SCOUT OF THIS WORLD
Ex-Jet pennington impressed by crop of quarterback prospects
When the Jets were looking for a quarterback 18 years ago, they picked Chad Pennington in the first round. He led the team to the playoffs three times in five seasons and is fourth alltime in franchise history with 13,738 passing yards.
This offseason, Pennington has spent time with some of the top quarterback prospects in this year’s draft. As part of the NFL Legends Community, Pennington worked with the quarterbacks at the Senior Bowl and the scouting combine as a mentor.
The Post caught up with Pennington to get his thoughts on the top quarterbacks in the draft who might wind up with the Jets in less than two weeks.
“Overall, I think it’s a very unique group in that they all bring something different to the table for an organization,” Pennington said. “I think when an organization chooses to draft one of these prospects it should be very specific to what they’re looking for within their organization and how they think that player is going to fit into how they do things on and off the field.”
At the Senior Bowl, Pennington got to see Oklahoma’s Baker Mayfield and Wyoming’s Josh Allen up close. Mayfield, at 6-foot, and Allen, at 6-foot-5, are two very different quarterbacks. Pennington said both can be successful NFL quarterbacks.
“I think the number one goal for Baker is to always remember who he is and how he’s had to work extremely hard to get to where he is,” Pennington said. “He’s twice been a walk-on in college. Now, he made himself into the Heisman Trophy winner. I think remembering who you are and what got you there and not getting caught up in the entertainment value of the game and how people may treat you now, you have to be careful of that. That’s going to be his biggest challenge.” Pennington said if the Jets draft Mayfield, they must help him understand how to handle the pitfalls of New York. “The most important aspect of that is as an organization are you providing the right infrastructure to help a young prospect handle New York?” Pennington said. “Are you providing the right structure around him so that he can prosper and be successful and understand the boundaries and limitations and the do’s and the don’ts?” As for Allen, Pennington said his low college completion percentage (56.2) would not worry him. He said he believes Allen’s accuracy can improve with coaching, but teams must not rush him. “I think the challenge is to be patient with someone like Josh Allen, knowing that you really want to provide the right structure for him to improve and get better and become a passer in this league to take advantage of his arm talent and not just throw him to the wolves early,” Pennington said. “I think there’s a process that has to be put in place so he can be successful. I think if you have that right process he can have a really productive pro career.” Pennington worked with UCLA quarterback Josh Rosen at the scouting combine. “Talking about from a footwork standpoint, a football fundamentals standpoint, I think he has everything that an organization is looking at and looking for,” Pennington said. “His ability to stand in the pocket and make throws under duress and take hits is impressive as well. I think organizations are trying to figure out who is he outside of the physical ability. Does he have the ability to lead the team? Does he have the ability to mix with his teammates and become one of the guys and be that rock the organization can lean upon?
“There’s two people that carry records in a football organization, that’s the head coach and the quarterback. Nobody else does. That takes on a huge responsibility, being able to handle that correctly. If you can do that and you put the right infrastructure around him, I think he can be successful, for sure.”
The one quarterback at the top of this class Pennington did not spend much time with is USC’s Sam Darnold. But he cautioned teams not to make Darnold the savior right away.
“My thought process is he’s 20 years old. For any organization to think they’re going to dump a professional football team on a 20-year-old and think it’s going to work immediately, they’re fooling themselves,” Pennington said. “From a physical standpoint and potential, you really like what you see. You’re like, ‘Man, in three or four years this guy could be the guy.’ ”
With the Jets’ offseason program beginning Monday, the team made some cuts on Friday. They waived QB Joel Stave, RB Jeremy Langford, RB Jahad Thomas and WR Daniel Williams.