable again. 

He definitely needs to sit a year and work out his footwork and get down Gailey's system. This is a very encouraging article. Let's hope this kid has balls of steel, as  he is going to need them. Our FO can't **** this up. 

He took 103 sacks in college, I'd say he has balls of steel or just a masochist.  I'll take either.  One thing I noticed from all the film breakdown on him is that he does seem to protect the football.  I couldn't find a total fumble stat for his college career but I'm guessing its pretty low and I find that comforting.

[CanadienJetsFan]

The guy seems dedicated to improving... Let's hope he gets the right nurturing and patience. Hey, we never know....

I'm happy to see that this front office is also dedicated to finding a franchise QB.

[win4ever]

It's a good read, although Jordan Palmer wasn't exactly the best of QBs himself, and Carson Palmer while having a good career hasn't lived upto his billings either.  More than anything from this, I find it great that he was following the Cards in the playoffs, so he got to see how maybe Bruce Arians tends to break down film and teach his quarterbacks.  

It's very telling that he was willing to fix his mistakes and spend the time dedicated to football.  He seems to love football in a way like Manning or Brady (not comparing them, just the dedication) so the mental makeup atleast seems good.  

I'd love to see the reports out of camp about his placement, and how his foot movement has improved.  The Jets (if reports are to be believed) rated him higher than Lynch, although Lynch possesses the higher upside in sheer physical aspects, so I'm guessing they fell in love with the mental aspect of his game.

[Larz]

I have to admit one of the things I like most about him is the adversity thing and toughness.  in this town, you need both.  He will be on the back pages with stupid puns about his name, he will be booed, and he will get hit.

I think he will be ok with that

 

 

[Jet in PA]

IT's Official I love christian sackenberg

that penn state program being a sh*t show was a blessing in disguise jets family, we finally have the chosen one

It will be worth screaming at my TV after every terrible play call and decision as a casual PSU fan. They really did fall off a cliff with Franklin and the whole no one wants to play there voluntarily thing. That's one thing you can say about Hack he had a way to get out and went down with the ship. It could be the best thing that's happened to our franchise if he pans out.

[greenwave81]

29 minutes ago, dbatesman said:

Wow, so the guy Hackenberg paid to fix him thinks he's fixed? Was his QB coach not available to give a scouting report? What about his high school teammates? His mom maybe?

First, Jordan Palmer has some cred as a QB coach having played the position in the NFL and being the QB coach for Bortles before Hackenberg.  And his 'QB coach' at Penn State with Franklin was a young guy with no prior experience at being a QB coach who's claim to fame was being a college QB I think at freaking Cornell.  It is plainly obvious that Hackenberg was on his own at Penn State after O'Brien left with a sh*t show OL.  Vanderbilt always ran a simplistic version of the spread because they had to, and they tried to bring that crap to Penn State destroying everything Hackenberg had begun to develop in his Freshman year.

I'm intrigue by Hackenberg and have high hopes for his success in NYJ green.

[Jet in PA]

I'm not sure how to embed but this is another good read.

http://www.pennlive.com/pennstatefootball/index.ssf/2016/04/nfl_draft_2016_jets_did_homewo.html

[Jet in PA]

NFL Draft 2016: Jets did homework on Hackenberg others didn't; now it's his turn to repay them

Christian Hackenberg has regressed from a quarterback projected in September 2014 by some folks as a possible No. 1 overall pick in this NFL Draft to disparaged by some much more recently as not worth drafting at all.

He has taken steps back for reasons we've discussed ad nauseam. Well, actually some people obsessed more with metrics and tape clips than actually watching whole games think there aren't any valid reasons. I've stated many times that Penn State's chronic offensive line dysfunction and an ill-suited coaching staff the last two years mean everything and have led to mistakes, bad footwork and subsequent inaccuracy that cannot be explained when taken out of their context.

Some people who look at tape do not recognize that gradual regression because they have not been here to witness it in person and feel all the forces at work. They see only many individual gaffes for which they cannot rationalize.

