How the Jets Landed Christian Hackenberg - 2016 MMQB article

[Charlie Brown]

I wanted Hack before he was chosen by the Jets and it is simply to early to judge him IMO.  

I knew based on pre draft reports that Hack could be a 3 year project when they drafted him and I wasn't sure whether we fans would let him develop. 

We shall see .....

[dbatesman]

46 minutes ago, Dcat said:

Kellen Clemens was the #51 pick 11 years ago (which the Jets traded up a little to get afgter having had traded down), yet we didn't hear all the bitching and whining as we do today over Hackenberg.   

Different players get treated differently, more at 11

[C Mart]

Cimini: An inside look at how Jets QB Christian Hackenberg reinvented himself

Jun 23, 2016

probably was posted last June...but I found this part interesting..I didn't post the complete article

....

In January, Jordan Palmer detected a mechanical flaw in Hackenberg's delivery. The discovery happened in their first week together in SoCal, where they studied every pass in his college career -- all 1,235 of them. He misfired 44 percent of the time, including a maddening number of wide receiver screens. NFL assistants who studied his tape will tell you his footwork was sloppy, causing him to be off-target on even the shortest of throws. They suspect it was due to shoddy pass protection (103 sacks), the byproduct of a roster decimated by the post-Jerry Sandusky NCAA sanctions.

Hackenberg displayed a tendency to over-stride, preventing his back hip from firing, according to Palmer. As a result, the ball came out early, causing it to sail. Palmer believes he corrected the problem by emphasizing the triple-threat position. For a quarterback, it means setting up in a way that allows him to throw, run or slide in the pocket out of the same stance. It's the same body position, over and over and over, no exceptions.

"We repped it a million times," said Palmer, adding that Hackenberg has incorporated a warm-up for the triple-threat position into his pregame routine.

Palmer used the Coach's Eye app on his computer to help teach the finer points of the technique. He downloaded video of Hackenberg, made notations on the touch screen and recorded voice-overs, offering tips and criticisms. He emailed it to Hackenberg, who bought an HDMI cable for his laptop and reviewed everything from his rented condo.

"I gave him the diagnosis and provided the prescription," Palmer said.

It was part of Hackenberg's California experience, which differed from the typical pre-draft prep.

Instead of focusing entirely on the physical elements of the position, Palmer worked on Hackenberg's mind, simulating an NFL environment. For three weeks, he cast Hackenberg in the role of Carson Palmer, NFL quarterback.

As Palmer and the Cardinals prepared for their playoff game against the Green Bay Packers, so did Hackenberg, who watched a week of tape. On Monday, he studied the Packers' last five games. On Tuesday, he broke down their base pressures. On Wednesday, it was their sub-defenses. On Thursday, it was third down. On Friday, it was red zone. On Saturday, he talked with Palmer by phone to compare notes.

Hackenberg repeated the process for the Cardinals' second opponent, the Carolina Panthers. He didn't stop when Arizona's season stopped; he did a complete game prep for the Super Bowl, analyzing the Denver Broncos' defense.

"It's basically what I'm going to be doing this year, so I feel like it was really helpful from that standpoint," said Hackenberg, who wrapped up the 10-week program by breaking down every throw from Andrew Luck's terrific rookie season with the Indianapolis Colts in 2012.

.....

http://www.espn.com/blog/new-york-jets/post/_/id/61100/an-inside-look-at-how-jets-qb-christian-hackenberg-reinvented-himself

[rangerous]

7 hours ago, j4jets said:

Actually, it's not comforting. If his 2nd round pick was a BPA on his board and he failed to take a single snap in a season we would've benefitted from even Tom Tupa playing QB, that's extremely worrisome, not comforting. I take my words back actually. Tom Tupa was probably a better QB of the two. 

just because hack didn't take snap one in 2015 is not an indication of his ability.  he didn't lose the qb competition because there was no qb competition.  fitz was ordained the starter in february followed by geno and petty. the plan to sit hack for the season was already determined.

what the anti hackers fail to realize is there was a reason why and where he was picked.  it wasn't some pie in the sky grab by mac for a player.  and it wasn't a desparation pick.  the other point is if he's as calculating with his other picks it won't be a surprise if the jets pick a qb at 6 or with a high pick this year. 

and tom tupa showed that you don't really need to be a physically great qb to play the position.  i remember that game.  as i recall he was wearing punter shoes while playing qb.

[Dcat]

28 minutes ago, dbatesman said:

Different players get treated differently, more at 11

for no logical reason sometimes.  So tell me why it's any different?  Nobody screamed about Clemens the first season he was drafted or even the second.  

Never mind.  Carry on.  Wouldn't want to disturb the hypocritical "outrage".....

[dbatesman]

1 hour ago, Dcat said:

for no logical reason sometimes.  So tell me why it's any different?  Nobody screamed about Clemens the first season he was drafted or even the second.  

Never mind.  Carry on.  Wouldn't want to disturb the hypocritical "outrage".....

The reason is that their collegiate profiles were completely different. And anyway plenty of people thought Clemens was a dud of a pick so I frankly have no idea what your point is here.

[Dcat]

point is that you and others are greatly overreacting to the Hackenberg pick. I could see it if Hack was a wasted 1st round pick like Lynch, who will  probably turn out to be a bust for Elway, even an early 2nd round pick like Geno.  Geno was picked much earlier and everyone pretty much realized he was going to be a bust  by the end of the first season, yet no one slammed Idzik for that in the same way as Mac gets slammed for a much later 2nd round untested QB.  Everyone acts like the kid should have been capable of starting from day 1.  He's a late 2nd round pick but expectations around here were that of an early 1st round pick.

That's my point.  But don't let me stop your complaining.

[Tinstar]

1 hour ago, C Mart said:

Cimini: An inside look at how Jets QB Christian Hackenberg reinvented himself

Jun 23, 2016

probably was posted last June...but I found this part interesting..I didn't post the complete article

....

In January, Jordan Palmer detected a mechanical flaw in Hackenberg's delivery. The discovery happened in their first week together in SoCal, where they studied every pass in his college career -- all 1,235 of them. He misfired 44 percent of the time, including a maddening number of wide receiver screens. NFL assistants who studied his tape will tell you his footwork was sloppy, causing him to be off-target on even the shortest of throws. They suspect it was due to shoddy pass protection (103 sacks), the byproduct of a roster decimated by the post-Jerry Sandusky NCAA sanctions.

Hackenberg displayed a tendency to over-stride, preventing his back hip from firing, according to Palmer. As a result, the ball came out early, causing it to sail. Palmer believes he corrected the problem by emphasizing the triple-threat position. For a quarterback, it means setting up in a way that allows him to throw, run or slide in the pocket out of the same stance. It's the same body position, over and over and over, no exceptions.

"We repped it a million times," said Palmer, adding that Hackenberg has incorporated a warm-up for the triple-threat position into his pregame routine.

Palmer used the Coach's Eye app on his computer to help teach the finer points of the technique. He downloaded video of Hackenberg, made notations on the touch screen and recorded voice-overs, offering tips and criticisms. He emailed it to Hackenberg, who bought an HDMI cable for his laptop and reviewed everything from his rented condo.

"I gave him the diagnosis and provided the prescription," Palmer said.

It was part of Hackenberg's California experience, which differed from the typical pre-draft prep.

Instead of focusing entirely on the physical elements of the position, Palmer worked on Hackenberg's mind, simulating an NFL environment. For three weeks, he cast Hackenberg in the role of Carson Palmer, NFL quarterback.

