Obviously Joe is #1, but after that, where do you think Pennington rates? I think he would certainly have to be top 10.
Better question: Could the Jets even fill out a top 10 of legitimate starting QBs from their history?
anyway, jokes aside, it's an interesting question. After Namath it's basically an O'Brien/Esiason/Testaverde/Pennington clusterf*ck.
To be fair I'd say there's only a top five, since only five different QB's have so much as gone to the playoffs with the Jets: 1) Joe Willie 2) O'Brien 3) Pennington 4) Todd 5) Vinny I guess Boomer'd be the sixth person on the top five list, and he had a pretty good year or two but my lasting images of him are of the Eric Allen INT return and almost getting killed by Everett McIver and Bruce Smith :sad:
It's hard to argue that Chad's not top 5 in Jets history... But that's not really a compliment... I honestly can't think of 10 note worthy QBs, or even 7 QBs who were above average for more than a season or two
personally, i'd put Vinny over Pennington. Vinny's 1998 season was probably the best by a Jets QB since Namath, then there was the monday night miracle in 2000 and the trip to the playoffs in '01. Not to mention the fact that even after pennington became the starter vinny still put in a considerable amount of servicable time filling in.
Chad's '02 season was just about as good as Vinny's '98, and Vinny really wasn't close to being that great again. He had a solid '01, but in '00 when we had all those miracle wins he had 25 INT's and we couldn't do anything offensively except in the two-minute drill. Chad had one great and two solid years, going to the playoffs in all those seasons. I put O'Brien second both because of longevity and because he was a purely better thrower than Chad, plus he also went to the playoffs three times. I should probably inverse Vinny and Todd on the list though, Vinny did win a division.
1. Namath 2. Penington 3. O'Brien 4. Todd 5. Testaverde Testaverde had one good year. He actually stunk in 2000 and in 2001 the Jets won ugly, not because of anything Testaverde did. Herm reigned him in after his 25 picks in 2000. Actually, Testaverde was never really the same after the achilles injury. He didn't want to be hit anymore and got rid of the ball quickly rather than hang in the pocket. Todd had 4 good seasons compared to Testaverde's one. O'Brien had two good years. Pennington had three playoff years, which is more than any other Jet QB and had as many playoff wins as any Jet QB.
I'm sorry, but this is the most depressing thread I've seen here in quite some time. Not only are we unable to have a top 10 list of QBs, but our top 5 just makes me sad.
i would put pennington 2nd behind namath, hes the all time leading completion% min 1500 attempts thats pretty good
I rate Vinny over Pennington. When Vinny was the QB in 1998 and 1999, I really believed the Jets had a chance to go all the way. I never had that feeling with Pennington.
You know what's incredibly sad? The only two seasons when I've felt really confident about the Jets superbowl potential were 1999 and 2003. Both seasons, all hope was shattered with early QB injuries.
I loved Chad at the start but injuries robbed him of a better career. The rotator cuff surgery is no joke and cant imagine anyone being effective after two.
Sorry but I'm putting Vinny above Pennington at #3 'cause whenever he was QB, you got the sense that 'hey! We've got a REAL QB who *does in fact* give us a chance to win'. Pennington, for all his pinpoint accuracy and completions, never elicited the same confidence by Jets fans despite similar success.... I never saw O'Brien play but considering that He's NEVER won a Playoff game puts him below Vinny in my opinion. The List should be : 1.Namath 2.Vinny 3.Pennington 4.Todd 5.O'brien
#1 JWN .....and thats the list right there. some others have been good (Chad, Vinny, Ken OB, Todd) but not many.
