Rookie Profile - Week 2

Posted 9/15 by Jeff Tefertiller, Exclusive for Footballguys.com

Player: Mark Sanchez

College: Southern California

Drafted: 1st round, 5th overall

College Highlights

2005

Sanchez was well regarded upon his arrival at USC. He did not play during his freshman year, and instead took a redshirt season. During this time he participated as the quarterback of USC's scout team, earning the Trojans' Service Team Offensive Player of the Year Award.

2006

For the 2006 season, Sanchez competed for the starting position; however, once junior John David Booty underwent back surgery after the first day of spring practice, Sanchez ran the first-team offense during the spring as Booty recuperated. Coaches stated Booty would be regarded as the starting quarterback when he returned for fall training camp.

In April 2006, Sanchez was arrested after a female USC student accused him of sexual assault. He was released from jail the following day, after posting $200,000 bail, but USC placed him on interim suspension that suspended him from the football team yet permitted him to take his semester finals, albeit separate from the general student body and under the supervision of campus security. On June 3, 2006, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office announced no charges would be filed against Sanchez due to a "lack of sufficient evidence beyond a reasonable doubt", noting the case was "essentially a 'one-on-one' allegation." The District Attorney's office released the charge evaluation worksheet that said the alleged victim in the case said she consented to kissing and petting on Sanchez's bed, and that she repeatedly refused Sanchez's advances to have intercourse with her but continued the other activities with him when he complied; the woman later spent time with other students without mentioning an incident and later told her mother who reportedly called police later in the morning. The woman involved left the university. Sanchez was required to take a rape awareness class at USC. USC reinstated Sanchez but he remained subject to team-related discipline for underage drinking and using fake identification on the night he was arrested. Sanchez had been previously detained but not arrested by USC's Department of Public Safety for allegedly breaking a window at a fraternity party.

As a redshirt freshman, Sanchez served as the back-up quarterback to Booty, seeing playing time in three games. He passed for 63 yards and no touchdowns with one interception.

2007

In fall practice before the 2007 season, Sanchez broke the thumb in his throwing hand, missing the first game against Idaho; he returned the following week and the redshirt sophomore again served as the primary backup to senior John David Booty. Midseason, Sanchez was moved up to starting quarterback for the game against Arizona after Booty suffered a broken finger in his throwing hand during a 24-23 upset loss to Stanford.
On October 13, Sanchez led USC to a 20-13 victory, overcoming a shaky first half where he threw two key interceptions, allowing Arizona to tie the game going into halftime. During the second half, Sanchez completed 11 of 15 passes for 74 yards and a touchdown and had a key 10-yard run for a first down, ultimately finishing the game 19 for 31 passing with 130 yards and averaged 4.2 yards a play for one touchdown, two interceptions, and was sacked three times. With Booty still recovering, USC elected to start Sanchez for a second straight week, this time at Notre Dame; he made significant improvements, completing 21 of 38 passes for 235 yards and four touchdowns and no interceptions. On October 27, Sanchez started for the final time in place of the injured Booty, at an away game against Oregon. The game resulted in a 24-17 defeat for USC, with Sanchez having two passes intercepted by Oregon safety Matthew Harper in the second half. The first interception led to a fourth-quarter touchdown that gave Oregon a 14 point lead; the second interception ended USC's final chance for a comeback. He publicly accepted the blame for the loss.

The following week, against Oregon State, Booty returned as USC's starting quarterback, with Sanchez resuming his position as Booty's backup. Sanchez passed for 695 yards and seven touchdowns with five interceptions over the season.

2008

Sanchez entered spring practice before the 2008 season as the front-runner to take over the starting quarterback position, but faced strong competition from Arkansas-transfer and former Razorback starter Mitch Mustain and redshirt freshman Aaron Corp; Mustain, like Sanchez a year earlier, was the top quarterback in the nation coming out of high school in 2006. By the end of spring practice, the USC coaching staff announced that Sanchez would be the designated starting quarterback going into fall camp. During the first week of fall camp, Sanchez suffered a dislocated left kneecap while warming up for practice; trainers were able to immediately put the kneecap back into place. After missing nearly three weeks, Sanchez was cleared to play in the opener against Virginia on the final scrimmage of fall camp. Before the opener, Sanchez was contacted by USC's previous three quarterbacks under Carroll --Palmer, Matt Leinart and Booty-- who wished him well and offered general advice.
In the opener at Virginia, Sanchez threw for a career-best 338 yards, making 26 of 35 pass attempts for three touchdowns and one interception. The Davey O'Brien Foundation named him the O'Brien Quarterback of the Week and his performance garnered early Heisman consideration. With Sanchez starting all 13 games at quarterback, the Trojans ended the season 12-1 and ranked No. 2 in the Coaches Poll and No. 3 in the AP Poll. Sanchez won the 2009 Rose Bowl Offensive MVP of the game; his 413 passing yards ranked fourth in Trojans history and were the highest since Carson Palmer threw for 425 against Notre Dame in 2002. He finished the season with 34 scoring passes, second in school history behind Matt Leinart's 38 in 2003. Sanchez ended his redshirt junior season with 3,207 yards passing, 34 touchdowns and 10 interceptions.