As Palmer and the Cardinals prepared for their playoff game against the Green Bay Packers, so did Hackenberg, who watched a week of tape. On Monday, he studied the Packers' last five games. On Tuesday, he broke down their base pressures. On Wednesday, it was their sub-defenses. On Thursday, it was third down. On Friday, it was red zone. On Saturday, he talked with Palmer by phone to compare notes.

Hackenberg repeated the process for the Cardinals' second opponent, the Carolina Panthers. He didn't stop when Arizona's season stopped; he did a complete game prep for the Super Bowl, analyzing the Denver Broncos' defense.

"It's basically what I'm going to be doing this year, so I feel like it was really helpful from that standpoint," said Hackenberg, who wrapped up the 10-week program by breaking down every throw from Andrew Luck's terrific rookie season with the Indianapolis Colts in 2012.

.....

http://www.espn.com/blog/new-york-jets/post/_/id/61100/an-inside-look-at-how-jets-qb-christian-hackenberg-reinvented-himself

This is why it was worth spending a 2nd round pick on this kid . If it doesn't work, it was still worth it when you're trying to fix the most important position on a football team .

[C Mart]

And one more from predraft '16..I know it's not going to change peoples opinion of him..Just some info on his background / PSU career...Can he be rebuilt is the question. Well worth the pick to at least try. And again, we're talking about a 18-20 yr old kid at a major football program that was going through what no other program had experienced...

CHRISTIAN HACKENBERG: THE MYSTERY MAN OF THE NFL DRAFT

 Lars Anderson

Senior Writer

April 19, 2016

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — Christian Hackenberg will never forget those long, languid Sundays in the autumn of 2013. Those were, he realizes now, some of his happiest college days.

Surrounded by a few of his football buddies, Christian would sit in his dorm room at Penn State and watch the New England Patriots. Leaning in close to the bluish glow of the television screen, Christian would listen carefully as Tom Brady called the signals at the line of scrimmage. Hearing Brady's cadence before the ball was snapped, Christian excitedly would tell his friends the precise play New England was about to run.

He's checking to a Sluggo Seam! He's calling a draw! He's throwing a slant!

At first, his teammates rolled their eyes at the fresh-faced, apple-cheeked quarterback. But then, seconds later, the Patriots would execute the exact play that Christian had divined. This happened over and over as they all feasted on pizza.

"We ran the Patriots playbook basically verbatim my freshman year," Hackenberg said. "I watched more tape of Tom Brady than probably anyone outside of the New England organization. I loved the fact that it was a quarterback-driven system and that I had the ability to change things at the line, just like Brady."

It was in this Patriots system, taught to Christian by then-head coach Bill O'Brien, that the 6'4", 223-pound Hackenberg flourished as a freshman. Named the starter after preseason camp, Hackenberg in his first three games completed 71.7 percent of his passes for 851 yards. He was twice named Big Ten Freshman of the Week and was voted the Big Ten Freshman of the Year.

But it was the way he played that seduced NFL scouts.

He displayed the arm strength of a young Jay Cutler and the pocket presence of a young Brady, allowing himself to be sacked only 21 times in 12 games. He needed to improve his touch on intermediate routes and long throws, but he exhibited such arresting promise that it was taken as an article of faith among NFL scouts that, if he kept improving and turned pro after his junior season, he would be a top-five pick in the 2016 draft, if not the No. 1 overall selection.

"He had all the characteristics of a future franchise NFL quarterback as a freshman," said one longtime NFC scout. "There wasn't a throw he couldn't make, his accuracy was good and he was clearly the leader of the team as an 18-year-old kid. Older guys followed him and he was a film junkie. The kid almost seemed too good to be true."

---

Christian Hackenberg will never forget those long, languid Sundays in the autumn of 2014. Those were, he realizes now, some of his most unhappy college days.

He'd spend the mornings in the football complex watching the horror show that was his performance in the previous day's game. Four starting offensive linemen had departed from the '13 team—two guards were now former defensive linemen—and Hackenberg spent most fall Saturdays running for his life. He also was without his top two receivers from the previous year, Allen Robinson and Brandon Felder, and during the '14 season, his callow wideouts struggled to break open.

He was also now piloting the spread offense of head coach James Franklin, who replaced O'Brien—the man Christian had come to State College to play for, the man he viewed almost like a second father—after O'Brien left for the Houston Texans.

Franklin's offense was tailor-made for a fleet-footed, zone-read quarterback, not a classic pocket passer like Christian. The sophomore signal-caller also no longer had as much freedom to change plays at the line of scrimmage.

Defenses teed off on Hackenberg like bulls to a waving red flag; he was sacked 43 times, tied for third most in the nation. In response, a shell-shocked Hackenberg forced throws into coverage and launched prayers off his back foot. More worrisome to NFL scouts, his line of sight shifted: His eyes, especially late in the season, were more trained on the defensive linemen chasing after him than on his receivers sprinting down the field.

As the losses and interceptions mounted—Penn State would finish 2-6 in the Big Ten and Hackenberg would throw 15 picks—Christian became increasingly withdrawn. On the sideline he often stood apart from his teammates with a distant stare carved on his face. In postgame press conferences his mood could be sullen as he pulled his baseball cap low and gave clipped answers to reporters. NFL scouts took note of a possible attitude problem.

During the week, Christian didn't want to leave his on-campus apartment. He stopped returning phone calls from his parents, high school friends and former coaches. And on Sunday afternoons he typically watched NFL action alone, still replaying his own game from Saturday in his mind, throw-by-throw, play-by-play, pondering what he could have done better.  

"I wanted to create plays that weren't there as a sophomore and a lot of times it washed out and ended badly," Christian said. "I struggled to accept the fact that there were things that I couldn't control. I wanted to make perfect plays and that would lead to mistakes. I got very frustrated with myself. It got to the point where I became an introvert."

---

On the eve of the 2016 NFL draft, these two images of Christian Hackenberg—the successful, confident freshman diagnosing Tom Brady's plays versus the struggling, shattered sophomore who holed up in the Nittany Apartments complex—distill the quandary now facing NFL teams when it comes to the former Penn State quarterback. Indeed, according to many scouts, Hackenberg is the greatest mystery in the 81st annual NFL player selection meeting that will be held in Chicago's Auditorium Theatre April 28-30.

Is he worth a first-round pick, a player who one day could become the face of a winning franchise? Or is he a mid-round project, a quarterback who will need time to regain his confidence and refine his mechanics before he'd be capable of just becoming a serviceable backup?

"There is no doubt in my mind that Christian Hackenberg can be an elite player in this league if he's coached properly," said one NFL head coach. "He developed a lot of bad habits in his last two years at Penn State. He got beat up really bad, and as a consequence, his footwork regressed and his throwing mechanics got all messed up. That is what happens to young quarterbacks who get the s--t beat out of them."

But that same coach said if Hackenberg sits for two years, learns and regains that lost muscle memory that he started developing as a freshman, "he could be damn special. He's got all the arm talent, he's got the desire, he's got the work ethic and he's got the charisma to be a leader. He just needs to relearn a lot of things and forget a lot of bad habits. This is hard to do, but it can be done, especially with a kid like Christian who wants it so bad."

The process of rebuilding Christian Hackenberg already has begun. Last Jan. 5 he moved into a house in Dana Point, California, to train with Jordan Palmer, the younger brother of Carson who played parts of six seasons in the NFL as a backup quarterback. During his first 10 days in Orange County, Hackenberg didn't throw a single pass. Instead, he and Palmer watched every play from his Penn State career, dissecting the three to five seconds from snap to whistle like detectives in search of clues.

