Professional Football Researchers Association Forum

Always had a soft spot for Chad. He was an extremely intelligent, savvy, and hard working kid. A great leader on and off the field who was loved by his teammates and respected. From the neck up the guy was absolutely perfect in regards to what you want in a QB to lead you franchise.

Unfortunately he wasn't all that blessed in terms of physical skills. His arm strength was below average. Still good enough to play in the NFL, but even before the injury his arm strength was thought of as poor compared to the rest of the league at the time. He had good size (6'3 225) but didn't have an athletic bone in his body. He was about as nimble as a dump truck. No escapability. His accuracy though was GREAT, he had great field vision and a very high football IQ, had great touch and timing a read defenses extremely well

He had a great first season for the Jets in 2002, stepping in when the team was 2-5 and leading them to a 9-7 Division Title (their last to this date) he would end up leading the NFL in completion % that year. And would do it again in 2008 when he'd come back to haunt the Jets as a Dolphin

What kind of career do you think he has if he never injures his arm/shoulder?

A good QB though overrated coming out of college because of Randy Moss. Without the injuries might have had more good seasons but was he as good or better than Mark Sanchez, hard to say?
Both careers stalled pretty quickly. Ken O' Brien had moments as well but like Pennington, succumbed to injuries. Just not a good QB history from this team other than Namath. Even Esiason was below average.

I agree that he had terrific field vision and made decisions quickly. His outdueling Tom Brady on the road in the 2nd to last game of the 2002 season in a showdown game for the division title showed me a lot. He just couldn't hold up under the constant pounding QBs sustain in the NFL. Where he stands in the all-time list of Jets QBs is a matter of debate of course, but he is on the short list to be sure...

You can't forget Penn's QB-rating output of 142 vs Peyton's Colts (Dungy's first year at helm) in the 1st Rd, 2002! Jets 41, Colts 0! With very little argument his tour de force game!

Steelers did consider him in 2000. Took Plax instead! Getting Big Ben instead turned out the much better move, obviously. But Penn clearly had his moments and may very well be NYJ's 2nd-best-ever at the position (he or O'Brien, take your pick).

74_75_78_79_ wrote:You can't forget Penn's QB-rating output of 142 vs Peyton's Colts (Dungy's first year at helm) in the 1st Rd, 2002! Jets 41, Colts 0! With very little argument his tour de force game!

Steelers did consider him in 2000. Took Plax instead! Getting Big Ben instead turned out the much better move, obviously. But Penn clearly had his moments and may very well be NYJ's 2nd-best-ever at the position (he or O'Brien, take your pick).

I heard about that. On the Steeler Tribute site, the person who ran that site said that there were people wearing #10 Pennington jerseys in the Burgh before that draft.

Brian wolf wrote:A good QB though overrated coming out of college because of Randy Moss. Without the injuries might have had more good seasons but was he as good or better than Mark Sanchez, hard to say?
Both careers stalled pretty quickly. Ken O' Brien had moments as well but like Pennington, succumbed to injuries. Just not a good QB history from this team other than Namath. Even Esiason was below average.

It is not hard to say.
Pennington was good.
Sanchez was not good.

Pennington took the Jets to the playoffs all three seasons he was healthy. Sanchez never led the league in passing categories like Pennington did. Sanchez never finished 2nd in MVP voting like Pennington did.

JWL wrote:

Brian wolf wrote:A good QB though overrated coming out of college because of Randy Moss. Without the injuries might have had more good seasons but was he as good or better than Mark Sanchez, hard to say?
Both careers stalled pretty quickly. Ken O' Brien had moments as well but like Pennington, succumbed to injuries. Just not a good QB history from this team other than Namath. Even Esiason was below average.

It is not hard to say.
Pennington was good.
Sanchez was not good.

Pennington took the Jets to the playoffs all three seasons he was healthy. Sanchez never led the league in passing categories like Pennington did. Sanchez never finished 2nd in MVP voting like Pennington did.

Sanchez held that team back. Give that 2009 Jets team a good veteran QB and they may be in the Super Bowl. The 2009 Jets had the best defense in football AND the best running game in football along with good special teams.

But they had the worst starting quarterback in football. With a league average QB the Jets could've been 12-4.

Honestly, IMO Chad Pennington had a pretty good career as it was. He played for 10 years or so. Led teams to the playoffs a few times. That's not a bad career at all.

sheajets wrote:What kind of career do you think he has if he never injures his arm/shoulder?

As someone else just mentioned, he had a pretty good career regardless. I think it was a miracle that Pennington wasn't hurt more often than he was...Pennington was kind of like a Ron Jaworski clone of short/slow/small.

74_75_78_79_ wrote:You can't forget Penn's QB-rating output of 142 vs Peyton's Colts (Dungy's first year at helm) in the 1st Rd, 2002! Jets 41, Colts 0! With very little argument his tour de force game!

Steelers did consider him in 2000. Took Plax instead! Getting Big Ben instead turned out the much better move, obviously. But Penn clearly had his moments and may very well be NYJ's 2nd-best-ever at the position (he or O'Brien, take your pick).

Al Dorow!