Might as well grab Leftwich

[lancemehl]

Nobody else is pounding his door down. why not let him compete? All we did was bitcch about "arm strength" for 6 years, well, he's got that.

If nothing else as a backup,leader,and a guy with experience. It's a bargain at this point.

[aec4]

Nobody else is pounding his door down. why not let him compete? All we did was bitcch about "arm strength" for 6 years, well, he's got that.

If nothing else as a backup,leader,and a guy with experience. It's a bargain at this point.

Because he has to start winding up today to complete a pass in week 3.

[DMaynard]

Because he has to start winding up today to complete a pass in week 3.

And he is injury prone. And he is immobile.

Gee, I wonder why the Jags gave up on him.

[SMC]

Having Leftwich does the Jets no good.

If Clemens or Ratliff are not good enough to beat out Leftwich the Jets are in a world of hurt.

PLUS, Leftwich wouldn't want to come here unless he's guaranteed a roster spot. If he's not going to be the starter then he'll get cut. The Jets can't carry 4 QBs again.

[CoachTsurfing]

Nobody else is pounding his door down. why not let him compete? All we did was bitcch about "arm strength" for 6 years, well, he's got that.

If nothing else as a backup,leader,and a guy with experience. It's a bargain at this point.

agree, unless we plan on drafting one. but even then we need a vet in there.

[Apache 51]

no thanks

[DoubleDown]

I don't see much of a point.

We have three young QB's on the roster who have a combined 6 years of experience in our offensive system. We need more info on these players, and bringing in a QB like Leftwich will undermine that goal without giving us much upside.

Add in the facts that he failed as a starter, is often injured, and has the slowest release in the NFL, I don't want any part of him.

[#27TheDominator]

Because known to suck is worse than probably sucks. In this situation at least.

[neckdemon]

yeah as bad as i thinnk our qb situation is......i'll pass on leftwich. warner, i would've taken. there's enough upside with warner. with leftwich, it's not worth it, imo. we should draft sanchez if he falls to 17. if not, and if none of our qb's shows anything this year.....we should have a high enough draft pick to do something about the position next year. i would consider garcia though.......

[Stonehands]

Might as well grab Bubby Brister, too....neither one of them make us any better, but might as well grab them. There is a reason why Leftwich is available.

[Jetscode1]

I'd pass on Leftwich for the numerous reasons listed above.

I'd prefer we see how Clemens/Ratliff/Ainger progress and try to catch "lightening in a bottle with another late round pick on another QB. I like the approach Ron Wolf had in Green Bay...draft a QB every year until you find the answer. My choice for this year's draft...Stephen McGee from Texas A&M. Fifth year gunslinger who was injured early in his senior season. Has the the eyes of many scouts after a great Pro Day last week but the injury concerns should keep him on the board until late on the second day.

If we are that desparate for a veteran would prefer Gus Frerotte over Leftwich.

[slats]

If the Jets had an interest in a veteran free agent QB, they probably would've tried to go after someone better than Leftwich. At this point, I'm starting to take them at their word that they're willing to go to battle with Clemens v. Ratliff. And if they're both really sucking this summer, there will still probably be a Leftwich out there for them to pick up then. No hurry.

[neckdemon]

I'd pass on Leftwich for the numerous reasons listed above.

I'd prefer we see how Clemens/Ratliff/Ainger progress and try to catch "lightening in a bottle with another late round pick on another QB. I like the approach Ron Wolf had in Green Bay...draft a QB every year until you find the answer. My choice for this year's draft...Stephen McGee from Texas A&M. Fifth year gunslinger who was injured early in his senior season. Has the the eyes of many scouts after a great Pro Day last week but the injury concerns should keep him on the board until late on the second day.

If we are that desparate for a veteran would prefer Gus Frerotte over Leftwich.

rodgers was a first round draft pick. if that's the approach you want to go with.....it's stupid to wait till late second day to "try to catch lightning in a bottle".... you're more likely just going to catch **** on a shingle.

[NJ]

you mean like a reacharound?

[Aten]

I like the approach Ron Wolf had in Green Bay...draft a QB every year until you find the answer.

As much as Mangini gets blamed for ongoing quarterback cluster****, we did add a rookie and a vet every year he was here. Clemens and Ramsey, then Ratliff and Tuiasosopo, then Ainge and Favre. It's just been an awful period to be in need of a quarterback. If the jury is still out on Cutler (which I don't think it is, but obviously many do), the only legit franchise quarterback that has been acquired by anybody in the last three years is Brees, and even he was such a risk coming off surgery that he had to sign a prove it deal.

