The Art of the QB Non-Competition

To nobody's real surprise, Mark Sanchez has been named the starting QB for the Jets. Somewhat by surprise, it wasn't because he had a great game Monday against the Ravens. Instead, he seems to win it based on the fact the Jets have a new, brash head coach that both saw a rookie first round pick succeed last season as well as realize he has no one attractive enough to start in front of Sanchez.

Therein lies the fun of the Jets "quarterback competition" we had seen early in the pre-season. It was never really a competition. One would say the only way it was is if Sanchez played so poorly in his first start that he worked his way out of a job. The problem is, one might think he'd have done that by throwing a pick six his first pass as a starter and nearly throwing two others prior to notching a TD pass against what amounted to mostly Ravens backups.

And so we're left to wonder if there was really any QB competition to begin with. Is it possible for him to have played his way out of the job? Would Clemens have played well enough to win the job if he'd have done more than what little he did in his two games?

One has to assume not, which begs the question, "Why even announce it as a QB competition?" I see two main arguments here, one on either side of this question.

Arguing for competition, one would think making it a competition would push Sanchez to raise his game. Make it a ruse, make him earn it, and if he plays up to the task he'll get it. Closely connected to this, if he blows up completely, Rex always has the option to keep him on the bench for a while and not look like a fool.

However, on the flip-side of this argument, coming out and giving him the job allows him more time to work with the starting team, and working against starting defenses. This could be particularly important for a rookie QB. So in my personal opinion, if there's basically nothing he could have done to lose the QB "competition" that was set early in camp, Rex probably should have simply given him the job.

That's the beauty of being an armchair quarterback (so to speak) I guess.

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Three Coaches

When NFL head coaches make the news it is usually a series of soundbites from pressers or as the focus of analysis buried deep within a column. This goes double for new head coaches who typically are "installing systems" and "evaluating players" and other insubstantial somethings. When new head coaches make the sports page equivalent of the gossip columns? Well usually it ends badly.

So here we are, slightly more than halfway through the offseason and seeing something that - if not unprecedented is at least on the far side of rare. Three incoming head coaches are making waves, not with their football decisions but with their relatively bizarre behavior outside the white lines.

I think if I was ever hired to coach an NFL team with a 25 year old Pro Bowl quarterback, if asked what the first thing I'd do, my answer wouldn't be "I will shop for a replacement quarterback while trying to sell my Pro Bowler and when challenged I will deny the whole thing so that I can get caught in a lie by the Pro Bowler and alienate him right off the team, leaving myself with no options whatsoever". For one thing I try not to speak in awful run-on sentences like that, but well, you get the point. And of course this is precisely what Josh McDaniels did. If I were Pat Bowlen I would have been sorely tempted to fire McDaniels, Brian Xander and turn to Mike Shanahan on bended knee rather than lose Cutler.

I'm tempted to argue that age plays a role, and probably it does, but the babies in the bathwater are Don Shula, John Madden, Bill Cowher and Mike Tomlin, each who got their first HC position before the age of 35.

Moving on to Cleveland we have the curious case of Eric Mangini, another coach who got his first gig at the age of 34 and has been ruffling feathers ever since. Since getting hired by Cleveland he engineered the trade of Kellen Winslow for a handful of magic beans. To ensure his offense had absolutely no playmakers he also tried to trade his best wide receiver for some potting soil. He's alienated both of his quarterbacks to some degree, his stud defensive tackle wants out of town. He mixed it up with Josh Cribbs, arguably Cleveland's most important player.

Look, I get the idea of establishing an identity, of being firm with veterans, of creating a presence upon which to build. Considering the behavior of McDaniels and Mangini, the Belichick school seems to go far beyond that. 1) make all your important players hate you 2) get new players. Recipe for success? It's no coincidence that Belichick failed in Cleveland prior to returning to the system installed by his mentor in New England.

Finally we move on to Rex Ryan, who took the position forcibly vacated by Mangini. Everything seemed to go quite well up to the last couple of weeks. The Jets (arguably) "won" free agency, they got their guy in the draft, the installation of Ryan's defense seemed to be progressing. But then he just had to start talking, and once he started he apparently couldn't stop. I don't remember the last time any head coach got into a war of words with a player on an opposing team in the middle of June. I certainly don't remember the last time it was a rookie head coach that got involved. Even worse, Channing Crowder managed to make Ryan look like a fool in the process.

What started out as a funny exchange, Crowder calling Ryan 'the OTA Super Bowl winner' after all of Ryan's crowing, turned even more absurd with Ryan's claim that'if I was younger I'd handle him myself'. Uh ... really Rex? This isn't 3rd grade any more and Buddy isn't there to pull Crowder off of you while he beats in your head. Short message to the rookie head coach: STFU.

Typically, incoming head coaches get through their entire first year without much controversy. In 2009 we are treated with three ego-ridden coaches each taking preliminary steps toward their next trip to the unemployment office.

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