It’s time for another installment of Broncos Film Room.  Continuing with the quarterbacks, we are going take a look at the presumptive favorite for the starting job in the veteran, Mark Sanchez.

For this particular film study, I went back to the 2010 and 2011 seasons, Sanchez’s second and third years, and also his best with the Jets. While his rookie season isn’t extremely relevant it was still important to go back to his most successful (in terms of team success and wins) seasons. 2011 was his most prolific NFL season to date, completing 57-percent of his throws for 3,474 yards, while also throwing 26 touchdowns to 17 interceptions. In addition, I’ve gone back to 2014 to take a look at Sanchez’s breakout first season with the Eagles, his most efficient in a very quarterback friendly offense.

Two things are different and must be remembered about Sanchez’s film analysis compared to Paxton Lynch’s. First and foremost, we must bear in mind we’re analyzing NFL film and not college, so the standard is much much different, both in talent and complexity of defenses faced. Also, we have the advantage of NFL Game Pass – Coaches Film, which allows for seeing the game in a much more holistic way.

Scouting Report

Strengths

• Sanchez’s calling card is his big arm. He has arm strength for days and can really air it out.
• The veteran quarterback was surprisingly athletic and mobile even in his most recent film. He’s comfortable scrambling, can scramble for positive yards, and has shown some incredibly enticing skills in throwing on the move.
• Early in his career, Sanchez really succeeded in passing the ball to a big, fast target like Braylon Edwards, and could benefit from a wideout like Demaryius Thomas.
• Most of Sanchez’s best throws (particularly as a Jet) have been when improvising in the pocket, going through his reads then resetting his feet and making a play. Almost like playground football. His arm talent and sneaky athleticism bail him out in these situations (it also gets him in trouble).
• Sanchez is at his most accurate on his first reads. He’s flashed some high-level accuracy, on these quick reads, he also shows pronounced footwork on quick throws.
• Especially in his first few seasons with the Jets, Sanchez was used quite a bit in play-action and bootleg type formations. He performed fairly well. While different, being out of the shotgun and having more the look of an option read, Sanchez also found his groove in his first year in Philly when the run game was performing.
• Sanchez had some high-level performances under Chip Kelly, especially with play action and quick delineated reads. Not an apples-to-apples conversion to Kubiak’s offense, but he has performed well in formations using similar concepts. Also has lots of experience playing in west coast offenses throughout his time at the Jets (and even as far back as USC).
• Sanchez has some real talent in getting out the pocket and throwing on the run. He’s isn’t a speedy runner, but strives when getting out of the pocket and letting it rip.
• Truly a fearless player, both a blessing and a curse.
• His feet work nicely. Tight and compact on play actions, sells fake well. Sanchez looks much more comfortable selling a play-action fake, resetting and letting it fly than he does on regular drops. It comes as no surprise that he’s looked his best on play-action and Shotgun.

Weaknesses

• Sanchez’s decision making has always been his biggest issue. Before ever watching him play, his career 86 to 84 touchdown to interception ratio says it all. His propensity to try tough throws stood out on tape as well. He’s a risk taker and has been throughout his entire career.
• Likes to improvise, he tries to extend plays and has an almost old-school or collegiate type attitude to his game, looking like a backyard QB. This often leads to his footwork being sloppy or not sufficiently pronounced, causing lapses in accuracy and ball placement.
• He can easily be unsettled with pressure. Too often Sanchez tries to make the tough play under duress, instead of keeping his eyes downfield, keeping footwork consistent while sidestepping the altered pocket. Sanchez will rush passes with pressure, footwork can get sloppy because of this (still guilty of this as recently as 2014-15 in Philadelphia).
• It doesn’t get talked about nearly as much as the INTs, but Sanchez also has 51 career fumbles in 75 starts, 77-percent of games he’s started in. A staggering number (by comparison, Peyton Manning only fumbled 28-percent of his starts), and one of the highest in the league. Taking care of the ball will be a major concern for him. Can get a bit sloppy with his ball handling, hand size is not an issue with massive 10 1/2 inch hands.
• From within the pocket you can see him get a bit uncomfortable, makes especially bad decisions with hands in his face. At 6-foot-2, he’s not the tallest quarterback, and you can see that being a struggle with the pocket closing down on him. He needs to learn to take the check down, throw out of bounds and survive to live another play.
• Sanchez’ ball placement and high-level accuracy are lacking at times. He’s prone to throw guys just short or low, needs to be better in leading his men. His accuracy, especially on intermediate timing throws, is almost always just off, leading to several tips and drops.
• He’s a true gunslinger, loves to let it rip and make tough throws. This gets him into trouble often and leads to more forced throws than necessary; he needs to trust his arm less and rely on his mind more.
• He can be a bit inconsistent with his accuracy, mechanics and eye manipulation. Consistency is ultimately what’s plagued him most of his career.
• Pre-snap reads are an area in which Sanchez needs to show improvements. He needs to win the mental game more then he has thus far in his career. Early on he wasn’t given many responsibilities and Kelly’s offense doesn’t require many pre-snap reads, but this will be a key for him beating out the competition in Denver.

To summarize

Every year there are boom or bust prospects when you study the Draft, Mark Sanchez is that rare veteran who’s boom or bust on a week-to-week or even play-to-play basis. On any given snap he can make a genius throw, and he can make a boneheaded turnover on the next.

While it’s great that he has all the talent and the stones to go for the tough throw at any time, this can be incredibly scary. Consistency, of course, is the biggest concern, and while Sanchez has had spurts of good consistent play, most notably in 2011 and 2014, inconsistent play and most importantly decision making has plagued him thus far.

Let’s get one thing crystal clear right off the bat; arm talent is absolutely not the problem for Sanchez. Strength, accuracy, throwing on the run, he has it all and he has flashes of elite talent that he’s shown throughout his NFL career. However, he hasn’t progressed in critical areas like decision making under pressure, leading his receivers, and reading pressures.