[SMC]

As much as Mangini gets blamed for ongoing quarterback cluster****, we did add a rookie and a vet every year he was here. Clemens and Ramsey, then Ratliff and Tuiasosopo, then Ainge and Favre. It's just been an awful period to be in need of a quarterback. If the jury is still out on Cutler (which I don't think it is, but obviously many do), the only legit franchise quarterback that has been acquired by anybody in the last three years is Brees, and even he was such a risk coming off surgery that he had to sign a prove it deal.

True. It reminds me of the late 1990s when all the good QBs were in their 30s. There was simply not enough good young QBs out there.

The Jets need Clemens/Ratliff to play like Kerry Collins circa 2008 for them to be successful. There really is no other option out there.

Plus, this will creap up more as the draft approaches, but I don't see a viable option in the 1st round either in Sanchez and Freeman. For the pro-Sanchez camp, I wonder if they realize that in them wanting Sanchez they are hoping that something has happened which has never happened in the SB ear. No college QB with 20 or less starts has been anything but a bust in the NFL.

[Jetscode1]

rodgers was a first round draft pick. if that's the approach you want to go with.....it's stupid to wait till late second day to "try to catch lightning in a bottle".... you're more likely just going to catch **** on a shingle.

Rodgers was drafted by Ted Thompson...

Ron Wolfe was GM at GB from 1992 to 2001. In addition to making the trade for Brett Favre he also drafted the following QBs...

Ty Detmer...9th round...1992

Mark Brunnell...5th round...1993

Jay Barker...5th round...1995

Matt Hasselback...6th round...1998

Aaron Brooks...4th round...1999

The point is there are numerous ways to find a decent starting QB. Drafting a decent college-level QB every other year or so has some benefits. Besides a fresh arm in camp you have a chance to find/develop good young QBs. Even when he had Farve he was able to get back more in trade when he felt the time was right for a QB to move on. From the looks of it Ryan wants to build around a strong defense and someone like Clemens or Ratliff as the QB. If you are trying to say we need to go QB in the first round just say it. The first round is littered with supposed "can't miss" QBs who didn't hit the mark...Ryan Leaf, Alex Smith, and even Byron Leftwich. The draft is not an exact science and you can catch !@#$ on shingle just as easily in the first round as any other. Maybe Ryan and the JETS are just putting up a smokescreen because the really want to draft Sanchez or Stafford. Remember...there is more than one road to Dublin.

[Sperm Edwards]

rodgers was a first round draft pick. if that's the approach you want to go with.....it's stupid to wait till late second day to "try to catch lightning in a bottle".... you're more likely just going to catch **** on a shingle.

Ty Detmer round 9 (he did have an 8-year career, even if it was almost all as a backup)

Mark Brunnell round 5

Matt Hasselbeck end of round 6

Aaron Brooks end of round 4 (take a look at most late round 4-early round 5 QB draftees before you laugh too hard.)

And while Rodgers was a 1st round pick, he could have easily gone top-3 in the draft. GB picked him up with pick #24.

Also traded their 1st round pick in '92 for Favre.

I'd say Wolf did a damn impressive job with regard to drafting/acquiring QB's. The odds of a QB being good generally go down as you progress in the draft, but it's quite a bit more common than **** on a shingle.

1993:

round 8: Trent Green, Elvis Grbac

round 5: Mark Brunnell

1994:

round 7: Gus Frerotte (Heath Shuler & Trent Dilfer drafted in the top-6)

1995:

McNair & Collins in the top 5 and everyone else sucked in every round

1996:

no one good drafted in any round (Tony Banks in round 2 & Danny Kannell in round 4)

1997:

no one really good drafted in any round. Jim Druckenmiller was a first round pick. Jake Plummer and his career 1:1 TD:INT ratio went in round 2.

1998:

round 6: Matt Hasselbeck (Peyton, Leaf, Batch, Quinn, Griese in rounds 1-3)

1999: "Possibly the greatest QB draft class ever" is what they called it. 5 drafted in round 1 alone.

end of round 4: Aaron Brooks - had a better career than all but McNabb & Culpepper. No one good drafted in the late rounds, but the 1st 2 rounds didn't exactly have resounding success.

2000:

Pennington in round 1

round 6: Marc Bulger & Tom Brady

round 7: Tim Rattay (pretty successful for a 7th round pick)

2001:

late round QB's all sucked. Vick taken #1 and Brees taken #32.

round 4: Sage Rosenfels (meh)

2002: Carr, Harrington, and Ramsey in round 1 (Carr & Harrington both top-3)

round 4: David Garrard = best QB in the draft class

2003: 4 QB's taken in round 1. Only Carson Palmer doesn't suck.

