Jetsfan80 Posted August 18, 2011 Share Posted August 18, 2011 http://espn.go.com/new-york/nfl/story/_/id/6875155/rex-ryan-mark-sanchez-elite-wins-big-games Rex Ryan: Mark Sanchez is 'elite' By Rich Cimini ESPNNewYork.com Updated: August 18, 2011, 6:13 PM ET FLORHAM PARK, N.J. -- New York Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez has no Super Bowl rings, no Pro Bowls, not even a season in which he completed 60 percent of his passes. But he's an "elite" NFL quarterback, according to his coach. "When you talk about elite quarterbacks, I think he's an elite quarterback because he wins the big games and he's a winner," Rex Ryan said Thursday. "That's all I want him to do -- just win. Don't worry about anything else. The stats will take care of themselves, let's just go out and win. Hopefully, he can't play in the Pro Bowl anyway." Sanchez was winning last season, helping the Jets to a 9-3 start, but he was nearly benched during a loss to the Miami Dolphins. That near-benching put a temporary strain on his relationship with Ryan, prompting the now-famous quote from Sanchez that appears in the current issue of GQ magazine: "I wanted to fight him." Ryan pointed to Sanchez's four playoff victories, all on the road, as the basis for his "elite" comment. After only two seasons, Sanchez is tied with Len Dawson, Jake Delhomme, Joe Flacco and Roger Staubach for the most postseason road victories. The coach stopped short of putting Sanchez in the Tom Brady/Peyton Manning class. "No, not those two," Ryan said. "Those two have won Super Bowls. Peyton Manning's won a Super Bowl and he's won a zillion games and, in my opinion, (is) the best quarterback in football. And you have Tom Brady, who has only three Super Bowls, been the MVP of the league probably three times. We're a ways from there." Ryan said Sanchez "can be in the conversation" if the Jets win a Super Bowl. Sanchez didn't want to put a label on himself, but he agreed with Ryan that a championship would define him. "I know my skill set and I know I'm getting better," he said. "Once we win a Super Bowl, then maybe I'll have an opinion on that, but until then, we're just trying to win games." One area he needs to improve in is accuracy. Sanchez completed only 55 percent of his passes last season, although that number jumped to 61 percent in the postseason. Offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer and quarterbacks coach Matt Cavanaugh told him 55 percent isn't good enough. They want him to take his playoff efficiency into the regular season. "We need that from him all year long," Cavanaugh said. "That's going to make us a more productive offense." "When he's under the big lights in the big games, he knows what's at stake," Cavanaugh continued. "He steps up, he makes better decisions and hits the open guys more accurately. There's something about those games that excite him. What we want him to understand is that, if you do those things in the regular season, we're going to get home-field advantage and a playoff game at home." Ryan also commented on Giants quarterback Eli Manning, who recently said he thinks he's in the same class as Brady. Ryan says Manning is "great," but "is he Tom Brady and Peyton? Probably not. But he's pretty darn good." Rich Cimini covers the Jets for ESPNNewYork.com. Information from The Associated Press was used in this report. Follow Rich Cimini on Twitter: @RichCimini Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larz Posted August 18, 2011 Share Posted August 18, 2011 elite at riding the coat tails of the defense and the running game, lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jetsfan80 Posted August 18, 2011 Author Share Posted August 18, 2011 My take: On all but a handful of teams, Sanchez's play in the regular season his first two seasons wouldn't be good enough to lead a team to the playoffs. Not even close. However, to his credit, he elevated his play in the postseason, and is as much a reason we were one step away from the Super Bowl in '09 and '10 as Rex's defense. If Sanchez takes the next step and becomes a better and more consistent player (which would be the difference between a wild card and a division title, or more), that could move him out of the mediocre range and into the top 10-12 discussion. We know he CAN be a Super Bowl quarterback, but of course, Super Bowl doesn't always = elite. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JiFtheOracle Posted August 18, 2011 Share Posted August 18, 2011 Honestly, I dont care if Sanchez ever gets to Manning or Brady. He most likely wont, but if he can be a big game QB that eventually wins the big one, thats all I really care about. As for him currently being elite, oh Rex. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T0mShane Posted August 18, 2011 Share Posted August 18, 2011 Ah. Well. Glad that's settled. