the evolution of mark sanchez

[Larz]

it's sad you need to read national writers to get good stuff on these jets. this team deserves respect, and sanchez deserves respect.

My link

it's gonna take me 10 minutes to post the article, lol

[Larz]

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. -- There is more to Mark Sanchez than the white pants and black tank top he wore for the GQ magazine spread. He has a Broadway side to him, there is no doubt, but entering his third year as the New York Jets' starting quarterback, he has something more: leadership.

It was a word used frequently on Thursday to describe the 24-year-old quarterback, who enters his third season shouldering the responsibility for making his coach's second blustery promise of a Super Bowl win a reality. For as creative a coach as Rex Ryan is, for as dominating a defense as the Jets have, the only way New York gets to the Super Bowl and wins it is if Sanchez can make another monster step in his progression.

Sanchez knows it. The Jets' players know it. And Ryan knows it, too.

[Larz]

That is part of the reason Ryan named Sanchez one of the team's captains. It was not merely a symbolic move. Sanchez earned the honor last season and this disjointed offseason.

Sanchez endured a two-game slump last year that almost got him benched, then stood up to his coach and demanded the team remain his. He rebounded the next week against Pittsburgh by playing through a shoulder injury and turned in one of his most accurate performances of the season. A couple weeks later, in an AFC wild-card game against Indianapolis, Sanchez shook off a poor first-half performance in which he misfired on 10 of 19 passes and threw an interception, then led the team to a 17-16 victory. The next week against New England, Sanchez threw three touchdowns and no interceptions to help the Jets advance to the AFC title game.

It was Sanchez's fourth road playoff win in two years. The next week, he lost his second AFC title game.

During the lockout, Sanchez held a pseudo minicamp in California that was as organized and well-attended as any player effort in the league. He made playbooks, held film sessions and provided food and trainers.

When the Jets finally convened for training camp, Ryan quickly named Sanchez a captain, and he has been rewarded for that decision in subtle but not insignificant ways.

After the Jets flew home from their first preseason game against Houston Monday night, Ryan gave the players the option to work out Tuesday. The team had arrived at the practice facility at 5:30 a.m. Most players opted to go home to sleep, as did Ryan. But Sanchez, along with Santonio Holmes and Greg McElroy, opted to run shuttles and lift weights.

"I think he's grown," Ryan said. "I don't think there's any doubt."

[Larz]

At the team's walk-through Thursday morning, Sanchez pulled his main weapons and backup quarterbacks off to a side field with quarterbacks coach Matt Cavanaugh. He reviewed audibles and coverages and what to do when a defense shows Cover 2 or a blitz. Holmes, Derrick Mason, Plaxico Burress, Dustin Keller, LaDainian Tomlinson and Shonn Greene hung on every word.

At one point, Ryan walked over, watched and smiled.

"This is his offense," Ryan said. "These guys look at him. If there's any hesitation, [sanchez says] 'You have this, you have that.' It's impressive to watch, it really is."

The Jets and their hungry fans certainly hope Sanchez can translate increased leadership into increased wins. There is no guarantee. Sanchez has been working to improve his accuracy, which after two years sits at 54.4 percent, about 10 points lower than where Ryan ultimately would like it. He cut down his interceptions from 20 in 2009 to 13 last season, and he knows this season he needs to get the Jets into the end zone more and not settle for as many field goals.

Although there are questions of depth along New York's offensive line, Sanchez has plenty of toys. Keller led all Jets receivers last season with 55 catches, and Holmes pulled in 52. If he can regain his pre-prison form, Burress should provide Sanchez a big target in the end zone. Mason is a entering his 15th NFL season and has experience helping break in young quarterbacks.

Mason was a rookie with Tennessee in 1997, when Steve McNair became the Titans' starter, and he was in Baltimore for Joe Flacco's first three seasons with the Ravens. He understands the growing pains involved.

"I think what has to happen is you've got to be willing to be coached," Mason said. "You have to be a student of the game first and foremost, and from what I've seen of Mark, he is. He's eager to learn. He's always picking somebody's brain for information, always talking to the offensive coordinator, talking to the wideouts, the tight ends. And then it is just having trust in your guys, I think that's what speeds up the process for young quarterbacks. If they don't have confidence in their guys out there, then they're going to be hesitant to throw the ball, but once they have confidence in the guys, you'll see them start to grow a lot quicker.

"It happened with Joe. He had a lot of confidence in the guys he was throwing it to. His progressions became a little bit faster. I see that with Mark. I think that curve is going to be a little bit faster for him because he has gained a lot of confidence, and you'll see him start to mature on the field."

in his progression. He is about to take another.

"He wins big games, and he's a winner," Ryan said. "That's all I want him to do, just win."

[SenorGato]

Break. Out. Season.

Possibly.

[Jetsfan80]

Break. Out. Season.

Possibly.

Depends on his body language.

[SenorGato]

Depends on his body language.

[stoicsentry]

Given his limited experience coming into the league, I wonder if year 4 isn't a more likely break out year than 3. Thoughts?

[slats]

Break. Out. Season.

Possibly.

Yeah, it was looking good until I read this:

"I think what has to happen is you've got to be willing to be coached," Mason said. "You have to be a student of the game first and foremost, and from what I've seen of Mark, he is. He's eager to learn. He's always picking somebody's brain for information, always talking to the offensive coordinator, talking to the wideouts, the tight ends. And then it is just having trust in your guys, I think that's what speeds up the process for young quarterbacks. If they don't have confidence in their guys out there, then they're going to be hesitant to throw the ball, but once they have confidence in the guys, you'll see them start to grow a lot quicker.