2004: 3 QB's taken in the top-11. Everyone else was awful.

2005:

#1 overall = Alex Smith

round 4 = Kyle Orton

round 6 = Derek Anderson

round 7 = Matt Cassel

2006:

#3 and #10 overall are busts so far. Two more taken in round 2 & two more taken in round 3 have all sucked ass so far. To find fault with late-rounders is comical when 6 of 7 day-one picks (including a pair of top-10 picks) didn't exactly set the world on fire.

2007:

round 1: Jamarcus Russel & Brady Quinn

round 2: Kevin Kolb, John Beck, & Drew Stanton

...round 7: Tyler Thigpen

To say nothing of undrafted star QB's like Kurt Warner, Tony Romo, Jeff Garcia, Jake Delhomme, & once/moderately-successful ones like Jay Fiedler, Jon Kitna, Ray Lucas ().

It's not to say that the best QB's come in late rounds or are undrafted. That would be pretty stupid. But given the number of successful ones, it's definitely more common than **** on a shingle. Most of those 1st/2nd round QB's in the last 15-20 years were just awful & cost their teams much more in both money & wasted games & seasons.

[Blackout]

why not

[Jetscode1]

As much as Mangini gets blamed for ongoing quarterback cluster****, we did add a rookie and a vet every year he was here. Clemens and Ramsey, then Ratliff and Tuiasosopo, then Ainge and Favre. It's just been an awful period to be in need of a quarterback. If the jury is still out on Cutler (which I don't think it is, but obviously many do), the only legit franchise quarterback that has been acquired by anybody in the last three years is Brees, and even he was such a risk coming off surgery that he had to sign a prove it deal.

Good point...for as much I grew tired of Mangini coaching and style of play...he did a decent job of bringing in competition at the QB position. Still not sure who deserves the credit (Mangini or Tanny) for identifying Ratliff and drafting Ainge last year. Both could develop. More importantly it would be great if we had a coaching staff that actually developed QBs and could consistently make players better than when they got here. Holmgren's staff in Green Bay seemed to contribute to their QBs development more than most and making it work with late round picks is just a bonus.

[Jetscode1]

Ty Detmer round 9 (he did have an 8-year career, even if it was almost all as a backup)

Mark Brunnell round 5

Matt Hasselbeck end of round 6

Aaron Brooks end of round 4 (take a look at most late round 4-early round 5 QB draftees before you laugh too hard.)

And while Rodgers was a 1st round pick, he could have easily gone top-3 in the draft. GB picked him up with pick #24.

Also traded their 1st round pick in '92 for Favre.

I'd say Wolf did a damn impressive job with regard to drafting/acquiring QB's. The odds of a QB being good generally go down as you progress in the draft, but it's quite a bit more common than **** on a shingle.

1993:

round 8: Trent Green, Elvis Grbac

round 5: Mark Brunnell

1994:

round 7: Gus Frerotte (Heath Shuler & Trent Dilfer drafted in the top-6)

1995:

McNair & Collins in the top 5 and everyone else sucked in every round

1996:

no one good drafted in any round (Tony Banks in round 2 & Danny Kannell in round 4)

1997:

no one really good drafted in any round. Jim Druckenmiller was a first round pick. Jake Plummer and his career 1:1 TD:INT ratio went in round 2.

1998:

round 6: Matt Hasselbeck (Peyton, Leaf, Batch, Quinn, Griese in rounds 1-3)

1999: "Possibly the greatest QB draft class ever" is what they called it. 5 drafted in round 1 alone.

end of round 4: Aaron Brooks - had a better career than all but McNabb & Culpepper. No one good drafted in the late rounds, but the 1st 2 rounds didn't exactly have resounding success.

2000:

Pennington in round 1

round 6: Marc Bulger & Tom Brady

round 7: Tim Rattay (pretty successful for a 7th round pick)

2001:

late round QB's all sucked. Vick taken #1 and Brees taken #32.

round 4: Sage Rosenfels (meh)

2002: Carr, Harrington, and Ramsey in round 1 (Carr & Harrington both top-3)

round 4: David Garrard = best QB in the draft class

2003: 4 QB's taken in round 1. Only Carson Palmer doesn't suck.

2004: 3 QB's taken in the top-11. Everyone else was awful.