Hackenberg's biggest problem, Palmer believes, was his poor starting point on many of his throws. Sometimes the relentless defensive pressure caused Hackenberg to begin his throwing motion from an unorthodox angle, but other times it was as if he simply forgot the fundamentals first taught to him by his dad in their backyard when Christian was five.

For one week in late January, Palmer had his pupil play the role of his older brother. During the six days that the Arizona Cardinals prepared to play the Carolina Panthers in the NFC Championship Game, Hackenberg mirrored Carson's preparation, from film study to drills to even nutrition.

Hackenberg spoke to Carson on a conference call. He spent hours diagramming Cardinals plays on a dry erase board as his coach—Jordan—bombarded him with questions. In every way possible, Jordan simulated an NFL game week for Christian.

During that week, hoping to improve his accuracy, Christian started many mornings at 5:45 a.m. with Jordan focusing on his footwork. One drill had Palmer flipping a ball on the ground and Hackenberg chasing it, picking it up and then quickly hopping into the proper throwing position. Over and over, as the morning sun rose into the California sky, Christian ran after the bouncing ball as if chasing a chicken, grabbing it, setting his feet and holding the ball with two hands near his right ear.

In spite of the work, Christian struggled with accuracy at the NFL combine in Indianapolis in late February. In his throwing session in front of scouts, he overthrew several receivers and forced a few others to jump to make the catch.

"Hackenberg didn't look comfortable at the combine," said a longtime scout. "He seemed jittery the way that Mark Sanchez looked jittery to me at the combine."

But three weeks later at Hackenberg's pro day, held at Penn State's indoor practice facility, he once again looked like an elite NFL prospect. He attempted 60 passes; only a few failed to hit his receiver in stride. Facing no rush, he displayed a feathery touch on intermediate routes and flashed the arm strength to connect with receivers 60 yards down the field.

The performance amplified the nagging question about Hackenberg: How good can he consistently be?

---

For as long as he can remember, football has been Christian's magnetic north, the compass that has guided his life. His father, Erick, was a quarterback at Virginia and Division II Susquehanna. He later became a volunteer assistant high school coach at Marian Catholic in Tamaqua, Pennsylvania, where Christian's first memory is of being a water boy for the team.

The oldest of four boys, Christian grew up in locker rooms and on sidelines. (His mother, Nicole, had been a standout volleyball player at Marian Catholic and became the team's volleyball coach.) Little Christian constantly asked his dad to throw a football after games and after school. Erick didn't push football on Christian, but he insisted on one thing: If his son was going to play quarterback, he had to master the fundamentals.

"If we played catch and I was throwing the ball the wrong way, my dad would just stop throwing," Christian said. "I had to do it the right way. He didn't want me to form bad habits. He subtly sculpted my throwing motion."

"As a kid Christian was tall and long for his age, and one bad habit that tall kids can develop is having a long release," said Erick. "I wanted him to build good muscle memory from the start. So we practiced how to hold the ball correctly, proper footwork and having a quick release. My dad was a high school football coach and that was what he did with me."

The Hackenbergs moved to Palmyra, Virginia, when Christian was in third grade. Erick was a volunteer football coach at a private high school in Charlottesville, where he was the team's play-caller.

Beginning in fourth grade, Christian became a fixture on the team's sideline, standing next to his dad, watching him watch the game, analyzing what his dad, the coach, was looking at during plays. Afterward, father and son would discuss certain plays deep into the night, the strategy of the game sparking a fire in young Christian's imagination.

In fifth grade Christian began playing Pop Warner football. His dad was his coach and taught Christian, the team's quarterback, to do everything with precision. By midseason, rival coaches marveled at how little Christian could carry out a ball fake on a play-action pass like he'd been doing it since he could walk—which essentially he had.

"When Christian and I played catch, we always used a big ball that's used in high school," said Erick. "So when he started playing with a little ball, he could wing it."

At the start of 10th grade, Christian enrolled in Fork Union (Va.) Military Academy, located 15 miles from their house. As a lanky sophomore Christian began the season playing sparingly as the team's quarterback in its two-minute offense, slinging the ball all over the field in Fork Union's pro-style attack.

"Christian was so good that by midseason we made him the starter," said Mickey Sullivan, Fork Union's head coach. "The thing that stuck out was that Christian, as a young kid, felt that he was the best player on the field. He wasn't arrogant. It was just his belief. But that thinking can get you in trouble.

"We got into it a few times on the sidelines because he didn't mind taking chances. But he usually was smarter than I was. When we'd look at the tape later, the guy who I said wasn't open actually was. Some of the throws Christian made were just spectacular."

Passing for 1,165 yards as a sophomore, Hackenberg led his team to the state championship. Scholarship offers from around the nation started to fill the Hackenbergs' mailbox. Christian and his parents developed a quick rapport with Alabama's Nick Saban, who visited Fork Union to check out the 5-star quarterback. Midway through his junior season, Christian listed the Crimson Tide as his top school.

Like most college coaches, Saban was particularly impressed with Hackenberg's maturity. Though he didn't live on campus like most students, Christian had to be standing tall at Fork Union at 6:45 a.m. each weekday for inspection.

If his uniform was not perfectly pressed or his shoes spotlessly shined or his face freshly shaved, he would be punished. But he never missed a single inspection in three years. And in a class populated with future Ivy Leaguers, he graduated 12th out of 115 with a 3.89 grade point average on a 4.0 scale.

Midway through his junior year, Bill O'Brien was hired at Penn State. Hackenberg's roots run deep in Pennsylvania coal country—one of his great-great uncles, Michael Paslawsky played for the Coaldale (Pa.) Big Green, one of the nation's first pro football teams. When Christian met O'Brien at Penn State's junior day in February 2012, he immediately was bewitched.

Christian and his parents talked to O'Brien for about an hour in his office. O'Brien, who had been New England's offensive coordinator in 2011, showed the family video clips of Tom Brady and the Patriots offense, telling them how Christian would be an ideal quarterback in his pro-style, QB-centric attack.

Later that afternoon, as Christian and his dad listened to O'Brien speak to all of the recruits in the team meeting room, Christian elbowed his father. "This is it," Christian whispered. "I want to play for this guy." He soon verbally committed to play for Penn State.

Five months later, Christian and Erick were driving through Richmond, Virginia, when a news report crackled over the radio: The NCAA hammered Penn State for violations stemming from the Jerry Sandusky scandal. The sanctions, considered the harshest in history at the time, included a four-year postseason ban and scholarship reductions. (In 2014 the NCAA lifted the bowl ban and restored all the scholarships.)

A few Penn State commitments from the 2013 class—including wide receiver Will Fuller, who would go to Notre Dame—chose to attend different schools. The Hackenberg family, along with the families of seven other recruits, met with O'Brien in July 2012 in Happy Valley. "This won't be easy," O'Brien told the families, "but it will be huge for the program moving forward if you come here."

After the emotionally charged hour-long sit-down, Christian conferred with his parents, then walked into O'Brien's office. "Let's do this," he told his coach. The two embraced, and Hackenberg immediately became one of the most important players in Penn State history, because he gave the country's largest dues-paying alumni base (over 177,000) something it sorely needed:

Hope.

---

Charlie Fisher can still recall his aha Hackenberg moment. Christian had only been on the Penn State campus for two weeks of summer camp in 2013 when Fisher, the Nittany Lions quarterbacks coach, put his true freshman signal-caller in a red-zone drill.

Dropping back to pass at the 10-yard line and facing tight zone coverage, Christian spotted the tiniest of windows to throw through as a wide receiver ran along the back of the end zone. Christian unleashed a fastball—Fisher could practically hear the ball hiss through the air—and threaded it past two diving defenders in bracket coverage and into the hands of his receiver.

