this time last year, the jets only had cotchery, but have since added two more 1,000 yard WRs...
http://www.nj.com/jets/index.ssf/2010/06/w...ard_wrs_at.html
With trio of 1,000 yard WRs at their disposal, Jets haye eye on versatile passing game
Published: Friday, June 18, 2010, 8:00 AM
Jenny Vrentas/The Star-Ledger
"Jerricho Cotchery, Braylon Edwards and Santonio Holmes each have 1,000-yard receiving seasons on the books and hundreds of pro catches to their names.
But as Jets offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer gameplanned in his Florham Park office this offseason, until 9 or 10 p.m. some nights, he had a different take on if there would be enough touches to go around.
"We have three No. 1 receivers, as I see it," Schottenheimer said recently. "So in the third, fourth quarter, you’ve got a guy that’s fresh, that’s maybe only played 30 plays. Whereas the corners and the guys on defense trying to stop these guys have played 65, 70 plays."
At this time last year, the Jets had just one of those three receivers — Cotchery — and a rookie quarterback in Mark Sanchez. A more developed passing game is an objective for this season.
One key will be the top receivers being "interchangeable," Schottenheimer said, and able to "move all around" the field — an aim which they spent the offseason working toward, starting with new assignments.
Cotchery, who played the "Z" receiver, or flanker, last season, learned the intricacies of the slot. Edwards, who has played the "X" receiver, or split end, for the past three seasons, was asked to master flanker. Holmes, brand-new to the offense after an April trade, has absorbed as much as he can starting with his familiar split end position.
"Some days are better than others, because ‘Schotty’ loves to throw a wrench in there every now and then," Cotchery said. "I think once we get it all down, we’ll be very hard to stop."
Cotchery was a natural candidate to work on the slot position, because he has played in the Jets’ offense for six full seasons and has banked the most time with Sanchez. He said there are more options in the slot, since your route depends on what the defense is doing, so it’s critical to make good decisions and be on the same page as the quarterback.
Edwards has also worked briefly in the slot, but his primary focus has been getting down the flanker position. He said he’s put in extra film study with Sanchez and Schottenheimer — some of it spent watching tape of Cotchery from last season.
The biggest adjustment, Edwards said, has been learning the pre-snap motions, which are not part of the stationary split end position. Schottenheimer likes having him off the ball, instead of being jammed at the line by opposing defensive backs.
Since the flanker is generally on the strong-side of the formation, where the Jets direct a lot of their runs, they also wanted to take advantage of the run-blocking skills Edwards showed last season.
"A lot of the things that we do are strong-side runs, where he has to block what we call ‘MDM’ or ‘most dangerous man,’" Schottenheimer said. "Most of those safeties don’t like it when he comes barreling down in there trying to get them."
Holmes, who had 1,248 receiving yards as the Steelers’ split end last season, approached Schottenheimer about moving around, something he did not do in Pittsburgh. Schottenheimer was impressed, and said Holmes has made some good plays out of the slot in practice, but added he still has a lot of work to do to pick up the system.
Holmes will miss the first four games of the season, as a result of violating the league’s substance-abuse policy. But the combinations and possibilities among the trio have them excited to take "the next step" as an offense, Cotchery said.
"We’ve all put in a body of work," Edwards said. "We’ve all had numbers, and we’ve all made plays. And now we feel good working together. I think we have the chance just to be something really special."
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an article on the evolution of sanchez as his second season approaches...
http://www.nj.com/jets/index.ssf/2010/06/t...hez_improv.html
Three ways Mark Sanchez improved his game this offseason
Published: Thursday, June 17, 2010, 5:00 PM
Jenny Vrentas/The Star-Ledger
"Rex Ryan has never been shy about offering effusive praise for one of his players, when he feels they deserve it. And on the final day of mini-camp yesterday, the Jets head coach had strong words about Mark Sanchez, saying the franchise quarterback had worked harder this offseason than any other player he's been around.
Part of that, of course, was Sanchez's rehab from February knee surgery. The rest was devoted to making the critical jump from rookie to second-year quarterback.
"He did some good things for us last year, but he also did things that hurt us," said Matt Cavanaugh, the Jets' quarterbacks coach. "We’re trying to help him eliminate those bad things."
Here's a look at three areas they targeted for improvement, and how they attacked them:
Understanding opposing defenses. After Sanchez was drafted, he had a little more than four months to prepare for his opening-day start. That meant his coaches spent almost all their time teaching him the Jets offense. The next lesson, mastering what defenses are doing, was put on the backburner. So this spring, the focus was on understanding what's going on on the other side of the ball: Defensive fronts. How coverages fit behind certain fronts. Pre-snap keys to identify what the defense is doing. Cavanaugh would draw formations on the white board or hand him a diagram, then put it to life on film.
"On this level, there are so many variations," Cavanaugh said. "He needed to get used to seeing certain looks and figure out what's probable."
Cleaning up his footwork. Cavanaugh said Sanchez is "a natural passer," so they didn't do much with his throwing motion. But they identified several flaws in his footwork. While he was laid up after his surgery, they set the foundation by showing him film, both of himself last season and of other NFL quarterbacks who have impeccable footwork. The footage, Cavanaugh said, was an eyeopener for Sanchez.
Once he was up and moving, he put the lessons into motion. On the list: Making sure his lead foot pointed where he wanted to go. Transferring weight from back foot to front foot. Hitching up in the pocket so he's not in a vulnerable spot.