I hope he's just telling Schotty he sucks over and over again.

[slats]

Given his limited experience coming into the league, I wonder if year 4 isn't a more likely break out year than 3. Thoughts?

I thought he showed a lot of growth from his rookie season into his second year. He pouted less when he screwed up, and became a little more consistent. His flip-flopped his TD/int ratio in a positive way (dropped int's, blah, blah, blah, but the TD's are up despite drops). I don't know if this will be his breakout season or not, but I do expect to see marked improvement (see what I did there?).

He needs to be more accurate without really worrying about accuracy - if that makes sense. He needs to continue throwing the ball downfield, and he needs to trust in his receivers (as the article suggests). He's got a veteran group. Guys he knows he can trust in Holmes and Keller, guys he should be able to trust in Plax and Mason. As he makes connections, his YPA will increase. As far as I'm concerned, that's the most telling stat for a passer, and Mark's number (6.5 last year) is way too low. Guys like Rivers, Rogers and Roethlisberger are up in the 8's, Mark needs to get at least into the mid-7's along with the guys he's always going to be compared to; Flacco and Freeman. There's no reason for him to not be able to do that. His YPA is well over 7 in playoff performances.

He needs to get from being a guy who turns it on when the pressures on, to being a guy who's on all the time. That comes with maturity. He's still really young, but he seems to be showing some.

[Larz]

He needs to be more accurate without really worrying about accuracy - if that makes sense.

he talked about this, and the idea seems to be throwing more on early downs, and getting the ball out quicker. maybe moore is paying off ?

[ECURB]

I thought he showed a lot of growth from his rookie season into his second year. He pouted less when he screwed up, and became a little more consistent. His flip-flopped his TD/int ratio in a positive way (dropped int's, blah, blah, blah, but the TD's are up despite drops). I don't know if this will be his breakout season or not, but I do expect to see marked improvement (see what I did there?).

He needs to be more accurate without really worrying about accuracy - if that makes sense. He needs to continue throwing the ball downfield, and he needs to trust in his receivers (as the article suggests). He's got a veteran group. Guys he knows he can trust in Holmes and Keller, guys he should be able to trust in Plax and Mason. As he makes connections, his YPA will increase. As far as I'm concerned, that's the most telling stat for a passer, and Mark's number (6.5 last year) is way too low. Guys like Rivers, Rogers and Roethlisberger are up in the 8's, Mark needs to get at least into the mid-7's along with the guys he's always going to be compared to; Flacco and Freeman. There's no reason for him to not be able to do that. His YPA is well over 7 in playoff performances.

He needs to get from being a guy who turns it on when the pressures on, to being a guy who's on all the time. That comes with maturity. He's still really young, but he seems to be showing some.

YPA the most telling stat? Brady has been in the 6s and 7s his entire career and only over 8 once... Does he need to bring his up too?

[slats]

YPA the most telling stat? Brady has been in the 6s and 7s his entire career and only over 8 once... Does he need to bring his up too?

Brady's number his first few years was under 7, his number since then is in the high 7's - which is plenty good enough. Mark threw 500 passes last year and his YPA was 6.5. If he could get that number up just one yard, that translates to another 500 yards of passing. It's a big deal.

Only a few full time starters had a lower YPA than Mark last year. Guys like Sam Bradford, Derek Anderson, Jimmy Clausen - not an impressive group.

That's the number that needs to improve the most. It should come with an improved comp %, but the success of the play is all about how many yards it gets.

[Bleedin Green]

Brady's number his first few years was under 7, his number since then is in the high 7's - which is plenty good enough. Mark threw 500 passes last year and his YPA was 6.5. If he could get that number up just one yard, that translates to another 500 yards of passing. It's a big deal.

Only a few full time starters had a lower YPA than Mark last year. Guys like Sam Bradford, Derek Anderson, Jimmy Clausen - not an impressive group.

That's the number that needs to improve the most. It should come with an improved comp %, but the success of the play is all about how many yards it gets.

You hit it on the head at the end there. The problem with YPA is one of those stats that is influenced by other stats. YPA is always going to be serious affected by completion percentage, and unless Sanchez gets that number up the only other way his YPA will ever be anywhere close to other starters in this league is if his yards per completion is significantly higher than everyone else, which isn't really a reasonable expectation. Sanchez's YPC numbers have always been good, and so in the end I think it all comes back around to accuracy and consistency, and the rest will come with that. If you ask me, that's a situation better than that of say Matt Ryan, who had the same YPA as Sanchez despite a nearly 8% higher completion percentage.

[slats]

If you ask me, that's a situation better than that of say Matt Ryan, who had the same YPA as Sanchez despite a nearly 8% higher completion percentage.

Agree 100%, which is why I said I don't want him focusing on his comp % too much as the be all and end all. I don't want him to become a dump off passer just to pick up that one stat. I just want him to improve what he's already doing.

The combination of him getting better and having Plax to throw to should go a long ways towards that goal.

[stoicsentry]

I thought he showed a lot of growth from his rookie season into his second year. He pouted less when he screwed up, and became a little more consistent. His flip-flopped his TD/int ratio in a positive way (dropped int's, blah, blah, blah, but the TD's are up despite drops). I don't know if this will be his breakout season or not, but I do expect to see marked improvement (see what I did there?).

He improved quite a bit last year, so you feel confident that he can continue to improve. He has what it takes. But, I think his curve started lower than guys like Freeman, Bradford, Flacco, Ryan, etc. I'm sure he has just as much upside but it might take a little longer than it takes those guys to have a "breakout."

That's what excites me about Sanchez, he's winning playoff games and he still isn't close to reaching his potential.