New York Jets Should Work from the Ground Up with Mark Sanchez

The turbulence of the New York Jets offseason to this point has been so excessive that it may be time for an emergency landing.

The soap opera has really picked up steam as of late. Unnamed sources have now taken to the media to air their grievances with quarterback Mark Sanchez according to Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News. Sanchez is considered by many to be one of the central figures in the Jets' crash landing from Wild Card hopefuls to sitting at home during the playoffs.

“We have to bring in another quarterback that will make him work at practice,” said one unnamed player. “He’s lazy and content because he knows he’s not going to be benched.”

It really doesn't matter who specifically made the comments because it doesn't take a genius to point out that Sanchez needs to get better in several areas.

However, what can the Jets do to help?  

New system

When former offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer left the team on Monday, he was quickly replaced by former Dolphins head coach Tony Sparano. 

Giving Mark Sanchez a new offensive system could be the first step in a fresh start for the young quarterback. Next season will mark his fourth in the league, and although some may say that learning a new system might hurt his growth a little bit, it's worth the risk.

Let's face it—it can't get a whole lot worse. 

Mentor system

Although some rookie quarterbacks start right away, many enter the league with low expectations and ride the bench for a little bit to learn the ways of the NFL.

Not Sanchez, who has started every game he's been healthy for over the past three seasons. One would think that the starting experience has been enough for him to learn. However, though he tells the media that he is light years ahead of where he was when he entered the league, it doesn't look that way on tape.

He still makes costly mistakes. He still has mental meltdowns.

All the while, who's been there to coach him up? Kellen Clemens and Mark Brunell. 

Competition

Whether or not the rumors are true about Sanchez being lazy—and Mehta received different information in this story than he has in years past—the fact remains that he hasn't progressed as much as he would like to admit.

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On Dec. 28, Sanchez said that he was “light years ahead” in areas such as defensive recognition, clock management and understanding of the offensive system. Six days later, general manager Mike Tannenbaum said that Sanchez’s “rate of growth isn’t where it needs to be.”

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What better way to help spurt his growth than to light a fire under him?

Clemens and Brunell have been as much competition to Sanchez as a hot dog was to Takeru Kobayashi between the years of 2001 and 2006. That's about the same level of competition as a hot dog was to Sanchez in 2009.

The bottom line is that football players are competitive people, and adding a quarterback that can push Sanchez in practice could only serve to help him improve. If and when that quarterback loses the competition to Sanchez, they could at least provide some of the aforementioned mentoring. 

Fundamentals

Sanchez apologists point to his increasing passer rating, touchdowns and completion percentage over the course of his three seasons with the team. However, it's worth mentioning that among quarterbacks with 30 or more starts since 2009, Sanchez ranks dead last (24th out of 24) in passer rating.

Regardless, one area he hasn't improved in is fundamentals. He has problems with ball security that haven't got any better, and he had a career-high 26 giveaways in 2011.

Does he get all the blame? Certainly not. He was sacked a career-high 38 times in 2011, meaning the pressure was in his face more often than it had been previously.

The fact remains that ball security is a fundamental aspect of winning football games, and until Sanchez improves drastically, the Jets will be held back by their quarterback.

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