I can. I believe there's still a starting NFL quarterback locked inside Hackenberg. But I also believed he needed the right place and people around him to make that happen. There is maintenance to be done and anyone who must do it while in the NFL must be a very quick study. Hackenberg needed a little time and space.

Laremy Tunsil's bong video is college football reality

In the New York Jets, he should get at least a little bit of that time and the right people to nurture his game back to health. It could have gone the other way very easily with any of 20 or more franchises. But Hackenberg was fortunate enough to land in a good situation for him in New York. I ranked the Jets as his fifth-best possible landing spot a couple of weeks ago. I'm not going to say if he can't make it there, he can't make it anywhere. But his draft by the Jets with the 51st overall pick on Friday night is going to give him a shot.

In head coach Todd Bowles, the Jets have an accomplished defensive mind who pretty much leaves the ball-side scheming to low-ego, 64-year-old coordinator Chan Gailey, a two-time NFL head coach himself (Dallas, Buffao), though not an accomplished one.

But, as an OC, Gailey has been very good with young and marginal quarterbacks, particularly rehab jobs. Ryan Fitzpatrick progressed last year under his tutelage after struggling at times with the Texans under Bill O'Brien. Granted, the Texans had a lot fewer weapons for Fitzpatrick to use than the Jets have. More on that in a minute.

Gailey also was the man behind the remarkable one-shot ascent of Kordell Stewart when the Steelers went to the AFC championship in 1997 under Bill Cowher. When Gailey left, Stewart's career imploded.

There were also stints under Dave Wannstedt with the Dolphins and Herman Edwards with the Chiefs where Gailey was given extremely limited resources (Jay Fiedler in Miami, Tyler Thigpen in Kansas City).

Farther back, Gailey was quarterback coach for a young John Elway under Dan Reaves with the Broncos in the late '80s, a tenure that didn't go well but also is so long ago it hardly matters.

NFL Draft: Where Hackenberg ranks among Big Ten QBs

If you see a pattern here, it's that Gailey has almost always worked under defensive-minded head coaches and encouraged to run modest offenses. But he's adaptable. Since the Cowher days, he's jettisoned power ground stuff and run a rather basic spread offense where the O-line usually gets extra help in protection and the field stretches are mainly horizontal. Though it's not as much fun for the OC, that's not necessarily a bad thing for Hackenberg who won't be overloaded with endless super-genius variations as he might under an offensive-whiz head coach.

The QB coach is Kevin Patullo, a young 7-year NFL assistant who's worked extensively with Gailey at two prior stops in Kansas City and Buffalo.

About that weaponry: Hackenberg could not ask for a better squadron of disparate receivers who mesh together. In big, strong Brandon Marshall and 6-3 slot man Eric Decker, the Jets have a pair of proven Velcro guys with uncommon size. Put it in the area code and they go get it. In Ohio State grad Devin Smith, who under-performed last year then tore his ACL, they have a race car who can potentially stretch defenses if he comes around. The Jets spent the 37th overall pick on him last year, so they expect him to.

The offensive line performed very well a year ago – top 10 in both pass protection and run production – but there are some questions. It is getting old. Mainstay left tackle D'Brickashaw Ferguson retired three weeks ago. Seven-time Pro Bowler center Nick Mangold is graying. The Jets did not address those OL needs in the Draft on Thursday or Friday, taking outside linebackers Darron Lee (Ohio State) and Jordan Jenkins (Georgia) on either side of Hackenberg in the first and third rounds.

And then there's the nagging concern of Fitzpatrick and his contract impasse. He's holding out of OTAs and reportedly has not been in contact with GM Mike Maccagnan in a couple of weeks.

Of course, that can only get Hackenberg and would-be back-up Bryce Petty more work in the meantime. And with Hackenberg's draft in round 2, it appears the Geno Smith Era is over.