2005:

#1 overall = Alex Smith

round 4 = Kyle Orton

round 6 = Derek Anderson

round 7 = Matt Cassel

2006:

#3 and #10 overall are busts so far. Two more taken in round 2 & two more taken in round 3 have all sucked ass so far. To find fault with late-rounders is comical when 6 of 7 day-one picks (including a pair of top-10 picks) didn't exactly set the world on fire.

2007:

round 1: Jamarcus Russel & Brady Quinn

round 2: Kevin Kolb, John Beck, & Drew Stanton

...round 7: Tyler Thigpen

To say nothing of undrafted star QB's like Kurt Warner, Tony Romo, Jeff Garcia, Jake Delhomme, & once/moderately-successful ones like Jay Fiedler, Jon Kitna, Ray Lucas ().

It's not to say that the best QB's come in late rounds or are undrafted. That would be pretty stupid. But given the number of successful ones, it's definitely more common than **** on a shingle. Most of those 1st/2nd round QB's in the last 15-20 years were just awful & cost their teams much more in both money & wasted games & seasons.

Your list makes the point better than mine...nice post...thanks.

[lancemehl]

Having Leftwich does the Jets no good.

If Clemens or Ratliff are not good enough to beat out Leftwich the Jets are in a world of hurt.

PLUS, Leftwich wouldn't want to come here unless he's guaranteed a roster spot. If he's not going to be the starter then he'll get cut. The Jets can't carry 4 QBs again.

You're saying Ratliff ,Ainge, and Clemens are ALL better than Leftwich. I'll be happy if one of them is.

And as far as not wanting to, well then i guess he sits home this season, he's not exactly in a position to be "wanting" anything, his phone is dead. This is the same team that had Vinny Testeverede starting until he was 40 and talk about mobility and quick release. Leftwich is 29.

Don't get me wrong, I want one of the rooks to shine, but at least Leftwich has played.At least let them beat out Leftwich, I see absolutely NO downside to picking him up for a visit.

[Sperm Edwards]

You're saying Ratliff ,Ainge, and Clemens are ALL better than Leftwich. I'll be happy if one of them is.

And as far as not wanting to, well then i guess he sits home this season, he's not exactly in a position to be "wanting" anything, his phone is dead. This is the same team that had Vinny Testeverede starting until he was 40 and talk about mobility and quick release. Leftwich is 29.

Don't get me wrong, I want one of the rooks to shine, but at least Leftwich has played.At least let them beat out Leftwich, I see absolutely NO downside to picking him up for a visit.

The downside is bringing in Leftwich before a new HC has even seen his 3 current QB's compete for a couple of practices.

The Testaverde analogy doesn't apply:

1) He wasn't nearly as immobile when we acquired him (before he snapped his Achilles). At 35, he was more mobile than Leftwich at 29. Not merely in a dead sprint because I don't know who was faster in that regard, nor do I care. Leftwich stands there like an idiot until he thinks someone is open or until he gets clobbered, whichever happens first.

2) Testaverde's release, while certainly not Marino-esque, was plenty quicker than Leftwich's slo-mo Luis Tiant windup.

3) BB was very familiar with Testaverde already, having been his HC for 3 straight seasons, & was the driving force behind Tuna picking him up. No coach on the current Jets team has coached Byron Leftwich before, let alone with the degree of familiarity with him that a former HC has.

4) Testaverde was picked up in June of 1998 after the starting job was already Foley's. Parcells came here in February of 1997. This is totally dissimilar to the idea of Ryan coming here & picking up a castoff QB before he even evaluates what he has with his own eyes.

5) Leftwich is a veteran who hasn't started 10 games since he got hurt in 2005. This is 2009.

[#27TheDominator]

1997:

no one really good drafted in any round. Jim Druckenmiller was a first round pick.

Jim Drunken Miller! I saw him in that wrestling league. The XFL.

[lancemehl]

The downside is bringing in Leftwich before a new HC has even seen his 3 current QB's compete for a couple of practices.

The Testaverde analogy doesn't apply:

1) He wasn't nearly as immobile when we acquired him (before he snapped his Achilles). At 35, he was more mobile than Leftwich at 29. Not merely in a dead sprint because I don't know who was faster in that regard, nor do I care. Leftwich stands there like an idiot until he thinks someone is open or until he gets clobbered, whichever happens first.

2) Testaverde's release, while certainly not Marino-esque, was plenty quicker than Leftwich's slo-mo Luis Tiant windup.

