Going into monday nights game one of the medias biggest talking points was whether Chad Henne could handle the pressure the Jets were going to throw at him. How someone with so little experience would deal with the Jets elaborate blitz schemes. Well he did handle the pressure, he handled it to the tune of 20 for 26, zero turnovers and 2 touchdowns. After the game, some Jets weren't exactly gracious in defeat:
Calvin Pace on Henne: “Against a second-year clown quarterback, we didn’t affect him enough. I guess you have to give him credit. The defense lost the game today.”
If Chad Henne is a clown than Mark Sanchez is a _______?
Why do I bring Mark Sanchez up? Because there is a rift that is illogical between the expectations of Chad Henne and Mark Sanchez. Let's take a quick look at the resumes of one Chad Henne vs. one Mark Sanchez.
College Experience: Edge Henne
Henne was Michigan's starting quarterback for 4 full seasons. He played in 4 bowl games which included two different Rose Bowl trips where he threw for a combined 536 yards, 6 tds and 1 int. Henne will forever get criticism for losing the majority of the big games in his career (bowl games / OSU) but as I chronicled here, the criticism is mostly unjust.
Sanchez on the other hand had one terrific season with the Trojans. He crushed Penn State in the Rose Bowl, but were the 08 Nittany Lions a better team than the 04 Longhorns (a year before the NCAA Championship) or the 06 Trojans? Not at all. So Sanchez did have a better single season than any of Henne's Four, but its safe to say he was playing with better slightly talent than what surrounded Henne in his four year career.
NFL Draft Slot: Edge Sanchez
Sanchez was drafted in the first round in the top 5 picks. Henne was a 2nd round choice. In quarterback terms is this that huge of a difference? We've seen 1st round QBs bust at an alarming rate and we've seen 2nd round picks and below thrive. Both players are 6 foot 3 and around 230. The edge goes to Sanchez slightly based on the Draft Scouts thoughts, but Henne just might have a stronger arm.
Time to Learn the NFL System: Edge Henne
Henne has an extra year learning his teams system than does Sanchez. Henne should have just as much if not more grasp on his system than Sanchez despite Sanchez having a few more starts.
NFL Team Running Game: Edge Henne
A running game is a quarterback's best friend and right now after 5 weeks in the season the Dolphins have one of the best dual attacks in the league. The Dolphins are leading the NFL in rushing while the Jets and Thomas Jones are struggling to build off their dominant 08 ground attack.
Conclusion
In the end I'm not saying that Henne is going to be a better NFL Quarterback than Mark Sanchez (as a Jet fan I certainly hope not), what I am saying is that if you weren't shocked by Sanchez winning football games to start the year, than you certainly shouldn't be shocked that Henne has won two in a row. He has the College Experience, he has the skillset, and he has a dominant rushing attack. Chad Henne is going to win football games this season.
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