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JetsFanInDenver Posted August 18, 2011 Share Posted August 18, 2011 http://espn.go.com/new-york/nfl/story/_/id/6875155/rex-ryan-mark-sanchez-elite-wins-big-games "When you talk about elite quarterbacks, I think he's an elite quarterback because he wins the big games and he's a winner," Rex Ryan said Thursday. "That's all I want him to do -- just win. Don't worry about anything else. The stats will take care of themselves, let's just go out and win. Hopefully, he can't play in the Pro Bowl anyway." Ryan pointed to Sanchez's four playoff victories, all on the road, as the basis for his "elite" comment. After only two seasons, Sanchez is tied with Len Dawson, Jake Delhomme, Joe Flacco and Roger Staubach for the most postseason road victories. The coach stopped short of putting Sanchez in the Tom Brady/Peyton Manning class. "No, not those two," Ryan said. "Those two have won Super Bowls. Peyton Manning's won a Super Bowl and he's won a zillion games and, in my opinion, (is) the best quarterback in football. And you have Tom Brady, who has only three Super Bowls, been the MVP of the league probably three times. We're a ways from there." Ryan said Sanchez "can be in the conversation" if the Jets win a Super Bowl. Sanchez didn't want to put a label on himself, but he agreed with Ryan that a championship would define him. My thoughts exactly! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoFlaJets Posted August 18, 2011 Share Posted August 18, 2011 but Sanchez doesn't think so until he wins a super bowl he might THEN talk about it-Rex never said MS was on Brady's or Manning's level Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoFlaJets Posted August 18, 2011 Share Posted August 18, 2011 and 54% completion QB's are NOT elite and we all know that and the good news is Sanchez knows that too. He talked about it in the PC I just watched on the Jets' site. He said "54%? that's bad-I need to improve on that" Max has the transcript posted here I noticed from his Twitter feed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rillo Posted August 19, 2011 Share Posted August 19, 2011 Chill Rex....chill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kleckineau Posted August 19, 2011 Share Posted August 19, 2011 No wonder he wants to punch Rex in the face. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boozer76 Posted August 19, 2011 Share Posted August 19, 2011 Besides the fact he is a great defensive mind or all around great coach to the players, this is the one thing that makes Rex Ryan a genius as a head coach to me. We traded up alot for the 5th overall pick, paid top dollar to get a QB, and yet we still to this day as a whole don't set the bar relatively high on Mark Sanchez. We didn't move up the way we did for a game manager. We could have stayed put, drafted some stellar defensive player and looked to acquire a guy like Orton or even Grossman and just put the reigns on them and had a cheap game manager at QB. That wasn't the reasoning behind the move. The reasoning was Rex and the NY Jets wanted a franchise caliber elite QB running the show, and they feel Mark is that guy. The thing is, all of Rex's outlandish statements have completely kept the spotlight solely on himself and have let Mark go through his natural growing pains with relative ease and little scrutiny from the media. those may recall Eli's criticisms prior to winning a Super Bowl. Giants fans were ready to run him right out of town. Without Rex shouldering the spotlight I have no doubt Mark would be getting the same treatment. Instead he has learned and progressed quite well and frankly I agree with Rex, I do think he will be and elite QB soon. Maybe not this season, but soon. Thing is when Rex says it the media takes it as such an outlandish statement that nobody even bothers to bother Mark. I have a feeling as Mark progresses and starts to play on the field the way the team felt he would when they drafted him so high, Rex will start piping down and let his team do the talking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SenorGato Posted August 19, 2011 Share Posted August 19, 2011 I think I understand what Rex is saying, but way too soon. Maybe it's because it's summer time and I've only seen him thrown a few times, but I'm optimistic on this Mark Sanchez. This is a good year to break out as a passer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CTM Posted August 19, 2011 Share Posted August 19, 2011 SUPA BOWL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RutgersJetFan Posted August 19, 2011 Share Posted August 19, 2011 Holdout. Engage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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