"That was when I realized Christian was different," said Fisher, now the head coach at Western Illinois. "I had Jay Cutler at Vanderbilt, and that was a Jay Cutler kind of throw. But it wasn't just his arm that made Christian special. He had great pocket management and he was ahead of the curve in terms of intangibles. He was intelligent, older guys were drawn to him, and he had this thirst to prepare. You could tell he came from a football family."

A week before the first game of 2013, Christian was in his dorm room when he spotted a story about him with a headline that read: "The Savior Has Arrived."

"I hadn't even played down a yet," said Hackenberg. "I was like, 'What the heck is going on here?'"

In his first college game, Hackenberg looked the part of a program-changing player. In the fourth quarter against Syracuse at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, he threw a thing of beauty to wide receiver Geno Lewis on a deep post route for a 54-yard score. The play sealed Penn State's 23-17 win—and further embellished the growing myth among the Nittany Lions faithful that Hackenberg would somehow redeem their school and lead the program out of the Sandusky-era darkness.

"The whole fanbase put so much on Christian," said Fisher. "I've never seen anything like it. But Christian just kept getting better."

His final game of 2013 was his finest. Facing No. 15 Wisconsin on the road at Camp Randall Stadium, Hackenberg was nearly flawless, unleashing one highlight throw after the next. Changing plays at the line like a young Peyton Manning and making full-field reads, Christian often connected with this third option against the Badgers. He completed 21 of 30 passes for 339 yards and four touchdowns as Penn State, a 24-point underdog, toppled the Badgers 31-24.

Watching the game on television from afar, an NFL scout, breathing heavy at what he had just witnessed, scribbled in a notebook: C. Hackenberg might be the best NFL QB prospect as a freshman that I've seen in a decade.

---

His cell phone rang on New Year's Eve 2013 at about 10:45 p.m. Christian was at a friend's house in Virginia. "Hey man, I want you to know that you are going to do great things in the future," Bill O'Brien said. "But I'm going to be moving on to coach the Houston Texans."  

Christian felt like he'd just been whacked by a two-by-four in the back of the knees. Before he had left Happy Valley for winter break, he and O'Brien had talked in the coach's office about the golden promise that the distant horizons held. "As you continue to learn I'm going to give you the ability to call what play you want," O'Brien said to Hackenberg then. "It will take some time, but I want you to have the keys to drive the car of our offense."

But now Christian was crestfallen at O'Brien's news, though he hid his emotions from his coach. "I understand, Coach," Christian told O'Brien on New Year's Eve. "You have to do what's best for your family."

As soon as word spread that O'Brien was leaving Penn State, coaches in Tuscaloosa let it be known through back channels that Christian would still be welcome at Alabama if he wanted to transfer. But Christian's eyes never wandered, and two weeks later he met with new Penn State coach James Franklin at the Nittany Lion Inn in State College.

The two never hit it off like Christian had with O'Brien—Christian met one-on-one with O'Brien, his play-caller, virtually every day; he rarely had individual sit-downs with Franklin, who turned over the running of his offense to assistants—and the marriage of Hackenberg's talents and Franklin's spread attack failed almost from the start.

"I was never given as much freedom at the line to change the play in Coach Franklin's offense, but a lot of that was because we were so young at so many positions and it would have been hard to pull off," said Hackenberg, who was the first sophomore in Penn State history to be voted team captain. "We struggled with our identity. It was hard, but I learned from it."

Playing behind a patchwork offensive line, Christian was sacked 83 times over his final two seasons—the most of any quarterback in college football in any division over that stretch. He typically only had time to look at his primary receiver, and if he wasn't open, Christian would then scramble or try to make a perfect throw to a covered receiver.

"Christian got hit a lot and I should have done a better job coaching him and getting him to stay true to his fundamentals," said Ricky Rahne, Penn State's quarterbacks coach last season. "The hits take a toll on a quarterback and that's when they lose their fundamentals. But the thing about Christian was that he kept getting up and kept trying to make plays."

Just how inept was his O-line? Against Northwestern in 2014, linemen Brian Gaia and Andrew Nelson wound up blocking each other on a key 4th-and-1 play that was stuffed for a two-yard loss. And against Temple in 2015, the Owls, on a 3rd-and-15, rushed only two players against six blockers—and still sacked Hackenberg in less than three seconds.

"Penn State's offensive line was so bad during Christian's last two years, they didn't even know how to hold correctly," said Mickey Sullivan, Hackenberg's high school coach. "I mean they couldn't even have played dead in an old Cowboy Western. I'm sorry, but they were awful. So many times Christian didn't have a chance."

In his final two years Christian never looked like the quarterback he'd been as a freshman. His completion percentage dropped from 58.9 percent in '13 to 55.8 in '14 to 53.5 in '15. But one thing did change in his junior year: his demeanor.

A professor in one of his classes suggested that he take off his cap and smile more in postgame interviews, which Christian did. He took up golf and discovered that, alone in the pines, he could unwind and let the pressure of being Penn State's quarterback blow away in the breeze. Self-taught, he quickly became a 15-handicap.

"I tried to enjoy each moment of my junior year, even if people were writing bad stories about me and things were tough on the field," Christian said. "All the close people in my life reminded me of how lucky I was just to be playing college football at Penn State."

On Jan. 2, after the Nittany Lions lost to Georgia 24-17 in the TaxSlayer Bowl, Christian walked into a concrete hallway at EverBank Field in Jacksonville, Florida, and, without notes, told reporters he was leaving Penn State to enter the NFL draft. He thanked six different people by name, starting with O'Brien, but never mentioned Franklin.

Hackenberg—who finished his career as Penn State's all-time leader in passing yards (8,457), completions (693) and passing touchdowns (48)—later called his head coach to apologize for the oversight and thank him for his support. (Franklin was not made available to Bleacher Report for this story.)

"There were things that could have been handled better, but what matters most is that Christian stuck it out at Penn State and never left," said Fisher, his quarterbacks coach in '14. "He got hit a lot and that takes a toll on a quarterback in any league. You get gun-shy. But he fought through the adversity."

"Not many NFL teams have called me to pick my brain about Christian," said Rahne. "This leads me to believe that teams are lying in the weeds and hiding their interest in Christian."

---

It's a sun-splashed April afternoon in State College, and the quarterback is behind the wheel of his 2001 Chevy Silverado. He's telling the story of meeting Peyton Manning at the Manning Passing Academy the previous summer and peppering the five-time NFL MVP with questions about how he prepared for games.

"You've got to watch film with purpose," Manning told Hackenberg. "Don't just put in the hours studying, put in quality hours."

The Silverado nears Beaver Stadium. As Christian gazes at the structure that stretches high into the blue sky, so many memories rush at him—the touchdowns and the sacks, the triumphs and the trials—and his eyes lock on the stadium for three, four, five seconds.

"Some really good things and some tough things happened here," Christian said. "I know I need to be more consistent, but I'm super confident that my ceiling is through the roof. Who knows how good I can be? My biggest fear is not being able to maximize my potential. I know I'm not even close to where I can be."

The Silverado and its driver roll on. Where Christian Hackenberg is actually heading...is the great unknown of this draft. 

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2632381-christian-hackenberg-the-mystery-man-of-the-nfl-draft

[Cyberjet]

Thanks. Good read. 

[Cyberjet]

11 hours ago, thadude said:

Just watched Gruden's qb camp with Hack

 

dude is a hot mess.  When Gruden asked him why his footwork was so putrid his response was "It is what it is... It's what Coach Franklin told me to do"

 

What a clown.  This guy is in the NFL?

