Behind The Box Score

Mark Sanchez has always been known for starting fast and in his first preseason game against the St. Louis Rams, he did just that. Sanchez, the fifth pick in the draft, showed New York fans just what they traded for as on the first play, when he lost his mouth piece yelling out the play, completed a 55 yard bomb to David Clowney. Sanchez’s first throw wasn’t the only bright spot as the rookie from USC conducted a scoring drive, completing three of four attempts for 88 yards. Sanchez hooked up with second year TE Dustin Keller out of Purdue twice on the drive to get the Jets inside the five where RB Thomas Jones took care of the rest.

 In a battle with Kellen Clemens, a second round pick in 2006 from Oregon, Sanchez looked to take a slight lead but in New York anything is possible. Clemens had an above average game passing going 4-4 for 24 yards but also lost a fumble on the first drive. Rookie quarterbacks have been know to struggle but in Sanchez’s debut, the Southern California kid looked NFL ready, standing tall in the pocket and throwing accurate strikes with every pass. A year away from a destructive season lead by Brett Favre, the Jets fans actually have something to look forward to as their franchise quarterback looks to have a great career in the city that never sleeps.