Thoughts on Kellen

SpiritOf68 · 2007-12-10
Thoughts on Kellen

Kellen gets my fool of the game for not capitalizing on good field position, throwing 2 picks and no TDs against one of the worst defenses in the league. Thomas Jones is the runner up for being worthless inside the 10, though its always hard in this situation to blame a back since you don't know how much of it is the O-line's fault. Can this team go out and sign a fullback because I am getting sick of not being able to punch it in! Kerry Rhodes gets the Knight for continuing his pick-streak.

Now on to Kellen. I want to know what your impressions are so far. He reminds me of a sort of anti-Pennington. He's got the arm unlike Pennington, but not the accuracy Penny used to have. He does seem like a decent leader, at least better than Penny was this season, and he has occasionally come through in the 2 min drill. But he's beginning to trouble me somewhat, I'm no longer convinced that he is the QB of the future, it's completely up in the air again as far as I'm concerned. I think he had bad luck again in that I think Cotch and/or Coles should have or would have caught those late TD passes if not for the weather, but this has happened to him a lot: in the ravens game, and maybe in the skins game too. It's also hard to figure out how much an improved O-line (and thus an improved running game) will help him, and how much having healthy receivers will help him (cotch and coles both back today, neither necessarily 100%). The other thing that irritates me is that I don't think Schotty is taking full advantage of him, I want to see more bombs, more gutsy calls!

Oh and hey, can you keep pressing for more forum members? :(

Thanks!

justedel · 2007-12-11
Re: Thoughts on Kellen

I think it is too early to say whether or not Kellen is a bust or not. You do not invest a 2nd round pick in a QB then give him 5 starts and make a decision on him. From what I have seen so far I think he has an above average arm with some ability to move in the pocket. What we have not seen just yet out of him is pocket prescence and awareness, which hopefully will come in due time.

I think the main issue that you touched on with Thomas Jones and the O-line is really going to be the determining factor in how well Kellen's career will go. Jones is clearly not the answer - he can't even find the endzone. He had a clear path on 1st and goal and again on 2nd and goal and came up short twice. I never thought I would say that I miss Kevan Barlow but at least you could count on him to get a yard when it mattered most.

Ultimately I would like to see the Jets continue on with Kellen for another year or two and let him develop with the system. Obviously a top notch running back in the draft would be a great help.

jake · 2007-12-12
Re: Thoughts on Kellen

Yeah, way too early to get on the "We need a QB" bandwagon. Most QBs mature in their 3rd year of playing so Kellen, for me, gets another year. He needs the full training camp to be #1, 3rd year in the system and he should be fine. As for a fullback, we did sign one, he just isn't getting it done. It is a mix of the Offensive Line + RB. Jones is not working out, we need a game changer. Jake

SpiritOf68 · 2007-12-13
Re: Thoughts on Kellen

Oh, I'm definitely with you both on giving him more time, just wanted to catch your thoughts so far on his progress. We have way too many other positions to worry about more.

We should trade Penny away so he can fill a role on a team that can use him, hopefully we can get a 3rd round pick, or maybe instead a 4th and a 5th since we're going to need all the picks we can get.

The question then is: are we willing to let Tui be our #2 man next year? We may have to, considering all the roles we have to fill.

You talked about awareness and pocket presence, but what about Kellen's accuracy? I don't like what I'm seeing out of him right now in that regard: not talking about how he throws to defenders, but that he seems to overthrow and underthrow a lot.

One area I think he has progressed in is knowing when not to throw the ball, he's still been getting picked but I'm seeing less instances where he tries to jam it into tight double/triple coverage.

Justin, I'm not so sure that TJ can't find the end zone if we had a better O-line. I didn't see those clear openings you did in the game. You sure about that? In any event, as it stands right now, when we're down low a pass to Baker is much more likely to find the end-zone than any rushing play we call.

Jake, I thought we recently released our last FB? Who do we still have, Tutt? If so, I haven't seen him get the call on those short and goal situations. Give the man the ball!

jake · 2007-12-13
Re: Thoughts on Kellen

The rumor is we could get a 5 for Chad. If KC is the guy, see if we can get a trade a vet for less (Daunte might be cheap). If KC isn't the guy, draft the guy and get rid of KC (keep Chad). For the $5 million Chad is owed next year, we could get someone cheaper. Jake