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Rex Ryan liked both Freeman and Sanchez in 2009.

A very interesting little tidbit was in this morning’s MMQB column by Peter King. It seems while talking to Rex Ryan about his upcoming book and after taking a couple swipes at the Ravens, the topic of the 2009 NFL Draft arose.

Ryan tells an interesting story in the book about pursuing a franchise quarterback once he got the Jets job. The choice came down to USC’s Mark Sanchez and Kansas State’s Josh Freeman. “We sent both of them a mini-playbook and asked them to learn what they could from it before they met with us,” Ryan told me. “They both blew the doors off us when we got them in a room. We’d ask about out formations and bam-bam-bam, they knew it all quick. Both very, very sharp guys.”

But in telling the story in the book, Ryan says one of the factors that swayed the Jets was how Sanchez was regarded by his peers. He said 24 high school and college mates showed up to catch balls for Sanchez. When they’d been to Kansas State to work out Freeman, two of his receivers showed up. “Honestly,” Ryan told me, “that might have been what separated them — the immense respect we sensed from the people who played with Mark and knew him so well.”

So let me get this straight, because more guys showed up to catch Mark Sanchez’s passes at his pro-day, that is what put him over the top? Ignoring the fact a lot more guys are hanging around Los Angeles than Manhattan, Kansas that may be one of the dumbest things I’ve ever heard. Now, granted the Jets aren’t complaining having gone to two straight AFC Championship games with Sanchez, but by the same token Freeman had a MUCH better season last year without nearly the same talent around him. You put Freeman on the Jets and they go just as far, if not further. Put Sanchez on the Bucs and they’d have just picked top ten again last weekend.

Whether or not Rex Ryan saw it, Josh Freeman is about as beloved by his teammates as any player in recent memory on the Bucs, or in the NFL for that matter. Just listen to the way his coaches and teammates talk about him.  The Bucs are unquestionably his team. Personally, I think the better QB wound up in Tampa, so thank you Rex.

Jagodzinski has experience on both the NFL and college levels, as the offensive coordinator in Green Bay in 2006, as well as serving as an Oline coach and TE’s coach in Atlanta and Green Bay for a total of 6 years.  He spent the last two seasons as the head coach of the Boston College Golden Eagles.  

His success as an Oline coach as well as his success with Matt Ryan made him a guy that was mentioned for numerous open vacancies around the league, including the head coaching position in New York.  

He is a relatively young guy at 45.  I personally think, as someone who has been advocating his hiring, that he was a great choice.