Mark Sanchez

It’s pretty hard to piss off Pete Carroll. He knows fun like The Fonz knows cool. This is a guy who, as an April Fools prank, called in the LAPD to arrest a player during a team meeting for physically abusing a freshman:

Another time he called in his good buddy Will Ferrell, otherwise known as Captain Compete, to “save” an assistant coach:

In other words, the dude is more laid back than Buddha.

But somehow, Dirty managed to do it. He pissed off Carroll. During Sanchez’s press conference announcing his decision to enter the NFL Draft, Carroll made it clear the two didn’t agree on the decision, and after he was done talking (and before Sanchez took the mic), he walked out of the room with only a pat on the shoulder as he passed his former quarterback.

Carroll had good reason to be upset at Sanchez. He only started one year at USC, and the three quarterbacks before him (two of which won the Heisman Trophy) stayed on board for their senior years. 16 college starts is not a lot to go on (Jets weren’t phased). However, former USC quarterback Matt Cassell didn’t start ONE game, yet he is now the starting QB for the Chiefs (not something you really want to brag about yet, though).

Even though he only started 16 games, and one full season, the Jets felt confident enough in his abilities to select him with the 5th overall pick. In fact, they traded UP for him. Sanchez has great arm strength, tremendous vision, reads defenses well and has above average mobility to escape the blitzes.  On one memorable play in the 2009 Rose Bowl, Sanchez released the ball a few seconds before his receiver made a break to the ball, giving the defense little time to react. Sanchez constantly does this, and playing in a pro style offense that USC runs will benefit him greatly in New York.

Sanchez went out with a bang in his final collegiate game against Penn State in the 2009 Rose Bowl. He was 28-for-35 with 413 yards, 4 touchdowns and zero interceptions against one of the best defenses in the country. Overall, Sanchez’s 34 touchdown passes in the 2008 season rank 2nd to Matt Leinart’s 38 for TD passes in a season during the Pete Carroll era.

Surprisingly, there’s a chance Sanchez might not even be the starting quarterback for the Jets when the season opens, as he is competing with Kellen Clemens for the job since Brett Favre retired.  If he does start, he won’t have much to work with.  The Jets did not make an attempt to sign their top receiver, Lavernaues Coles, and lost him through free agency to the Bengals.  Jerricho Cotchery, caught five TDs last year and has never had more than six in a season.  Beyond Cotchery, there are guys named Clowney and Stuckey on the depth charts.   Dirty will struggle.

The Jets  have a fantastic offensive line and ground game.  They finished 9th in rushing yards but only 19th in attempts.  Sure, some of that success is obviously due to having Favre under center, but the Jets do have a couple pro-bowl offensive lineman.  And All-Pro FB Tony Richardson is back for one more year.  The Jets will look to Baltimore and Atlanta’s success preserving their rookie signal callers with a heavy dose of Thomas Jones, Leon Washington, and rookie Shonn Greene.

Neither of the Jets’ signal callers are worth drafting this season.

Dirty signed a five-year, $44.5 million contract in June of '09 that included a sweet $28 million of guaranteed money.  Besides that, there are a few other millions that can be earned through incentives.  $6 million is available via "likely to be shelled out" motivators, while another $9.5 million is there to be had via "unlikely to be earned" escalators.  Here's how the rest of it shakes down:

2009 - $2.545 million

2010 - $3,181,250 (+ $10 million guaranteed option bonus)

2011 - $3,817,500

2012 - $4,453,750

2013 - $5.09 million

2014 - Free Agent

• Offensive Line


• Offensive Scheme


• Major Off-Season Moves


• 2009 NFL Draft

NEW YORK JETS

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Rank #6   vs. Pass

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