After the Rose Bowl, Sanchez said it would be "hard" to leave USC for the NFL and "probably couldn't do it; he would have entered his redshirt senior year if he had stayed. However, with the subsequent announcement that other NFL-caliber quarterbacks, such as Sam Bradford, Tim Tebow and Colt McCoy, had decided to stay in school for their junior and senior seasons respectively, rumors arose that Sanchez would use the opportunity to be one of the first two quarterbacks selected in the 2009 NFL Draft. On January 15, Sanchez announced his plans to forgo his final year of college eligibility and enter the 2009 NFL Draft, although he continued as a USC student and finished his degree in the Spring of 2009 while preparing for the draft. During the press conference, Carroll made it clear that he did not agree with Sanchez' decision, and that he advised him of the low success-rate of quarterbacks who left the college game early to enter the NFL, and suggested he attend graduate school to use his final year of collegiate eligibility. Despite the public disagreement, the two remained close afterward. Sanchez was the first USC quarterback to turn pro before exhausting his eligibility since Todd Marinovich did so after the 1990 season.

From wikipedia.org.

2009 Production To Date

Sanchez had a very good opener against the Houston Texans. He was efficient and found the open receiver. The rookie completed 18 of 31 passes for 272 yards, adding one touchdown and one interception. It was a good game to start his career. Sanchez was able to find receivers down the field, completing six passes for at least 20 yards. The win against the Texans was a good one. Next week will be a true challenge when the Jets face the New England Patriots.

Best Game To Date

In the first game of his career, Sanchez played well. He was a cool customer in the pocket and made the right read. In the game, Sanchez was a cool customer. He will be tested next week as the Jets host the Patriots. New York thinks they can win that game after the way the first-year passer played Sunday.

Situation In 2009

It did not take long for Sanchez to surpass Kellen Clemens as the Jets starting passer. He will be given an extra long leash. The week one win versus the Houston Texans only solidifies his stronghold on the position. The Jets, under the direction of Rex Ryan, will employ a conservative gameplan. The rookie head coach will rely on a stingy defense and a strong running game to take the pressure off the young quarterback. Fantasy owners are best not to expect great fantasy numbers from the New York quarterback this season. The team has no real WR2, and Cotchery is really a WR2 masquerading as a WR1. Sanchez will not have the weapons to make too much of a difference in fantasy leagues this season. But, he has shown flashes of being really good. It might take a year for the Jets to open up the offense and to improve the talent at the receiver position.

Long-term Situation

The future looks bright for Sanchez. He is an efficient passer that has the needed composure to succeed in the Big Apple. It takes a special type of player to thrive under the bright lights of New York. The scrutiny is too much for many youngsters. But, Sanchez appears to be the full package. He completed almost two-thirds of his passes last year as a Trojan. Add in a 3.4 Touchdown/Interception ratio and you see the strengths of his game. As the Jets upgrade the receiver position, expect Sanchez to become a fantasy factor. He is very talented. The thing working in his favor is an innate decision-making ability. This was on display throughout the preseason and during his college career. The situation looks great for Sanchez to succeed. He is a heady passer and a born leader. It just may take him a year or two to fulfill the expectations.

Potential Upside

Sanchez is more than a game manager. Yes, that is his strength. He makes good decisions and does not turn the ball over. But, Sanchez offers more upside than game managers like Trent Dilfer. His upside for fantasy is probably somewhere between Troy Aikman and Ben Roethlisberger. Sanchez is a winner, just like both of these passers. His fantasy upside is likely just inside the Top 10 fantasy quarterbacks. It might take him a couple of seasons to break the Top 12 at the position. The Jets need to first get him some playmakers at the receiver position. Since Sanchez left college early, and is starting in week one, he could be a very good NFL quarterback before the age of 25. Much will depend on the Jets address the wide receiver position.

College Profile from NFL.com

Positives: Ascending talent whose intangibles for the position are just as impressive as his physical tools. Cerebral player. Reads defenses well and rarely throws into coverage. Goes through his progressions quickly and takes what the defense gives him. Recognizes the blitz very well for a player of his experience and often targets the weak link on defense when blitzed. Good setup and a smooth over-the-top delivery. Legitimate NFL arm strength. Capable of making every NFL throw, including the deep ball. Rather than relying on pure arm strength as some of the other highly touted passers of the 2009 class do, however, Sanchez combines good velocity with rare anticipation, especially for a player of his limited experience. Consistently releases his passes before his receivers have made a break, giving the defense little time to react. Distributes the ball all over the field. Good short, medium, and long-range accuracy. Consistently places his passes where only his receiver can get it and throws a very catchable ball. When healthy, showed very surprising mobility for his size. Can evade the pass rush and will scramble if the defense gives free yards. Rare accuracy on the roll out. Squares his shoulders and can fire the ball with consistency and accuracy. Team captain. Blue-collar work ethic. Father, Nick Sanchez, is a fire captain in Orange Country, Calif.

Negatives: Only one season as the full-time starter and leaves USC with just 16 career starts. Career record of 4-2 outside of the state of California. Undeniable tools, but isn't yet a finished product. Runs a bit hot and cold and has a tendency to score touchdowns in bunches. Characterized by those close to the program as a very cerebral player who makes the right read, but many of his touchdown passes went to receivers with five or more yards of separation between the next closest defender, opening up some questions if USC's dominant athletes and the team's aggressive play-calling helped inflate his stock. Injury red flag: Suffered a dislocated left knee cap prior to the season opener and his mobility was limited at times.

Keep An Eye On

Mike Goodson

Mike Goodson is a player that was immature and made some poor decisions while at Texas A&M. But, there is not doubting his quickness and the talent to make a big play in space. Since the Aggies did not take advantage of Goodson's playmaking ability much after his rookie season, many had given up on him. Mike Goodson will have a role in the Carolina Panther offense this season. Considering the injury history of DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart, Goodson's role could be substantial ... even as a rookie. He is a very good receiver for a running back with speed and the ability to make people miss. His size will prevent him from being a primary rusher, but he could still be a big factor in the Panther offense.