There is a reason the Jets believe in this pick. They have been interested in Hackenberg for a couple of years and clearly think they see something peripheral analysts do not. Maccagnan and director of college scouting Rex Hogan both attended PSU's pro day in State College last month and, by all accounts, Hackenberg threw the hell out of the ball as they watched.

What the Jets personnel saw presumably did not open their eyes but merely confirmed what they sensed was there all along. They've shown their faith. Now, it's Hackenberg's turn to validate it.

DAVID JONES: djones@pennlive.com

[Charlie Brown]

44 minutes ago, JETSfaninNE said:

From January through mid-March, Christian Hackenberg’s introduction to the NFL would begin every morning at 5:30 at Jordan Palmer’s Southern California home.

Palmer, an eight-year NFL veteran, spent 2 ½ months preparing Hackenberg for life in the pros, which Palmer says the 21-year-old the Jets selected in the second round on Friday is ready for.

“He’s going to be confident enough to be the face of the franchise for the Jets when that time comes for him,” Palmer said Saturday. “In the meantime, he’s going to be a guy that’s going to get in line and learn and be humble. I think it’s a great fit.”

Palmer met Hackenberg at an Elite 11 camp when Hackenberg was in high school. He watched his college career at Penn State, where Hackenberg was a star under Bill O’Brien as a freshman then struggled as NCAA sanctions took their toll on the Nittany Lions’ roster and the transition from O’Brien to James Franklin stunted Hackenberg’s growth.

Palmer worked with Hackenberg last year before his junior year then took on a more official role after Hackenberg left college in January to prepare for the NFL. They started by watching every college snap Hackenberg took and dissected what went right and wrong.

“There’s a franchise player in there,” Palmer said. “He showed it his freshman year and he was put in a very difficult situation the last two years. The first thing is pulling that out.”

The Jets took North Carolina State cornerback Juston Burris in the fourth round Saturday and tackle Brandon Shell from South Carolina in the fifth round, a pick they traded for with Washington. All of the attention still was on their second-round pick, though, because of how polarizing the Hackenberg pick is.

Hackenberg’s mechanics suffered at Penn State as he played behind a porous offensive line that got him sacked 103 times. He began to look at the pass rush instead of downfield and had trouble setting his feet without getting hit.

There were plenty of reasons for his struggles, but Hackenberg had to sit back and listen to the critics pick him apart in the pre-draft process. He could not blame the offensive line or Franklin without sounding like he was making excuses and shifting the blame.

All he could do was take it.

“He’s just been a dartboard for three months,” Palmer said. “Now, all of that is irrelevant. He’s a Jet.”

Hackenberg rented a house down the street from Palmer and they began to work a week after his college career ended. They would do classroom work in the morning, then go to the field after breakfast. After lunch, Hackenberg would work with a personal trainer, then he would have 3-5 hours of film study at night.

Palmer had Hackenberg watch film like NFL quarterbacks do. They adopted the Cardinals, where Palmer’s brother Carson is the quarterback. As the Cardinals prepared for playoff games with the Packers and Panthers, Hackenberg watched each team’s last five games on Monday, their base pressures on Tuesday, sub-package pressures on Wednesday, third-down calls on Thursday and red-zone situations on Friday. Before the game, Hackenberg would compare notes with Carson.

“We literally knew more about the game than anybody watching it,” Jordan said.

After the Cardinals lost in the NFC Championship game, they broke down the Broncos before the Super Bowl. Then they studied the 2015 seasons of Carson and Jacksonville’s Blake Bortles and the rookie season of the Colts’ Andrew Luck. Hackenberg would have to give Jordan Palmer a report every morning off his film study, and Palmer would try to teach him about the coverages he did not recognize.

“He’s just obsessed with football,” Palmer said. “He loves it. I think it’s a slam dunk. For me, all this negative stuff is hysterical to me because so many people are so wrong.”

Palmer said all of the issues Hackenberg has dealt with in college makes him ready for New York.

“To have to deal with the amount of adversity he dealt with, he is well-equipped to take on you and your colleagues and the fan base and AFC East, too,” Palmer said. “He is in a good position to do that.”

