Santonio Holmes Endorses Mark Sanchez as Starter

Mark Sanchez got an endorsement for the starting quarterback job yesterday from Santonio Holmes.

Appearing on the NBC Sports Network, Holmes was asked who the team’s starting quarterback is.

"Right now, it's Sanchez, and that's who we're going with, and we're going to continue on this road until time permits," Holmes said in his first public comments since last season.

It wasn't the most ringing endorsement, but it is still kind of meaningful that Holmes would single out Sanchez instead of a generic, "We've got a lot of great quarterbacks competing against each other."

There are a lot of reasons I hope Sanchez is cut before training camp begins, and this ranks high on the list. Geno Smith is now the quarterback of the future. There is still an element of the locker room loyal to Sanchez. You do not want to put a rookie into a locker room where a big portion of the team believes in somebody else. That's a big downside.

What is the upside to keeping Sanchez? It is frankly difficult to see. I'm not sure there's any case he's appreciably better than either David Garrard or Greg McElroy at this point. Yes, his play actually is at that level. There also isn't much hope of him having a breakout year. When you are a below average quarterback for four years, things usually don't just magically fall into place in year five.