Poe Knows Mark Sanchez

It now appears the knee injury is behind him and we know Mark Sanchez will start the season as the Trojans quarterback. So, what else do we know? Poe is here to answer that for you.

WHAT POE KNOWS
The Pedigree: The heir apparent and now heir to throne on which John David Booty, Matt Leinart, and Carson Palmer sat. It seems that as soon as you step on the field as the USC quarterback, people start mentioning the Heisman Trophy like Pete Carroll hands it out every year. OK, we’re sorry, that’s ESPN, same thing. We’ve witnessed what good quarterbacks can do with athletes surrounding them. ESPN the Magazine just did an article on Sanchez being a QB of Mexican descent, well, because the QB at USC is of Mexican descent. What about the Samoan linebackers, Rey Rey? I’m pretty sure Northwestern’s QB is of Asian descent, but no story CJ?

The Tools: Mark Sanchez was a 6’3” 225lbs 5 star California recruit coming out of high school (like all other USC QBs) and choose to enter a program that would have strong competition at the position. In fact, another all everything QB recruit, Mitch Mustain, transferred from Arkansas to USC. After sitting out a year with a mandated redshirt, Mustain was expected to battle Sanchez for the position, but Pete Carroll and his staff decided in spring that it would be Mark Sanchez starting for the Trojans.

Experience: Sanchez has starting experience in three games, all coming in the 2007 season against Arizona, Notre Dame, and Oregon for a grand total of 695 yards on 69 of 114 passing (60.5%). He had prior mop up duty in 2006 completing 3 of 7 passes (42.9%) for 63 yards and an INT. It’s not like the guy is going to play a bad Virginia team and sit around until the Buckeyes come to town like Colt McCoy did. He’s been in the pressure cooker and has even lost a game.


WHAT POE DOESN'T KNOW
Is He Any Good?: 3 of 7 and an INT? 19 of 31, 1 TD, and 2 INTs? 21 of 38, 4 TDs? 26 of 41 for 2 TDs and 2 INTs? That’s 2007 totals, Arizona, Notre Dame, and Oregon, respectively. Definitely not eye popping production, completions, or TD:INT ratio. It should be noted that USC only lost the Oregon game. However it should also be noted that 4 of his 7 lifetime TD passes came against a hapless Notre Dame team that many powerhouse high schools could have moved the ball on. Without the Notre Dame game (it did happen, so we have to count it), Sanchez would own an awful lifetime TD:INT ratio of 3:6. On top of that, he’s averaging 6.1 YPA with a 123.3 QB rating. He was sacked 4 times in 3 games.

For all the Buckeyes that dislike Todd Boeckman and want anyone else, he completed 63.9% for 2379 yards at a 7.96 YPA. His TD:INT ratio is 25:14 and was sacked 18 times in 13 games. So you could take it as Todd had a full season to show what he could do while the sample size of Sanchez’s work is small due to him only playing in three games. Legit, but I don’t know if I would consider Arizona, Notre Dame, and Oregon to be the stiffest defenses around, and could be comparable to Minnesota (okay, nobody is that bad), Northwestern, and Wisconsin/Penn State. Todd had more opportunities to have bad games, while Sanchez had less opportunity to have good games. Most people would argue Sanchez was being supported by better WRs and better RBs than even Ohio State.

Coaching Confidence: Sanchez saw about as much duty in 2006 as Todd Boeckman did. Couple passes here at the end of games. Big difference was that Troy Smith had Justin Zwick as his backup, while Sanchez was the backup to John David Booty. USC wasn’t exactly in the close games that warranted JDB staying in the entire time. If Booty hadn’t gotten injured, we may never have seen Sanchez except in extreme mop up duty. Sanchez didn’t throw a pass until the Arizona game.

I also can’t help but mention Stanford circa 2007. USC fans still say they wouldn’t have lost if Mark Sanchez were put in place of the injured (during the game) Booty. The fans knew he hurt his hand, the players knew it was hurt, and Pete Carroll definitely knew it was hurt. Sanchez’s “I am the savior” tour ended before it ever started in the game, as he completed 0 passes on 0 attempts. An injured Booty gave USC a better chance to win than a healthy Sanchez?

Is Mitch Mustain Better?: He sure has been in the news a lot for his time at Arkansas and the shit show that happened there. If there wasn’t a guy named ‘McFadden’, that might have been an even crazier time for the players, coaches, school, AD, fans, etc. Now “Momma’s Boy”, the former 5 star recruit, is just another QB for USC. Is he better than Sanchez? Could be, and he’s already got a starting season under his belt. No doubt stronger, not smarter, after a redshirt year and you could have the makings of a talented USC QB.

Well, except for the fact that Sanchez already has the starting job. Um, there’s another talented QB in Aaron Corp that doesn’t like Mustain or we would have to assume is the case. Oh, and the #1 QB and Prospect for 2009 has already committed to USC. Yikes. Not a lot of playing time to go around: see USC backfield. The thing about running backs is that you can put 2, or maybe even 3, on the field at one time. QB? USC rarely takes out its starter.

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So what happens when Sanchez tosses 3 picks in a loss to Ohio State (assuming the secondary has learned how to catch balls)? Even worse, what happens if Mustain comes in after said 3rd INT and leads USC back to a close loss or a win over the Buckeyes in a near flawless performance? Pete likes to win. You might want to frame that Sanchez ESPN article, because that’s the last you’ll see of him. At this point, I’ll take my chances with Sancheezzy back there.