FLORHAM PARK, N.J. -- Ryan Fitzpatrick might be "elite" in the eyes of teammate
Brandon Marshall, but the
New York Jets' quarterback is no such thing in the opinion of NFL types.
Our man Mike Sando has posted
his annual quarterback tier rankings, based on a poll of 42 league insiders -- 10 general managers, five head coaches, seven offensive coordinators, five defensive coordinators, eight personnel evaluators and seven other position coaches/executives. They were asked to rate 33 quarterbacks, placing them into one of five tiers. You know the drill: Tier 1 is elite, tier 5 is rock bottom.
Fitzpatrick finished in tier 3, defined as: "Legit starter but needs heavy run game/defense to win." He finished 25th out of 33 quarterbacks, behind
Ryan Tannehill (24th) and ahead of
Tyrod Taylor (26th). Obviously, it wasn't a great showing for the AFC East, except for
Tom Brady (first).
An unnamed head coach and offensive coordinator offered their opinions of Fitzpatrick.
The head coach: "He was with Chan Gailey, and Chan is good. If he leaves Chan, he needs to get back to Harvard and redo that degree. Chan has been a football lifesaver."
The offensive coordinator: "He has played well, but he just makes those decisions that are head scratchers. Last year, when they had a chance to get into the playoffs if they won the game, that was his chance to be the guy, and he couldn't get it done. He is a great guy, but he has had opportunities everywhere."
That's a rather blunt assessment of Fitzpatrick, whose value to the Jets is greater than anywhere else. He didn't draw any significant interest on the free-agent market, contributing to a long contract dispute. They ended up signing him for $12 million, which, by the way, ranks 23rd in average-per-year among quarterbacks.