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2016/04/19/jon-gruden-will-be-shocked-if-hackenberg-isnt-a-first-round-pick/

11 hours ago, thadude said:

 

 

[Jet Life]

Hack was the best player on their board ? Yikes .. let's hope this board is better!

[Jet Life]

3 hours ago, Dcat said:

for no logical reason sometimes.  So tell me why it's any different?  Nobody screamed about Clemens the first season he was drafted or even the second.  

Never mind.  Carry on.  Wouldn't want to disturb the hypocritical "outrage".....

The people who didn't scream about Clemens have now learned from their mistakes !! 

[Fantasy Island]

4 hours ago, Charlie Brown said:

I wanted Hack before he was chosen by the Jets and it is simply to early to judge him IMO.  

I knew based on pre draft reports that Hack could be a 3 year project when they drafted him and I wasn't sure whether we fans would let him develop. 

We shall see .....

The NFL doesn't have minor leagues for development.  The window for careers in the Not For Long league need talented players drafted in the first 3 rds so as to make an impact.  McCagnan was just in over his head as is Bowles.  Both need to go.

[Fantasy Island]

20 hours ago, Gas2No99 said:

How the Jets Landed Christian Hackenberg

The Penn State quarterback won over Todd Bowles & Co. during a secret workout in early April, but he still wasn’t a sure thing. At the last minute, New York thought it would lose its man to his old college coach

Joe Robbins/Getty Images

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — In late March, NFL agent Rich Rosa fielded a call from the Jets about setting up a workout with his client, Christian Hackenberg, the polarizing quarterback from Penn State. But the team had one non-negotiable condition: it would have to remain absolutely secret.

“The word that comes to mind is intensity, just the level of intensity that they wanted to make sure it was kept extremely quiet and that nobody knew it was going to happen,” says Noel LaMontagne, Rosa’s business partner at Compass Sports Advisors.

Mired in a contract stalemate with Ryan Fitzpatrick, the Jets’ front office didn’t want the New York media to anoint Hackenberg as the franchise’s lifeline. On April 10, two weeks after the initial call, general manager Mike Maccagnan, head coach Todd Bowles, offensive coordinator Chan Gailey, quarterbacks coach Kevin Patullo, and two scouts drove to State College to conduct the workout at Penn State’s indoor football facility. The Jets delegation worked out the young quarterback for an hour, testing him on the aspects of the pro-style offense that weren’t a part of the Nittany Lions’ shotgun spread offense for the past two seasons.

One of the criticisms of Hackenberg is that he can’t make quick throws under pressure. So Jets coaches sped things up and put him through quick-release passing drills. They tested to see if he could throw off balance, watched his footwork closely, and put him in scenarios that they hadn’t seen on his game film. “It was about getting a really good feel for the way they are going to coach me going forward,” Hackenberg says.

After the workout, the group grabbed an early lunch at Happy Valley Brewery, a popular spot in State College. Rosa and LaMontagne had suggested the group stay at Penn State’s facility, where they could remain completely private, but the Jets risked the possibility of being seen with Hackenberg in public. “They said, ‘No, we want him in a natural setting. We want to see him in football, but we want to see him as a person, too,’ ” LaMontagne says. Hackenberg made easy conversation with Gailey about the Masters, which was playing out on the bar’s TVs. (Gailey is an avid golfer; Hackenberg is just picking up the game.) Because it was early for lunch on a Sunday, the Jets coaches went unnoticed at the restaurant. 

The pressing need for this trip to Penn State was to spend quality time with Hackenberg, and to settle the controversy of his up-and-down college career. As a true freshman, Hackenberg mastered Bill O’Brien’s pro-style offense. But after O’Brien left to coach the Texans, Hackenberg struggled with accuracy in Franklin’s shotgun system, throwing more interceptions (15) than touchdowns (12) as a sophomore, and finishing with a 53.5% completion rate his junior year in 2015.

Photo: Gene J. Puskar/AP

Bowles needed to hear Hackenberg explain his challenges with the coaching change when Franklin (left) took over at Penn State. 

 

As part of the evaluation process, Bowles wanted to hear Hackenberg explain his challenges with the coaching change, in order put to rest any concerns about his coachability. “I definitely needed to hear from him and hear what his thought process was and how he went through changing cultures and different coordinators in a system,” Bowles says. “He was forthright with everything, he understood that he has things he needs to work on, he acknowledged the coaching changes and he tried to do well in both systems. He admitted that he had some bad games but he also had some very good games, so I was very impressed with the way he presented himself.”

O’Brien, who remains close with Hackenberg, says the Texans also gave his former charge a high draft grade. “Christian is big and strong and throws a good football,” O’Brien says. “He's shown the ability to overcome adversity. It's hard to evaluate his career. There was a coaching change, and he had to adapt. Now, I watched a lot of his film [from 2014 and 2015], and I saw some bad plays, like people talk about. But I saw a lot of good plays too. We had him evaluated as a really good quarterback prospect.”

Hackenberg also worked out for Philadelphia, Cleveland, Washington and Dallas. The Eagles were the only other team that kept its workout under wraps to the degree that New York did. “It was more than what you would normally experience from your average, everyday pre-draft workout,” LaMontagne says. “You can never read too much into that stuff, because there are always the smoke screens and the games that are being played for the right [draft] position, but sometimes things just feel a little bit different. And there were plenty of red flags, or green flags, depending on your perspective.”

According to Rosa, Hackenberg’s stock began to rise about two weeks before the draft. “The last couple of weeks he really gained momentum, because the more he got in front of teams, whether it be a private workout or a visit, they got to see how much he loves football and the passion he has for it,” he said. “He is a tough kid and he took a beating the last two years and it never fazed him.”

Three days after the workout at Penn State, Hackenberg visited the Jets facility in Florham Park, N.J. “I had a very productive conversation with Mike [Maccagnan] after his workout and they felt very strongly about him as a player and his development,” Rosa said. And Hackenberg himself thought the workout and visit went smoothly. “I had a really good vibe coming from the Jets,” he said.

* * *

Photo: Charles Rex Arbogast/AP.

It was appropriate that former Jets quarterback Chad Pennington announced their second-round selection of a quarterback. 

 

When the Texans traded up two spots to jump ahead of the Jets to pick at No. 50, New York management held their breath. Was this an O’Brien play to rekindle the flame with his one-season-sensation? “The thought did cross our mind,” Maccagnan said Friday night after the second and third rounds wrapped up.

Meanwhile, at home in Palmyra, Virginia, Hackenberg thought it was Houston calling him at 8:45 p.m. Hackenberg was in his backyard playing a game of cornhole with his private quarterback coach Jordan Palmer (Carson Palmer’s younger brother) and LaMontagne, when his mom ran out the back door and whistled for her son to come inside and pick up his phone. “We walked up the steps of the deck behind him and we’re thinking that he is going to Houston,” LaMontagne says. “He is going to be a Texan, this is awesome, he’s back with Bill. And then Houston ends up picking a center and Jordan and I look at each other and simultaneously, we’re like what the f-- , what just happened? Are we witnessing a Mohamed Sanu moment here?”

Drafted by Cincinnati in the third round of the 2012 draft, current Falcons receiver Sanu was the target of a practical joke in the first round. As the Bengals were getting ready to make the 27th pick, Sanu received a phone call. It was a prank caller pretending to be Cincinnati personnel welcoming him to the team. Sanu, his family and his agents all fell for it. But Hackenberg wasn’t the butt of a joke; the Jets were on the line. Unsettled at quarterback, it wasn’t surprising that New York drafted their ninth quarterback in the past 11 years, a league-high and their fourth for a fourth straight year. But Maccagnan refused to acknowledge the obvious implications of the message sent by spending a valuable second-round pick on the most heavily scrutinized quarterback of this draft. “I wouldn’t classify him [as a starter or as a developmental quarterback],” he said. “Every player you take you would like to think they will be a starter. Even if you take a right guard in the second round, you still are going to have the same intention that you think he could be a starting-caliber player. I don’t think there is a standard that you have to fall into.”

