Mark Sanchez Isn't What Rex Ryan Wants in a Quarterback

As media sources ask Rex Ryan what he plans on doing with Tebow, I'm more curious of what he plans on doing with Sanchez. The defensive-minded, run-first style coach has verbally supported his starting quarterback, but his recent decisions and his coaching style lead me to believe Sanchez isn't the type of quarterback he prefers.

Mark Sanchez struggled in 2011 to the point where Ryan was warming up Mark Brunell on the sidelines. Whether that's enough to motivate any starting QB in the league is debatable, but it's the thought that counts.

Sanchez made several bad decisions throughout the season, one being the timeout he called late in the first half of their game against New England that Ryan described (via ESPN) as "the stupidest thing in football history."

With both running and passing games declining over the last two years, Ryan is quickly loosing faith in his non-explosive offense. He appears to believe it needed an infusion of something—something more virile. After watching Sanchez nervously panic on the field when plays break down and flinch when DE's jump at him, Ryan wants a change, at least for the sake of his pride. 

The clip speaks for itself. That's not who Ryan wants leading his team. Ryan knows he'll never see Tebow in a situation like that.

The Jets and their spoon-fed, emasculated leader went 8-8 in 2011, 30th in the league in rushing. While full blame can't be placed on Sanchez for those statistics, Ryan and Sparano believe the remedy to reverse them will come in the form of another QB.

They appear to have something up their sleeves, judging by their confidence in Tebow. And it's probably something other than the same old Wildcat plays Sparano exploited while in Miami. They seem to be invested in building an offense to complement Tebow's playing style, but with added creativity and an open mind. 

I believe Sanchez will begin the season as starter and will probably perform convincingly better than his new teammate in training camp. But as long as Tebow is on the team, Ryan will crave to see what he can do.

Ryan has recently been quoted saying, according to nj.com, that he sees Tim Tebow as "a football player" and noted that he can do numerous things to help the team win aside from being a backup. On First Take, Ryan Stewart said it well when he spoke about people getting caught up in who has great passing statistics when they should be paying attention to who is moving the chains. It appears that the Jets are looking for the latter.

Their latest acquisition seems to be a win-win for the Jets staff since if the Tebow situation ends up not panning out, then Sanchez will likely be more motivated to step up his game during the process.

At least more than he was when Brunell was warming up on the sidelines.