"When he's had time to set and throw, we saw inconsistency, and that's what we were trying to eliminate," Cavanaugh said. What was the effect last season? "We felt it was just inaccuracy," Cavanaugh continued. "The ball was slightly behind the receiver, when it should be in front. The was ball slightly above, when should be at the face or below. Probably if you want to take it to the extreme, he got in trouble with turnovers -- he didn’t have his feet set the way he wanted, the ball wasn’t where he wanted it to go, and it was an interception."
Throwing to his left side. Sanchez mentioned earlier this offseason that he now feels better throwing across his body than he ever has. The root is something else his coaches noticed on film: That the right-hander had issues opening his hip and shoulder when he made throws to the left. First, they showed him cut-ups on film of the throws he made to the left. Then, once he was healthy, they had him stand on the field and do repetitions of those same throws over and over.
"That's one of the things we still harp on," Cavanaugh said. "He's still got room for improvement."
But Cavanaugh said he already saw the work Sanchez did in the offseason showing up in the practice film from OTAs and mini-camp, which he said his player is excited about. He hopes the ultimate result is a more developed passing game than the Jets had last season."
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last year, they didn't want to throw too much at sanchez as a rookie... this year, he is trying to master the intricacies of protection schemes, knowing everybody's assignment on the offense... one reason i am optimistic on sanchez long term, so much of being a QB is about intangibles, and his are off the charts...
http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/jets/2010...huge-strid.html
Mark Sanchez making huge strides with his understanding of protections
By Manish Mehta
"For all the questions and (over)analysis surrounding Mark Sanchez’s comeback from offseason arthroscopic left knee surgery, the 23-year-old is quietly making huge strides in his growth and development as a pro quarterback.
Sanchez has made significant progress in the classroom that could go a long way for a team with Super Bowl aspirations in 2010.
So, what has the franchise quarterback learned in the past few months?
Let’s take a closer look:
Offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer’s top priority this offseason was to improve Sanchez’s understanding of protections.
“Mark knew the protections last year, but he didn’t really know the protections,” Schottenheimer told me. “He didn’t really know all the issues that came with the protections. That’s not unlike most young quarterbacks. So we’re trying to make him get caught up with that.”
Although Sanchez recognized that a specific defensive front called for seven- or -eight-man protection, he didn’t know the specific responsibilities of each offensive lineman. He just knew he was protected.
The Jets’ veteran offensive line took care of the details.
“Nick (Mangold), Brandon (Moore) and those guys solved a lot of problems for Mark,” Schottenheimer said. “But what we hope to do is decrease some of the sacks… we were a little high with sacks. That just comes with Mark understanding the protections. So if they bring two, we run a hot. If they bring two, we run a ‘visual breakoff.’ There’s so much more to it than people would ever even begin to think of.”
Each test focuses on Sanchez’s understanding in two areas:
1) The pass route concept
2) Protections
Sanchez’s strength during his rookie year was pass route understanding. So, Schottenheimer has spent the bulk of this offseason helping his quarterback grasp the multi-layered protection concepts.
Here’s how it works: Schottenheimer will present a basic “Mid” protection on the grease board and ask Sanchez to “block it up.” Sanchez initially identifies the middle — or Mike — linebacker (the fulcrum for any adjustments/audibles) before Schottenheimer gives him a series of “if-then” scenarios: If we move this defensive player into the 'A' gap, then how does the protection change?
How intricate was the test?
Sanchez was given about 10 different defensive fronts with six or seven variations off each front in a test last Wednesday. That’s about 60 or 70 different scenarios to study for just one protection scheme.
“He knew the protection last year. He knew what ‘Mid’ was, for example, but he didn’t know everybody else’s job,” Schottenheimer admitted. “He just knew, ‘Hey I’m protected’… We’re trying to get him to where he knows Nick’s job and Nick’s call and Brandon’s job and the tight end’s rule… He always knew his job. He just didn’t know everybody else’s job. The great quarterbacks have to know everybody else’s job…. like Peyton (Manning) and (Drew) Brees.”
For all the talk about Sanchez developing chemistry with his wide receivers, Schottenheimer emphasized that the hardest thing for young quarterbacks to learn is the protection matrix.
“It’s one of the most important things too,” Schottenheimer said. “But when you’re saying, ‘Okay, we got a young quarterback and we got to go play with him,’ you have cheat in some areas. With the offensive line that we had last year, we were comfortable saying to Mark, ‘Okay, here’s this protection. The line will kind of handle it. You don’t know it all. You just worry about your reads and progressions.’”
Schottenheimer admitted that Sanchez would have received a 75-80 grade on that test last week.
Now, here's the amazing part: “If you gave that test to Mark at the end of the season,” Schottenheimer said, “he probably would have gotten a 50 or a 40.”
In essence, the Jets made it all the way to the AFC Championship Game last season with their rookie quarterback knowing about half of what he could know in 2011.
Schottenheimer wants Sanchez to ace the exam before the start of training camp.
“We challenged Mark more with things than probably a lot of young quarterbacks,” Schottenheimer said. “It’s not that he can’t handle it in any way, shape or form. He had a really good feel for routes more so than protections last year. He was really strong with routes and solid with protections. We’re trying to get him really good with protections while strengthening his understanding of the routes.”
No one from the Jets passing game will be on my fantasy roster this season.
No one from the Jets passing game will be on my fantasy roster this season.
. As much as I cannot STAND the Jets, they have really come along the past few years and have made the divisional games much more exciting! 
I could see them as a team that could either:
