Did the Jets take the right quarterback in the 2009 draft?

He’s won four playoff games so far in his young career, quarterbacking the New York Jets to the AFC Championship game two years in a row. He has most Jets fans bragging about him being the best passer the franchise has had since Hall of Famer Joe Namath was airing it out on the field—and painting the town red—in the late-1960s. On more than a few occasions he’s come through in clutch situations in his 37 starts, playoff games included. He also has a superior postseason winning percentage to the New Orleans Saints’ Drew Brees, San Diego Chargers’ Philip Rivers, New York Giants’ Eli Manning, and even the Indianapolis Colts’ great Peyton Manning’s. In fact, the only active starting quarterbacks with higher winning percentages in playoff games than this young man’s are the New England Patriots’ Tom Brady, Pittsburgh Steelers’ Ben Roethlisberger, and Green Bay Packers’ Aaron Rodgers.

So why question the Jets’ decision to trade up for Mark Sanchez in the 2009 NFL draft? Because there’s a quarterback in Tampa Bay by the name of Josh Freeman, another 2009 first-round draft pick, and he himself is putting together quite an impressive resume. During the 2009 draft Jets general manager Mike Tannenbaum didn’t trade much to move from pick #17 up to the Cleveland Browns’ selection at #5 in order to get Sanchez, the hotshot quarterback from USC. In the deal, the Jets gave up the 17th pick, their second-round selection (#52), defensive end Kenyon Coleman, third-string quarterback Brett Ratliff, and reserve defensive back Abram Elam. That’s a very cheap price to pay for a franchise quarterback, but if the Jets had stayed at #17, they still could have had Freeman, the rifle-armed thrower from Kansas State who ended up being snagged by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with that same 17th overall selection Gang Green had to begin the day. (After acquiring the 17th pick from the Jets, Cleveland then traded two spots down to the Bucs’ #19 selection. The Browns received Tampa Bay’s sixth-round pick in the deal.) Rex Ryan, who was hired as the Jets' new head coach in January of 2009, was infatuated with Sanchez after seeing him work out about a month prior to the draft. “We saw the great feet, the poise and how confident he was,” Ryan said. “[Offensive coordinator] Brian [Schottenheimer] put him through every workout known to man and he passed every one of them with flying colors. We knew, I think, right then that this was the guy we really wanted.” Ryan and his staff also thought Sanchez was ready to start right away, and they were proven correct. Freeman, on the other hand, was considered a less-polished, rawer prospect who needed more time to develop. That may have been true, but it was to a very slight degree, as Freeman was named the Bucs’ starting quarterback in Week 9 of his rookie year and hasn’t relinquished the job since. As stated earlier, Sanchez has already been to the playoffs twice in his career, while Freeman has yet to reach the postseason. The two didn’t walk into the same situation, however, as the Jets were better set up than the Bucs for immediate success. And while Freeman has talent to work with in Tampa Bay’s offense (running back LeGarrette Blount, tight end Kellen Winslow, and wide receivers Mike Williams, Arrelious Benn, and Sammie Stroughter), Sanchez has played with an all-star lineup in wide receivers Braylon Edwards and Santonio Holmes, tight end Dustin Keller, and running backs Shonn Greene, LaDainian Tomlinson, and Thomas Jones. Sanchez has also dropped back to pass behind one of the best offensive lines in the NFL, led by left tackle D’Brickashaw Ferguson and center Nick Mangold. The two young quarterbacks put up similar stats in their rookie year, but Freeman blew Sanchez away as a sophomore. In 2010, Freeman posted a 95.1 passer rating by completing 61.4% of his passes—at 7.3 yards per attempt—for 3,451 yards, 25 touchdowns, and just six interceptions. Sanchez, meanwhile, posted a 75.4 passer rating by completing just 54.8% of his passes—at 6.5 yards per attempt—for 3,291 yards, 17 touchdowns, and 13 interceptions. In fact, Sanchez was so poor at one point late in the season, Ryan considered benching him. In addition to Freeman’s superior stats, he also has a stronger arm, is more mobile (364 rushing yards to Sanchez’s 105), and is more stout in the pocket. And while Freeman hasn’t seen postseason action yet, he has shown he can also come through in clutch situations, as evidenced with his five game-winning drives in the fourth quarter during the 2010 season, just one shy of Sanchez’s six. Freeman was particularly outstanding in the second half of last season, when he threw 15 touchdown passes and just one interception in the Bucs’ final eight games. Following his lead, Tampa Bay posted a 10-6 record, which is usually good enough to make the postseason, but the Green Bay Packers, who also finished 10-6, edged out the Bucs on a tiebreaker. With Freeman at quarterback, though, and a large group of up-and-coming young talent, Tampa Bay looks like a team that will be competing for NFC supremacy pretty shortly. But while Freeman has Sanchez beaten in several categories, Sanchez is the one who’s proven himself come playoff time. In the 2009 playoffs Sanchez posted a 92.7 rating by completing 60.3% of his passes—at 7.9 yards per attempt—for 539 yards, four touchdowns, and two interceptions. And this past postseason he compiled a 95.5 rating while completing 60.7% of his passes—at 7.1 yards per attempt—for 616 yards, five touchdowns, and just one interception. Without his outstanding efforts, the Jets likely wouldn’t have recorded upset road wins over the San Diego Chargers, Indianapolis Colts, or New England Patriots in the last two postseasons. Sanchez has played his best in the playoffs, and that shouldn’t be sneezed at. If Sanchez continues to progress in postseason action, it’s probable that he’ll win a Super Bowl title for the Jets. Should that happen, nobody will question the move Gang Green made to get him in the 2009 draft. Until then, however, one can still wonder if the Jets should have stayed at pick #17 and selected Freeman.