(Long Island, N.Y.) When the Jets began their offseason, they knew collectively as an organization that they had their work cut out for them. A 6-10 campaign filled with questions mostly surrounding the quarterback position led to the firing of general manager Mike Tannenbaum and the cutting of ties with a number of veteran starters on both sides of the ball.
John Idzik was brought in to oversee the mess that was the Jets’ salary cap and he has done an admirable job so far in trimming off the fat. But the new GM did not improve the roster by tabbing David Garrard as the new quarterback brought in to push incumbent Mark Sanchez.
The 35-year-old is coming off a missed season by way of a knee injury and subsequent surgery and has never been known as a conditioning freak. As a matter of fact, the former Jacksonville Jaguars starter is a little on the plump side.
Born in East Orange, New Jersey, Garrard will enjoy a homecoming of sorts and has publicly stated that he decided to sign with the Jets because he was told that the opportunity to win the starting job was part of the equation.
Sounds eerily similar to what Tim Tebow said about a year ago…
Speaking of Tebow, he is still on the roster and it is hard to make an argument that Garrard brings more to the table than the phenom. None of the free agent quarterbacks jumped off the page and the fact that anyone was brought in is another signal that Tebow’s days in green and white are severely numbered.
That has been the feeling all along, even though the Jets would not come right out and say that they were going to try to trade the former Denver Broncos starting quarterback and cut him if there were no takers.
So now that Garrard is here to stay, will he be able to recapture some of the magic that he enjoyed even as recent as 2009, when the East Carolina product threw 18 touchdowns and only three interceptions while leading the Jags to a 9-3 mark and a playoff win at Pittsburgh and was named to the Pro Bowl? Many Jets fans would even be happy to see the same guy who was originally named the Miami Dolphins starter in 2012 before blowing out his knee in training camp.
Sanchez must improve on his dreadful stats from last year (13 touchdowns, 18 interceptions, 66.9 quarterback rating) and seemed to be a little lost with Tebow’s presence, even though head coach Rex Ryan never started the southpaw or gave him any opportunity whatsoever. But Garrard is not a threat to Sanchez and is more akin to Mark Brunnell, the ageless veteran (and also a former Jaguars starter) who was an emergency backup.
Perhaps Garrard can manage the offense decently in a short-term situation, but if he actually takes over as the starter for an ineffective Sanchez, then the Jets are in more trouble than they appear to be right now.
