Of course the main issue as the Jets start training camp this week is who should be the starting quarterback- veteran Chad Pennington, youngster Kellen Clemens, or maybe even a certain former Packer who is coming out of retirement. I actually think Favre could be a good fit for this team, as Clemens could learn behind someone with Super Bowls on his resume and who has comparable arm strength. It would be a distraction, but that didn't really hurt the Packers last year, did it? But it is a moot point, since there is no way Favre would come to a team that was 4-12 last year and has to compete with the Patriots, Colts, and Chargers just to get to the Super Bowl.
So that leaves us with Pennington and Clemens. By now you know their main strenghths and weaknesses: Chad has an accurate arm but little strength to make the tough throws, while Clemens has the power arm but struggles in pocket presence. However, we've only seen a little taste of what Clemens can do, and that was last year, when he was constantly running for his line behind a porous offensive line. This year that line has seemingly been shored up with the addition of Alan Faneca at guard and (maybe) the addition of Damien Woody at right tackle. So the Jets should see what they have in this kid when he actually has time to throw. They already know what Chad can do under those circumstances- he's put together a pretty good resume from 2002 on when he wasn't injured. So give the kid a chance to start the season.
The Jets play the rebuilding Dolphins the first week, so if he struggles against them the Jets might be in trouble. They then have two tough games again the Pats and the Chargers before a someone soft stretch of the Cardinals, Bengals, and Raiders. If of course Clemens plays well against the Pats and Chargers then he may be a keeper. But even if he doesn't I'd keep him in a few more weeks to see if he can handle some lesser competition- after all, many quarterbacks struggle against the Pats and Chargers. If he still seems to be not quite ready, I'd turn it over to Chad, for the time being. Clemens could still learn for the rest of the year and then after next season they could revaluate their plans.
The best part about this scenario is that even if Clemens struggles the first part of the year, by putting Chad in off the bench there's a chance the Jets could save their season. After all this is the same guy, albeit a few shoulder surgeries later, who led the Jets to the playoffs after a 2-5 start in 2002. Think of it this way: if the Jets started Chad at the start of the season and he struggled and got benched, you would probabaly think the season was over and the rest of the year would be spent judging if Clemens can do the job. That's essentially what happened last year. But with Chad on our bench there's hope that if Clemens struggles or gets injured all is not lost. That alone should be reason enough to give the kid Clemens the ball when the season opens in September.
