John Clayton released his own gross annual quarterback rankings, which are sure to stir up quite a bit of disagreement among football fans. He graded the quarterbacks into three different categories: The Elite, The Chad Pennington Category (can’t tell if that’s a compliment or slight), and the Hit-Or-Miss Group. So where does New York Jets' young quarterback Mark Sanchez rank on Clayton’s list?
23. Mark Sanchez, New York Jets
Analysis: The additions of Braylon Edwards and Santonio Holmes to an already solid unit, along with LaDainian Tomlinson coming out of the backfield, should help Sanchez become a 60 percent passer. Another ally is the fact that offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer can build upon the progress since Sanchez has a year of experience with the offense.
Chance of being elite: 50%
Clayton ranks Sanchez above other young quarterbacks like Chad Henne, Matthew Stafford, and Sam Bradford. However, both Stafford and Bradford have a higher probability of becoming elite. Surprisingly, Clayton gives Bradford an 85% chance of becoming elite, which seems high for someone who has never thrown a successful pass in an NFL game. On the other hand, Clayton also considers Carson Palmer as top-tier, so it's unclear exactly what he's thinking about sometimes. Returning to Sanchez, despite all the tools at his disposal, he just needs to step it up and be more consistent. He may never lead the league in yards or touchdowns, but he can be a solid quarterback for a while on this team. He’s still a long way from that point right now, and for this year, I’d be happy if he could just reduce his interception total to an acceptable number (say 13).