New York Jets Mark Sanchez Is Improving

The improvement of Mark Sanchez has been a hot topic not just among Jets fans but the entire NFL.  The 3^rd year quarterback has been under the microscope all year as this was the year he was supposed to make big strides into becoming an elite player in the league. While Sanchez has not played as well as some of the elite quarterbacks in the league, he has slowly improved.

When looking directly at the stats, Sanchez has improved each year including this year. If you look at his TD’s and interceptions, they have gone from 12 TD’s and 20 interceptions in his rookie year, to 17 TD’s and 13 interceptions last year, to currently siting at 19 TD’s and 11 interceptions this year with four games left to play. 

His yards per game have also increased each year from 162.9 yards per game, to 205.7 y/g to 223.2 y/g this year. It is also important to note that his offensive line and the running game had its struggles this season. The statistic that has shown the most improvement is his QB rating.

Sanchez’ rating has gone from 63, to 75.3, to 81.1 respectively. 

One stat that most people wanted to see increase was his completion percentage. Many feel that a respectable completion percentage for “Marky” Mark is around 60 percent. While he has been unable to get his completion percentage up to this number, he has been able to increase it.  His completion percentage in his rookie season was 53.8 percent and this year it is 56.5 percent. 

While this increase may not jump out at anyone, at the end of the day it is an improvement.

As it has been discussed over and over that Tim Tebow is a winner, Mark Sanchez should be considered a winner too. Mark Sanchez excels later in games and has delivered many times when the game is on the line. He has nine fourth quarter comebacks and 11 game-winning drives. 

Say what you want about Mark Sanchez, he has more fourth quarter comebacks than both Joe Flacco and Aaron Rodgers. In his first two seasons in the NFL, Sanchez has already tied the NFL record for playoff road wins and has appeared in two AFC Championship games. If you stretch his postseason statistics out to a full 16 game season they look like this:

Completion Percentage: 60.5 percent

Touchdowns: 24

Interceptions: 8

Yards per game: 192.5

QB rating: 94.3