AFC East rival Buffalo expressed as much interest in Hackenberg as the Jets did, Rosa said. Though the Bills didn’t work him out privately, they attended Penn State’s pro day and remained interested in Hackenberg throughout the process. Buffalo wanted to pick a quarterback, but weren’t willing to use a high pick on the position. The Bills ended up making their quarterback pick in the fourth round (Cardale Jones).

With the addition of Hackenberg, the Jets now have three backup quarterbacks, including Geno Smith and 2015 fourth-round selection Bryce Petty. But no starter. The team has drawn a line in the sand with Ryan Fitzpatrick’s contract, and although Maccagnan has insisted that drafting Hackenberg does not affect the team’s goal to resign Fitzpatrick, the underlying message is clear: Fitzpatrick is a bridge, and Hackenberg is waiting in the wings.

Since taking over before the 2015 season, Maccagnan has balanced his strategy between winning now and building for the future. Even though the Jets GM has made big free-agent signings (Darrelle Revis, Matt Forte), the Hackenberg pick proves this front office doesn’t view their current roster as an immediate Super Bowl contender. If they did, they wouldn’t have spent a second-round pick on a quarterback and they’d be willing to devote significant money to Fitzpatrick’s contract.

Maccagnan has a best-player-available draft philosophy, and at No. 51, Hackenberg was in the highest-rated group still on the Jets draft board—a prospect whom the decision-makers viewed, for all his flaws, as a solid kid with a high ceiling. The Jets weren’t locked in at the quarterback position with their second-round choice, but of those players rated highest, Hackenberg had the most potential.

“There is a learning curve,” Bowles said. “When we picked Leonard [Williams] last year, we had Mo [Wilkerson], Sheldon [Richardson] and Snacks [Harrison]. We knew he wasn’t going to come in and start right away. It’s no different this year. We picked the best player at the spot and it just happened to be a quarterback.”

Gailey will be charged with helping Hackenberg reach his “high ceiling’ and O’Brien thinks he’s in good hands to do that. “It's a great spot for him,” O’Brien says. “I coached for Gailey one year at Georgia Tech, and that's a perfect coach for him to learn from. Chan's a very patient guy. Good teacher.”

With the Hackenberg pick, the Jets’ quarterback situation is now even more unsettled. But one thing is certain: Of the four quarterbacks, only one has a guaranteed spot on the 2016 roster, and that’s Hackenberg. 

• Question or comment? Email us at talkback@themmqb.com - Fri May. 6, 2016

Yes, Hackenberg is still learning the game of football.

 Gotta love our scouts.

 

 

[T0mShane]

 

Quote

The oldest of four boys, Christian grew up in locker rooms and on sidelines. (His mother, Nicole, had been a standout volleyball player at Marian Catholic and became the team's volleyball coach.) Little Christian constantly asked his dad to throw a football after games and after school. Erick didn't push football on Christian, but he insisted on one thing: If his son was going to play quarterback, he had to master the fundamentals.

Little Christian.

[joewilly12]

Christian Hackenberg must start before Jets GM Mike Maccagnan can use another premium pick on a quarterback

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Christian Hackenberg should start the season for Gang Green.

  (ED MULHOLLAND/GETTY IMAGES)

GARY MYERS

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Updated: Sunday, March 26, 2017, 2:13 PM

PHOENIX — If Jets GM Mike Maccagnan’s plan is to keep drafting quarterbacks until he gets it right, then somebody else needs to be picking the quarterbacks.

Maccagnan is attending his third NFL owners meetings since Charley Casserly recommended Woody Johnson hire his former assistant in Houston and he has the Jets going backward. He has gutted the roster in the offseason, which is usually done in the first year of the program, not the third year, but the real issue is he’s just the latest GM who can’t solve the quarterback problem.

Josh McCown is the expected starter to open the season. He has out-journeymanned Ryan Fitzpatrick eight teams to six. In his 15 years in the league, he is 18-42 as a starter.

Are the Jets even trying to get better long-term if they play McCown or is Todd Bowles just trying to save his job? McCown will be 38 years old in July and is more qualified to be the quarterback coach than the starting quarterback.

By signing McCown, Jets show they still have hope in Hackenberg

That’s why the Jets need to open the season with Christian Hackenberg. If he stinks, as most suspect, then let’s find out right away. If Maccagnan blew it with his second-round pick in 2016, then he must be held accountable. It’s not like he was a throwaway sixth-round pick.

Plenty of quarterbacks get taken after the first round and make it big: Tom Brady, Joe Montana, Drew Brees, Brett Favre, Johnny Unitas, Tony Romo, Russell Wilson, Derek Carr.

Dak Prescott, an emerging star with the Cowboys, was taken two rounds after Hackenberg last year. New England’s Jimmy Garoppolo, a second-round pick, is the best quarterback not starting. Even though Hackenberg was not a high first-round pick, Maccagnan still drafted him with the expectation he would be a franchise quarterback.

 

Waiting until mid-October to start Hackenberg doesn’t give him the best chance to succeed. By then, the Jets season will basically be over, the morale in the locker room will be toxic, the first wave of injuries will have hit and the fans will already be fed up. If Bowles, with a nudge from Johnson overseas, puts the kid in on opening day, at least he will give him a fair shot before the season is lost. Most of these young guys start opening day their rookie year.

Jets source on QB Christian Hackenberg: ‘He will never make it'

McCown will be more useful to the Jets as an extra set of eyes and a sideline mentor to Hackenberg than anything he might provide on the field. Hackenberg was so bad in practice last year that the Jets didn’t want to ruin him by putting him on the field. The last we saw of him was in the final preseason game in Philadelphia when he was a dreadful 11-of-31 for 54 yards with an interception. Even as the Jets went from Ftiz to Geno to Fitz to Petty to Fitz, he didn’t get a uniform until the final game when he was the only healthy QB other than Fitzpatrick.

Maccagnan did not rule out taking a quarterback with the sixth overall pick in the April 27 draft. But Johnson should not let it happen. Maccagnan selected Bryce Petty in the fourth round of his first draft in 2015 and then picked Hackenberg even though his stock had dropped dramatically after he played poorly his last two years at Penn State. He just can’t keep taking quarterbacks.

Jets general manager Mike Maccagnan

  (MEL EVANS/AP)

If Maccagnan saw something in Hackenberg that convinced him he could play and be a potential franchise quarterback, then he must at least get on the field before the GM is allowed to use another premium pick in the first or second round on another quarterback.

He denied taking another QB would be a referendum on Hackenberg, but of course it would. How could it not?

If Christian Hackenberg doesn't pan out, blame Jets, not QB

“I don’t think taking a player at one position is a referendum on another player,” he said. “I think the goal is to always put together the best roster you can and, of course, the quarterback is a very, very important position in this process, but I wouldn’t necessarily view it as a referendum.”

Simply put, that’s absurd.

And what happens if the Jets take North Carolina’s Mitchell Trubisky, who started one year in college, and he is not impressive as a rookie, the Jets earn the first pick in 2018 and Maccagnan takes Southern Cal QB Sam Darnold? That’s not a referendum on Trubisky, either, I guess.

