Mark Sanchez Should Have Listened to Pete Carroll

Remember when you were a kid and you wouldn't eat your vegetables, and Mom yelled at you to eat them, so you asked her "Why?" and she said, "Because I said so!"

Mom was right: those vegetables will make you a stronger human being and prepare you better for the real world. You didn't listen to her though, did you!? You wanted more hot dogs or Mac-n-Cheese cause hot dogs and Mac-n-Cheese tasted better and, in the extreme short term, they were much better than vegetables.

You didn't listen, did you, Mark Sanchez?

Thursday morning, Sanchez, as predicted by ESPN, declared his eligibility for the NFL Draft. After Sanchez spoke his piece, Trojan football coach Pete Carroll took the podium to tell reporters what he thought about Sanchez's decision.

I've been at USC and closely involved with the football team for four years. In that time, plenty of players have foregone NCAA eligibility for the NFL: Reggie Bush (2006-second overall pick), Winston Justice (2006-39th overall pick), LenDale White (2006-45th overall pick), Darnell Bing (2006-fourth round pick), Dwayne Jarrett (2007-45th overall pick), Chilo Rachal (2008-40th overall pick), the list probably could go on.

Pete Carroll almost always says the same thing. He usually talks about how he sat down with the player and talked about the pros and cons. He states that ultimately it was the player's decision, he supports the choice, and it was great having him in the program. I was in the room when he said this about Jarrett, who, with 192 rec. yards and no TDs in two seasons, clearly could have used another year in college, yet Carroll clearly supported "D.J." in his decision to turn pro.

So, when Carroll said about Sanchez, "We don't see this decision the same," something wasn't right. People that don't follow the program (if you voted Oklahoma over USC for the BCS National Championship game, that's you!) were quick to criticize Carroll by speculating that he was used to getting what he wanted, that he was trying to hurt Sanchez's draft stock, and that he was mad because it hurt his team's future. None of that's true.

Do you think it helped Carroll's program to lose Jarrett, who had caught for 1015 yards and 12 TDs in 2006 (the same year he lost Steve Smith [1083/9] to graduation)!? Certainly not, but he supported Jarrett's choice.

Carroll has coached in the NFL and NCAA, won two National Championships, coached three Heisman Trophy winners, and won the Pac-10 and gone to a BCS Bowl in seven consecutive seasons (winning six of those Bowl games). He always supports his players, and he doesn't waste energy campaigning for a ranking. So, when, once in a blue moon, Carroll breaks from the norm, you best listen.

Carroll's right! Sanchez doesn't have enough experience to give NFL scouts an accurate assessment of how great he can be. In a recent post, I said the same thing, Sanchez has all the talent in the world, but much of it still lies in potential. As Carroll says on his website, another year of college football would have unleashed that potential and proven him as a must-draft quarterback next season.

It also could have put some hardware next to the lone Rose Bowl Trophy in his NCAA trophy case.

Sanchez cited Carson Palmer, Matt Leinart, Matt Cassel, and John David Booty as people that he went to for advice about this decision. Which makes it only more surprising that after talking to four quarterbacks that chose to return for their fifth year to USC, he went out on his own to make this decision.

Palmer returned and won the Heisman. Leinart had accomplished everything: he'd won a Heisman, two National Championships, and was projected as the first overall pick by the San Francisco 49ers, and he returned.

Carroll went on to say that Sanchez is "going against the grain" and that "the NFL wants you to stay in school as long as you can...so that they can make great decisions [for their franchise]." Palmer, Leinart, Cassel, and Booty all did that; it would have made sense for Sanchez to do the same (especially since he'd only started for one year).

A lot of speculation revolves around the quarterbacks that chose to return to school, and the rise that gave Sanchez's draft stock. A fair point, but instead of going against the grain, Sanchez should have followed suit. Colt McCoy has started for three years and been a Heisman Trophy finalist; Sam Bradford has started for two years and won a Heisman Trophy; Tim Tebow has started for two years, won a Heisman Trophy, and been a part of two National Championships.

All three of those players returned to the NCAA and summed up what Carroll meant when he talked about giving the NFL enough information to make a great decision; Sanchez did not.

In fact, while some argue that Sanchez's coming out early helps his draft stock, I view it as a lack of confidence in his own ability in regards to his competition. If Sanchez were really good enough to go in the top five this year, I'd certainly hope he'd be good enough to go in the top five next year, after another season of vying for a Heisman and National Championship.

Sure, Leinart dropping from the projected No. 1 pick in 2005 to the No. 10 pick in 2006 goes against that theory. But, in Leinart's defense, it's still mind-boggling that the Titans drafted Vince Young over him.

While both have yet to earn their stripes in the NFL, Leinart's sitting behind a two-time MVP winner, Kurt Warner, who passed for a NFL-second best 4583 yards and NFL-third best 30 TDs this season; Young's sitting behind Kerry Collins (whose 2676 yards and 12 TDs in 16 games this season are similar to Leinart's rookie season when he went 2547/11 in just 12 games).

The point being, however, if Sanchez doesn't think he's good enough to get taken before some of those quarterbacks, how does he ever expect to be better than them in the NFL? He should have come back to school and proved to everyone how good he really is.

Carroll tried to convey this to his quarterback, but he didn't listen. Just like we didn't listen to Mom when she told us to eat our vegetables. Now we're stuck chugging Odwalla shakes and eating Light and Fit yogurt for snacks, in hopes that it some how makes up for the years we ate nothing but hot dogs and Mac-n-Cheese.

Carroll cited a stat that of the "early-out," first round quarterbacks there's less a 50-50 chance of them having a successful NFL career (case in point: 2006 No. 3 pick, Vince Young). Sanchez better hope that his metabolism doesn't slow down before the hot dogs and Mac-n-Cheese catch up to him, or else he'll end up in that majority of could-have-beens that never got a healthy diet of the NFL.