Mark Sanchez’s infamous buttfumble appears to be fresh in the mind of Jets owner Woody Johnson.
Hours before the NFL draft, Johnson told Sal Paolantonio of ESPN that no matter what the Jets do with their two first-round draft picks, the Jets won’t succeed in 2013 if they don’t get competent quarterback play.
“It comes down to the play of the quarterback. He can’t fumble the football. A lot of livelihoods depend on that,” Johnson told Paolantonio.
Johnson and Sanchez spoke on Wednesday night, and Sanchez told Johnson he is buying into new offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg’s system.
“This is his third language he’s had to learn,” Johnson said of Sanchez. “But he seemed to be comfortable so far.”
The Jets might draft a quarterback, but the player they really seem to have an eye on is West Virginia receiver Tavon Austin. Johnson may have hinted at the Jets’ desire to draft Austin when he said, “We want to get younger and faster.”
If Austin is the pick, that would be a boost to the offense. But the offense won’t go anywhere without better quarterback play than it got last year.