This is not a strong quarterback draft. Next year could produce a handful of potential franchise quarterbacks. Maccagnan must find out what he has in Hackenberg before he should be allowed to go quarterback shopping again.

Brandon Marshall can see Christian Hackenberg starting for Jets

It was his decision to take Hackenberg, so Maccagnan’s job performance will be based on his development. Johnson has generously given Maccagnan a do-over in his third year. He signed Darrelle Revis, Antonio Cromartie and traded for Brandon Marshall and Fitzpatrick soon after he arrived in 2015 The Jets won 10 games and nearly made the playoffs. He won executive of the year using all the cap space John Idzik left him. Then it all fell apart last season and the Jets finished 5-11.

Cromartie lasted one season and now Revis, Marshall and Fitz are gone along with long-time center Nick Mangold. Maccagnan wants to go with the kids and trade down in the draft and add lots of extra picks. It’s not a bad idea. But that’s the plan he should have had two years ago when he inherited a 4-12. Instead Maccagnan went for the competitive rebuild, which ultimately set the program back two years.

He’s got a lot at stake with Hackenberg. The Jets need to find out if he can play and whether Maccagnan knows how to pick quarterbacks.

[j4jets]

5 hours ago, rangerous said:

just because hack didn't take snap one in 2015 is not an indication of his ability.  he didn't lose the qb competition because there was no qb competition.  fitz was ordained the starter in february followed by geno and petty. the plan to sit hack for the season was already determined.

what the anti hackers fail to realize is there was a reason why and where he was picked.  it wasn't some pie in the sky grab by mac for a player.  and it wasn't a desparation pick.  the other point is if he's as calculating with his other picks it won't be a surprise if the jets pick a qb at 6 or with a high pick this year. 

and tom tupa showed that you don't really need to be a physically great qb to play the position.  i remember that game.  as i recall he was wearing punter shoes while playing qb.

It kinda is, you know? Because if you were even half decent as a rookie, I don't think Sh!tzpatrick and Petty would've stood in the way the way they did. I mean, look at wk17. We went with the effing Beard instead of Hackensuck. 

[flgreen]

13 hours ago, Sperm Edwards said:

False. This never happened.

 

No it didn't.  Here's what was actually said in camp last year.  At the time I didn't think it was very encouraging.

"Offensive coordinator Chan Gailey, who has made a career of fixing quarterbacks, believes it takes at least a year to change a passer's mechanics. The Jets are in no hurry to start that process; it may not happen until next offseason.

"You want to be careful," Patullo said. "He's got a lot [on his plate]. He's trying to learn the playbook, he's trying to learn defenses -- what he sees and how to react. ... I think he understands certain things he needs to work on. He's a hard-working kid."

Asked if Hackenberg needs a complete overhaul, Patullo said, "That's not something we're going to get into right now. We're just trying to see where he's at, what he knows.""

http://www.espn.com/blog/new-york-jets/post/_/id/62440/jets-coach-on-christian-hackenberg-cant-change-golfers-swing-in-season

 

[thadude]

1 hour ago, joewilly12 said:

Christian Hackenberg must start before Jets GM Mike Maccagnan can use another premium pick on a quarterback

•  
•  
• Tweet
•  
• email

Christian Hackenberg should start the season for Gang Green.

  (ED MULHOLLAND/GETTY IMAGES)

GARY MYERS

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Updated: Sunday, March 26, 2017, 2:13 PM

PHOENIX — If Jets GM Mike Maccagnan’s plan is to keep drafting quarterbacks until he gets it right, then somebody else needs to be picking the quarterbacks.

Maccagnan is attending his third NFL owners meetings since Charley Casserly recommended Woody Johnson hire his former assistant in Houston and he has the Jets going backward. He has gutted the roster in the offseason, which is usually done in the first year of the program, not the third year, but the real issue is he’s just the latest GM who can’t solve the quarterback problem.

Josh McCown is the expected starter to open the season. He has out-journeymanned Ryan Fitzpatrick eight teams to six. In his 15 years in the league, he is 18-42 as a starter.

Are the Jets even trying to get better long-term if they play McCown or is Todd Bowles just trying to save his job? McCown will be 38 years old in July and is more qualified to be the quarterback coach than the starting quarterback.

By signing McCown, Jets show they still have hope in Hackenberg

That’s why the Jets need to open the season with Christian Hackenberg. If he stinks, as most suspect, then let’s find out right away. If Maccagnan blew it with his second-round pick in 2016, then he must be held accountable. It’s not like he was a throwaway sixth-round pick.

Plenty of quarterbacks get taken after the first round and make it big: Tom Brady, Joe Montana, Drew Brees, Brett Favre, Johnny Unitas, Tony Romo, Russell Wilson, Derek Carr.

Dak Prescott, an emerging star with the Cowboys, was taken two rounds after Hackenberg last year. New England’s Jimmy Garoppolo, a second-round pick, is the best quarterback not starting. Even though Hackenberg was not a high first-round pick, Maccagnan still drafted him with the expectation he would be a franchise quarterback.

 

Waiting until mid-October to start Hackenberg doesn’t give him the best chance to succeed. By then, the Jets season will basically be over, the morale in the locker room will be toxic, the first wave of injuries will have hit and the fans will already be fed up. If Bowles, with a nudge from Johnson overseas, puts the kid in on opening day, at least he will give him a fair shot before the season is lost. Most of these young guys start opening day their rookie year.

Jets source on QB Christian Hackenberg: ‘He will never make it'

McCown will be more useful to the Jets as an extra set of eyes and a sideline mentor to Hackenberg than anything he might provide on the field. Hackenberg was so bad in practice last year that the Jets didn’t want to ruin him by putting him on the field. The last we saw of him was in the final preseason game in Philadelphia when he was a dreadful 11-of-31 for 54 yards with an interception. Even as the Jets went from Ftiz to Geno to Fitz to Petty to Fitz, he didn’t get a uniform until the final game when he was the only healthy QB other than Fitzpatrick.

Maccagnan did not rule out taking a quarterback with the sixth overall pick in the April 27 draft. But Johnson should not let it happen. Maccagnan selected Bryce Petty in the fourth round of his first draft in 2015 and then picked Hackenberg even though his stock had dropped dramatically after he played poorly his last two years at Penn State. He just can’t keep taking quarterbacks.

Jets general manager Mike Maccagnan

  (MEL EVANS/AP)

If Maccagnan saw something in Hackenberg that convinced him he could play and be a potential franchise quarterback, then he must at least get on the field before the GM is allowed to use another premium pick in the first or second round on another quarterback.

He denied taking another QB would be a referendum on Hackenberg, but of course it would. How could it not?

If Christian Hackenberg doesn't pan out, blame Jets, not QB

“I don’t think taking a player at one position is a referendum on another player,” he said. “I think the goal is to always put together the best roster you can and, of course, the quarterback is a very, very important position in this process, but I wouldn’t necessarily view it as a referendum.”

Simply put, that’s absurd.

And what happens if the Jets take North Carolina’s Mitchell Trubisky, who started one year in college, and he is not impressive as a rookie, the Jets earn the first pick in 2018 and Maccagnan takes Southern Cal QB Sam Darnold? That’s not a referendum on Trubisky, either, I guess.

This is not a strong quarterback draft. Next year could produce a handful of potential franchise quarterbacks. Maccagnan must find out what he has in Hackenberg before he should be allowed to go quarterback shopping again.

