The New York Jets Drafting Mark Sanchez Is a Smart Move

I write to you as a much happier fan then you last saw me. In my last blog I expressed my disdain for newly appointed Head Coach, Rex Ryan's support for Kellen Clemens.

At that point, it was late March and Mark Sanchez was just beginning his assault on the draft board. His stock was rising and my hope was fading, but on draft day something funny happened. The woeful Jets (notable as having some of the worst draft's ever) took a risk, and traded up to the 5th pick.

I am ashamed to say that my first thought was, “NO!”. I didn't want Mark Sanchez, I thought that the price would be too high to move up 12 spots, and Sanchez was just a beneficiary from the medias obsession for the draft. His stock had risen too much over the last month for him to be this good.

The draft room (held in NYC) went crazy, my brother was jumping up and down, and Mark Sanchez looked absolutely smitten, my thoughts started to shift, my Jets had our first franchise quarterback in a long time.


The Trade:

Jets Send: 17th overall pick, 57th overall pick, DE Kenyon Coleman, QB Brett Ratliff, and S Abram Elam.

Browns send: 5th overall pick. 

Anytime you want to trade into the top 5 it's going to take a kings ransom, right? Many fans not familiar with the Jets, immediately jumped up and said "Horrible trade!!!".

In reality, it was a rather tame price, and certainly something the Jets could afford. Coleman, Ratliff and Elam are all backups. Abram Elam is certainly the best out of three. Jets fans will remember him for his memorable two game stretch last season, in which he scored a defensive TD in back to back games.

At best, he is a low end starting Safety, and his loss was more then covered for with the signing of former Ravens Safety, Jim Leonhard. Losing draft pick depth, in a year in which we we're already thin hurts, but Mark Sanchez is a franchise QB, something the Jets have sorely lacked since Broadway Joe.

The Impact:

When was the last time a Pro Bowl RB was excited about their team potentially starting a rookie QB? I'm not so sure, but Thomas Jones is certainly counting his blessings.

After a stellar comeback year of sorts, Thomas Jones looked to a hearty raise in the off-season...that never materialized, and do you think he was happy about possibly going into the season with Kellen Clemens as his QB? Jones is coming off his best statistical season ever, now is not the time for a setback.

Sanchez is no Favre, but will make Jone's life a lot easier, defenses will have to plan a bit more around Sanchez than they would for Clemens.

Mark Sanchez will also have a huge impact on the Jets and their social standing in NY. The Jets have long been dwarfed by the popularity of the Giants in NY, we haven't won a Super Bowl in 40 years. Mark Sanchez resonates with the people of NY, there is obviously a very large Latino population in New York, so you will be seeing more Jets fans then ever before, and more tickets being sold.

Perhaps more important than his football skills, Mark Sanchez has really unified the Jets nation, people are excited again, and you just can't put a price on that. With the Jets moving into a new Stadium, this might be exactly the change that the Jets needed.


The Season:

I am not a homer. The Jets will not go 16-0 en route to a 45-3 Super Bowl win over the Raiders. The Jets will be a mediocre team in 2009, probably falling somewhere in the 6-8 win category.No matter how charismatic and skilled Mark Sanchez is, he is still a rookie and there will be a steep learning curve.

His weapons will be limited, Laveranues Coles is gone, leaving one true thread left in the wide receiver corps...Jerricho Cotchery. Dustin Keller could very well be our leading WR, the TE is often a crutch for a young QB, and Thomas Jones will continue to be the focal part of the offense, now more than ever.

Our bolstered Defense will keep up in a lot of games that we shouldn't be in, so until 2010 Jets fans will be running high on hope, and low on expectations.

Article Credit Due to hoodyallen at RealSportsTalk.