NO SURPRISE: SANCHEZ NAMED JETS STARTING QUARTERBACK

Whether you believe there was an actual quarterback competition or not, rookie Mark Sanchez was officially named the New York Jets starting quarterback today. This just solidifies what most of us felt at the draft, that Sanchez would be thrown into the fire immediately. Kellen Clemens would have really had to put on an impressive display to wiggle the job away from the rookie.

Many times a rookie will sit and learn from a veteran their first year or two in the league, but when the option is Sanchez or Clemens, the Jets made the right choice. Clemens had his chance a couple years ago to stamp his place with the Jets when he took the job away from Chad Pennington. He didn't play well after he dazzled in the backup role. If the Jets had a Kurt Warner type veteran, then I would say let the veteran play and mentor the rookie. Plus, that type of veteran would give the Jets a better chance to win, but Clemens won't lead the Jets anywhere and he's really not a mentor as he is quite young himself.

I think it is great that they are letting Sanchez gain experience and go through some growing pains now. Will he struggle at times during his rookie season? Of course. Almost all rookies do. I think the only rookies to have seamless transitions into the NFL were Dan Marino and Matt Ryan. But as Sanchez adjusts to life in the NFL, I think he will be a very good quarterback for the Jets for years to come. He throws a nice ball, has great poise, and has already shown ability to bounce back from mistakes. I love his makeup, so hopefully he will eventually lead the Jets to prominence.

My only hope is that fans don't overreact to when he struggles at times this year. We fans need to be patient as this year won't be pretty at times. The Jets schedule is not friendly, and management did not exactly get Sanchez many toys to play with on offense. I hope he will, but I don't expect him to have a rookie season like Matt Ryan and Joe Flacco had last year. That is far from a bad thing though as rookie quarterbacks rarely do well. Ryan was a four-year starter at Boston College and was absolutely ready to slide into an NFL role. Flacco was allowed to ease into the role as the Ravens had a tri-headed backfield and a stellar defense to earn them wins. Some think the Jets will have a similar team to what the Ravens had last year, but their schedule was much more favorable than ours. Fans should not measure Sanchez's year against those two. It just wouldn't be fair!

It's official though! The Mark Sanchez era is set to begin for the Jets! Hopefully this will be a historic date in our history!

Pat Morgan