Brandon Marshall can see Christian Hackenberg starting for Jets

It was his decision to take Hackenberg, so Maccagnan’s job performance will be based on his development. Johnson has generously given Maccagnan a do-over in his third year. He signed Darrelle Revis, Antonio Cromartie and traded for Brandon Marshall and Fitzpatrick soon after he arrived in 2015 The Jets won 10 games and nearly made the playoffs. He won executive of the year using all the cap space John Idzik left him. Then it all fell apart last season and the Jets finished 5-11.

Cromartie lasted one season and now Revis, Marshall and Fitz are gone along with long-time center Nick Mangold. Maccagnan wants to go with the kids and trade down in the draft and add lots of extra picks. It’s not a bad idea. But that’s the plan he should have had two years ago when he inherited a 4-12. Instead Maccagnan went for the competitive rebuild, which ultimately set the program back two years.

He’s got a lot at stake with Hackenberg. The Jets need to find out if he can play and whether Maccagnan knows how to pick quarterbacks.

Myers is such a friggin jet-hater

 

I used to like him but he's become  yet another jet-hating tool

[thadude]

1 hour ago, j4jets said:

It kinda is, you know? Because if you were even half decent as a rookie, I don't think Sh!tzpatrick and Petty would've stood in the way the way they did. I mean, look at wk17. We went with the effing Beard instead of Hackensuck. 

We had the worst 4 Qb's in the NFL last year the fact that Hack couldn't even see the field against those scrubs says volumes 

[Wolfie2144]

Honestly at this point, the Jets need to find out what they have. I'm not suggesting Hack is the next coming of anyone, but the Jets need to take a serious look at everyone on their roster. Create some type of plan that doesn't leave them in limbo between being good enough to win a few games now and win a few games then. If Hack is the answer, then we know we have something to build around. He doesn't have to be great right away, but the Jets should have an idea how he looks in an actual regular season game. If Hack isn't the answer, this year is essentially about the future, and we should look at moving pieces that may not be here, or may be on the decline 3 years from now before it's too late and we get nothing in return for them.

[JohnJ]

1 hour ago, joewilly12 said:

Troll

 

 

trōl/

noun

 

1. a mythical, cave-dwelling being depicted in folklore as either a giant or a dwarf, typically having a very ugly appearance.

   synonyms:

   goblin, hobgoblin, gnome, halfling, demon, monster, bugaboo, ogre "the storybook trolls who live under the bridge"

  (ED MULHOLLAND/GETTY IMAGES)

GARY MYERS

 

Gary Myers Lol

 

I don't know who I'd like to punch in the face more, him or Womanish Mehta

[thadude]

3 minutes ago, JohnJ said:

Gary Myers Lol

 

I don't know who I'd like to punch in the face more, him or Womanish Mehta

Costello

[JohnJ]

1 minute ago, thadude said:

Costello

Yeah, that'd be nice too. Lol. I was gonna mention him also, lol.

[joewilly12]

Macc's career as Jets GM could be in the hands of Christian Hackenberg 

If Macc passes on Watson or Trubisky and they turn out to be franchise QB's and Hackenberg stinks he will always be known as the GM who picked Hackenberg and stuck with him and passed on stars. 

Tough situation considering that we dont know what we have or dont have in Hackenberg.

[thadude]

18 minutes ago, JohnJ said:

Yeah, that'd be nice too. Lol. I was gonna mention him also, lol.

I wish I could watch those three get raped and turned into a human centipede

[MDL_JET]

42 minutes ago, joewilly12 said:

Macc's career as Jets GM could be in the hands of Christian Hackenberg 

If Macc passes on Watson or Trubisky and they turn out to be franchise QB's and Hackenberg stinks he will always be known as the GM who picked Hackenberg and stuck with him and passed on stars. 

Tough situation considering that we dont know what we have or dont have in Hackenberg.

Eh not really. It's not as if those two are no brainers. If so they'd be going number 1. 

So he just shouldn't pass on any QB? Draft as many as possible as early as possible?

 

[August]

The list of young QBs Josh McCown has mentored, FWIW: JaMarcus Russell, Matt Moore, Caleb Hanie, Mike Glennon, Johnny Manziel, Cody Kessler

 

this tweet by Bill Barnwell was funny

[varjet]

I read a bunch of reviews of Trubisky.  I am having a hard time seeing him not be a successful QB in the NFL.

The biggest negative on him is that he started one season.   You either have it or you don't

There are alot of reasons why Watson could not be successful in the NFL.  His teams were so loaded with talent.  None of the Alabama amounted to much either.

[Tinstar]

1 minute ago, August said:

The list of young QBs Josh McCown has mentored, FWIW: JaMarcus Russell, Matt Moore, Caleb Hanie, Mike Glennon, Johnny Manziel, Cody Kessler

 

this tweet by Bill Barnwell was funny

Maybe instead of falling into what that was designed to do, you should consider the fact that the mentorship is more about the player doing the mentoring instead of the players who are mentored .

Someone asked what is a mentor QB .

Well I can't presume to tell anyone what the Jets feelings are on this subject, but my personal belief is that it's a person who can still do the job, but won't whine if he's not the lead dog and will be there for the young pups when they have the bad series or the horrific day

Geno is not that person.

Fitz is not that person

Cutler is not that person

Josh McCown has shown himself to be such a person .

[August]

7 minutes ago, Tinstar said:

Maybe instead of falling into what that was designed to do, you should consider the fact that the mentorship is more about the player doing the mentoring instead of the players who are mentored .

Someone asked what is a mentor QB .

Well I can't presume to tell anyone what the Jets feelings are on this subject, but my personal belief is that it's a person who can still do the job, but won't whine if he's not the lead dog and will be there for the young pups when they have the bad series or the horrific day

Geno is not that person.

Fitz is not that person

Cutler is not that person

Josh McCown has shown himself to be such a person .

Geno is 26 with enough youth and upside to still potentially be a starting quarterback, so why would he have to mentor a quarterback.

Fitzpatrick was brought in to be that guy, he seemed to have accepted that role at first. But then Geno got hurt and Fitzpatrick stepped in and played well, in year 2 when things unraveled based on his comments he's not interested in being a mentor.

Cutler still thinks he's a franchise quarterback so he's not that guy. 

I do agree that McCown fits the criteria for what we need. 

[dbatesman]

7 hours ago, T0mShane said:

 

Little Christian.

If his dad cared so much about fundamentals, why didn't he move his left foot back?

[T0mShane]

23 minutes ago, dbatesman said:

If his dad cared so much about fundamentals, why didn't he move his left foot back?

Preparing Little Christian for the cold, hard world of James Franklin, no doubt.

[Sperm Edwards]

12 hours ago, UnitedWhofans said:

Evidence?

And the hatred for Darron Lee continues despite making the All Rookie team. Yet he is raw.

And I thought you approved of the Beachum deal, at least when it was first announced.

It was reported at the time. Look it up yourself. Giants offered their pick for our 1st & 2nd but Maccagnan didn't want to give up chart value for the pick so he told them to piss off. We ended up with Lee and Hackenberg.

It isn't hatred for Lee, no matter how many times you childishly try to frame it that way. It's that his type of player+position is horrible value for a top 20 pick, for a team with so many high-dollar-position needs. Making an all-rookie team as a lowly-ranked player is worthless; it's mostly indicative of how few rookies get that amount of playing time, and 1st round picks always get brownie points unless some late-rounder has a famously-great rookie season (e.g. Prescott).

Taking a shot on Beachum is just ok. Guaranteeing him more than 1 season is dumb. Particularly after he just finished a season ranked roughly the same as Ben Ijalana. He wasn't even scheduled to be a FA this year, and this isn't a stellar tackle draft, and it's the scout-turned-GM's job to know this, and why you grab certain positions when you can. ILB can be filled whenever you feel like it.