3) BB was very familiar with Testaverde already, having been his HC for 3 straight seasons, & was the driving force behind Tuna picking him up. No coach on the current Jets team has coached Byron Leftwich before, let alone with the degree of familiarity with him that a former HC has.

4) Testaverde was picked up in June of 1998 after the starting job was already Foley's. Parcells came here in February of 1997. This is totally dissimilar to the idea of Ryan coming here & picking up a castoff QB before he even evaluates what he has with his own eyes.

5) Leftwich is a veteran who hasn't started 10 games since he got hurt in 2005. This is 2009.

Touch

[slats]

Don't get me wrong, I want one of the rooks to shine, but at least Leftwich has played.At least let them beat out Leftwich, I see absolutely NO downside to picking him up for a visit.

There's downside to bringing him in. Every rep that he gets would be one less that Clemens or Ratliff would get. One less opportunity to view the guy(s) you hope win the job in the first place.

The downside of just bringing him in for a visit is that it undermines the confidence you're trying to instill in your young QB's, and it tips your hand to the rest of the league as to which current trashpile QB is your fave. They should take a long look at all the guys currently on the roster - if they all suck, Leftwich or somebody similar will still be available to be picked up in the summer.

[lancemehl]

There's downside to bringing him in. Every rep that he gets would be one less that Clemens or Ratliff would get. One less opportunity to view the guy(s) you hope win the job in the first place.

The downside of just bringing him in for a visit is that it undermines the confidence you're trying to instill in your young QB's, and it tips your hand to the rest of the league as to which current trashpile QB is your fave. They should take a long look at all the guys currently on the roster - if they all suck, Leftwich or somebody similar will still be available to be picked up in the summer.

I will surrender to your first point, but I hardly think it's a secret we have no QB. lol I haven't heard a single "expert" NOT pick us dead last in the division, or tied for last with Miami.

The rest of the teams wouldn't blink at us bringing but him in.

But, as I said, go Ratliff!

[Ghost]

If this was Madden, I'll pick him up.

[Sperm Edwards]

I will surrender to your first point, but I hardly think it's a secret we have no QB. lol I haven't heard a single "expert" NOT pick us dead last in the division, or tied for last with Miami.

The rest of the teams wouldn't blink at us bringing but him in.

But, as I said, go Ratliff!

We have no QB who has proven to be very good at the NFL level at this point. That does not mean we have no QB. It does not mean we don't have an adequate QB or a good QB or a great QB or three Ryan Leafs.

We have 3 QB's. The OC has coached 2 of them for 2 seasons. The same OC has also coached Chad Pennington, Brett Favre, Drew Brees, and Philip Rivers. It's not like he wouldn't know an NFL-caliber QB if he saw one.

[lancemehl]

We have no QB who has proven to be very good at the NFL level at this point. That does not mean we have no QB. It does not mean we don't have an adequate QB or a good QB or a great QB or three Ryan Leafs.

We have 3 QB's. The OC has coached 2 of them for 2 seasons. The same OC has also coached Chad Pennington, Brett Favre, Drew Brees, and Philip Rivers. It's not like he wouldn't know an NFL-caliber QB if he saw one.

Yes, I agree with your entire post, but "we have no QB", you know what I'm saying.

Good call, though, heard some rumblings about Cutler again today. How great would that be, right after I go screaming for Byron Leftwich, Jay Cutler falls in our lap. lol

[DonCorleone]

Nobody else is pounding his door down. why not let him compete? All we did was bitcch about "arm strength" for 6 years, well, he's got that.

If nothing else as a backup,leader,and a guy with experience. It's a bargain at this point.

At times it is helpful when that arm actually belongs to a body and 1/2 of brain helps too.

[Vudu]

I agree. We should grab him, if for nothing else, added competition in camp

[AdropOFvenom]

If done right, I'd have no problem with Leftwich, but you get the feeling that if things aren't going well early on in the season, instead of giving the kid a chance to work through it, that they'd go for the "Known Quantity" and never look back, which is the last thing we need.

[Sperm Edwards]

At times it is helpful when that arm actually belongs to a body and 1/2 of brain helps too.

Actually I think I've read that Leftwich is a pretty smart guy. Doesn't make him worthy of starting for 16 games, but I'm just throwing that out there.

[afosomf]

Actually I think I've read that Leftwich is a pretty smart guy. Doesn't make him worthy of starting for 16 games, but I'm just throwing that out there.

i think i am only one in Leftwich camp

i maintain that he would be a great option for 2009, he is finally healthy

and he looked real good in the playing time he did receive. He will come

cheap to boot