Yeah, I think Sanchez has a pretty good future ahead of him if they keep him upright and he doesn't melt mentally, which I would say is a high possibility for a guy who hasn't had a lot of experience in college or the NFL (obviously). His footwork, I felt, was the best coming out. He can roll to the left and right flats and make the throw without any issues or at least that's what I've noticed from watching a couple tapes in college. He's got very good short to intermediate accuracy but does struggle down field. I think that 48 yard pass that he had in his first pre-season game wasn't a fluke but I think it may be something that tricks fans. I feel that he's an inconsistent down field thrower, as he often over-throws his target. Honestly, he reminds me a lot of Donovan McNabb after his injuries and the Super Bowl year. McNabb's a pretty damn good quarterback in my opinion but he does get erratic with his accuracy, specifically when throwing down field and I see a lot of that in Mark Sanchez.
A few other issues stood out to me with Sanchez in college is his inability to look off the defensive back or linebacker when making throws to his target, which azfinfanmang also pointed out earlier. I know that's an issue with just about every quarterback coming out so its a flawed thought on my part but I don't think you can just ignore things like that. That's a skill that I feel is underrated because when you're locking on your guys, you're going to lose possession. Maybe decades ago it wasn't an issue but when you have safeties with 4.4 speed and great lateral speed/range, its a bit tough to complete the pass unless you have a rocket arm, which I don't think Sanchez does.
The second thing that could be a problem is his ability to read defenses. I think its safe to say that it wasn't as difficult - I don't want to say it was easy and simple - to complete many passes at USC. They run a pro offense which seemed to be like a WCO last year, with many sideline and slant patterns designed for Patrick Turner - something I think the Dolphins need to do more of. I think Sanchez had a lot of talent on his team to make up for his inexperience and now he's coming to the NFL and is asked to make three or four reads against a heavy blitz defense for example. He has to point out which direction linebackers are coming from but its not that easy when you have a team lined up in their base defense and then you snap the ball, its suddenly a zone blitz with their nose tackle dropping in zone coverage in the middle of the field or you have a defensive end/linebacker zone exchange, where the DE takes a step forward to fake a pass rush, drops back in coverage and the linebacker blitzes off the edge. He's going to have to pick those things up. I think that's what rattled him against Baltimore.
Last, the pocket. He's shown some good stuff in terms of stepping up in the pocket but he's also shown some Trent Edwards in his game - what I mean is I've seen Edwards have the pocket collapse from the outside and instead of stepping up, he tries to circle the pass rusher to get to the flats and avoid the pressure. He had a very clean pocket at USC. Now he's facing once again heavy blitz teams that are going to rush him, force him into making uncomfortable throws and make him beat them with his arm because they'll game plan for stopping the run. Sanchez is bound to throw passes of his back foot, I think just about every young quarterback does that. He's going to make mistakes and there will be growing pains but I think what's most important from that is how he comes back the following week. He's going to see some of the same looks that he saw in the previous week in which he struggled in so how does he adjust to that same defense? Did he do his homework? Is his confidence still high? If not, that's dangerous and scary for you as a head coach. You don't want him questioning himself. Its probably why Matthew Stafford may pan out. I don't like Stafford much to be honest, I actually had him ranked below Sanchez in terms of overall talent, but he's got that cockiness and high confidence. He throws an INT and then he comes back and makes a 50 yard pass to Calvin Johnson, splitting two defensive backs. He's not rattled so easily, I think its something to look for in Sanchez. If he melts under pressure and when he makes mistakes, his future is probably not going to look too bright IMO.
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