Greg McElroy: Stay or Go?

I think one day Greg McElroy is going to make a really good football coach should he choose to go into that profession. By all accounts, he is an incredibly hard worker who puts an inordinate amount of time into film study. He is a born leader and supremely confident. If he had Mark Sanchez's physical tools, he would be a star NFL quarterback.

Alas, he does not have Mark Sanchez's physical tools. He has his own. As we saw in his one start against the San Diego Chargers, his physical limits will likely prevent him from amounting to much as an NFL quarterback. As much as you can write it off as one bad start, McElroy displayed a lack of arm strength that indicates he can make few of the throws necessary to have a competitive NFL playbook. He also could not or would not pull the trigger on throws into passing lanes, resulting in 11 sacks and a concussion. Perhaps McElroy realized he could not fit throws into anything but the most wide open windows. That is something of a plus, but his inability to throw with zip makes his ceiling quite low. It does not seem likely it will get much better either.

I think that unless the Jets draft a quarterback, their best bet for 2013 might be to round up as many cheap adequate veterans as they can and hope they hit the lottery by hoping one has a career year. This makes me inclined to say the Jets should move on from McElroy, but if they need a body and think they can develop him into the kind of backup who can help a team stay afloat over a limited stretch like he did against the Cardinals, I would not be terribly upset.