Source: https://t.co/bnQvZ7tg0H

 

I hope we keep hearing more of these type of stories about him, Jets might have finally, after so many years caught a freaking break at the most important position.

Oh yea Baby!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I luv it!!!!  

[Bocajetfan]

Article is impressive. No Diva here. Showed a dedicated work ethic. Excited to see just how he develops 

[Larz]

2 minutes ago, Jet in PA said:

I'm not sure how to embed but this is another good read.

http://www.pennlive.com/pennstatefootball/index.ssf/2016/04/nfl_draft_2016_jets_did_homewo.html

small hands ?  what is he holding, a nerf ball ?

 

[Lupz27]

The kid is 21, I repeat 21.  That's an awful lot of maturity out of a 21 year old.  This could play out well in 2-3 years.

[The Crusher]

If he is smart that is good because we have nothing but knuckleheads now.  

[neckdemon]

47 minutes ago, Colgateman said:

IT's Official I love christian sackenberg

that penn state program being a sh*t show was a blessing in disguise jets family, we finally have the chosen one

lol.....wasn't it you who called for mac to be fired right after the pick??

[FTL Jet Fan]

47 minutes ago, JETSfaninNE said:

He took 103 sacks in college, I'd say he has balls of steel or just a masochist.  I'll take either.  One thing I noticed from all the film breakdown on him is that he does seem to protect the football.  I couldn't find a total fumble stat for his college career but I'm guessing its pretty low and I find that comforting.

I agree. I just hope he can get over the fear of getting smashed every play. Like an above poster stated he is only 21, so he hopefully he can move past it.  I didn't like the pick at first as I wanted Lynch but I am really pulling for this kid

[Colgateman]

1 minute ago, neckdemon said:

lol.....wasn't it you who called for mac to be fired right after the pick??

I honestly don't remember.

[neckdemon]

13 minutes ago, Colgateman said:

I honestly don't remember.

i mean its cool......people start knee-jerk reactionary threads all too often. but how could you not remember starting a thread titled "fire mac" right after the pick??? lol

[Bocajetfan]

3 minutes ago, neckdemon said:

i mean its cool......people start knee-jerk reactionary threads all too often. but how could you not remember starting a thread titled "fire mac" right after the pick??? lol

Meds ?

[T0mShane]

1 hour ago, dbatesman said:

Wow, so the guy Hackenberg paid to fix him thinks he's fixed? Was his QB coach not available to give a scouting report? What about his high school teammates? His mom maybe?

It's Carson Palmer's baby brother, bro. Put some respeck on it.

[Gastineau Lives]

Oh, it's the old Dbatesman - Shane tandem hand'em, how refreshing.

[Colgateman]

32 minutes ago, neckdemon said:

i mean its cool......people start knee-jerk reactionary threads all too often. but how could you not remember starting a thread titled "fire mac" right after the pick??? lol

Actually I had five budweisers on Friday, was in a pretty bad mood and then I saw that the jets took sir sacks a lot and that put it over the top, so yeah I probably did.

[BroadwayRay]

1 hour ago, FTL Jet Fan said:

I agree. I just hope he can get over the fear of getting smashed every play. Like an above poster stated he is only 21, so he hopefully he can move past it.  I didn't like the pick at first as I wanted Lynch but I am really pulling for this kid

The one thing I can say in his defense is that he never looked scared in the films I watched.

[ZachEY]

2 hours ago, BowlesMovement said:

It's going to be so much fun when every incomplete pass this guy throws will have a thread dedicated to I told you so's from the JN scouts.

As opposed to now, when we have a thread for every video or article that suggests it's all someone else's fault and boyitellya he's gonna be swell.

[Jet Nut]

3 minutes ago, gEYno said:

As opposed to now, when we have a thread for every video or article that suggests it's all someone else's fault and boyitellya he's gonna be swell.

Yeah because fortunately optimistic fans hoping for a break are put in their place and called blind homers by the informed SOJFs who love killing their teams players before they've been introduced.