It sounds like Mangini is high enough on Ratliff to have him be our #2 QB, should Derek Anderson one of our QB's get traded. And if the two guys currently at the top of the depth chart blow chunks this year, Ratliff could get a chance to start in 2010.

Mel Kiper ON Brett Ratliff

@shepwrite said:

Sorry shep, but McDonald's stopped super-sizing their value meals a few years ago so it's silly to hold out for that. We're just gonna have to settle for the large fries and coke. We might be able to get a hot fudge sundae from the dollar menu to sweeten the deal though.

@greythan said:

Could it happen? Sure. Actually discussing it as any type of probability is nuts.

First, the Jets let him go as part of a deal to trade up for Sanchez.

Second, he started a year and 2 games for Utah after transferring. Nice stats, but not the near 65% completion ratio / 30 career D1 starts you want.

Third, haven't we already tried this with another QB cast away from another team?

All reasons that Ratliff is more of a project at this point, and reasons why I speculated he may end up competing for the starting job next year or later if DA and/or BQ falter. We might give him a chance to compete before going to the draft or FA for a new QB. It's good to have that in-house fallback option.

Also, I don't think it should be overlooked that Mangini emphasized how well Ratliff's developed under then-QB coach Brian Daboll. There's got to be a nice bond there that'll be a good thing if Ratliff's our long-term backup and even better if he somehow becomes our starting QB.

Just really like that he was a part of the deal.

Aloysius said:

Been high on Ratliff ever since I saw him absolutely destroy Georgia Tech in a bowl game. Really glad that he was part of the deal.

I can't remember when it was, but I saw him play an NFL pre-season game or replacing Clemens in one game 2 years back, can't remember which...

he looked AWESOME, it's the only reason I knew who he was when this trade happened, because of his performance in that game I saw... I'm kinda excited to have him on our team... even if he never plays...

Could it happen? Sure. Actually discussing it as any type of probability is nuts.

First, the Jets let him go as part of a deal to trade up for Sanchez.

Second, he started a year and 2 games for Utah after transferring. Nice stats, but not the near 65% completion ratio / 30 career D1 starts you want.

Third, haven't we already tried this with another QB cast away from another team?

@hammertime said:

What....during the draft I heard some of the ESPN announcers say that.

We do know he like Ratliff...

I wasn't trying to stir anything....

Now, back to the regularly scheduled programming.

Aloysius said:

And it was two years ago that Ratliff looked lost. He was phenomenal during last year's preseason. Before the Favre trade, Ratliff was said to be the most impressive QB in Jets camp (over Clemens and Chad Pennington). And he looked great during the exhibition games, including against us.

He's an intriguing upside guy, not just a Ken Dorsey type.

If I cared enough to search I would find it, but I've seen it twice already.

And it was two years ago that Ratliff looked lost. He was phenomenal during last year's preseason. Before the Favre trade, Ratliff was said to be the most impressive QB in Jets camp (over Clemens and Chad Pennington). And he looked great during the exhibition games, including against us.

He's an intriguing upside guy, not just a Ken Dorsey type.

Aloysius said:

Now, I praise Ratliff and get called a "tard" and have my comments completely misrepresented. I guess I now understand why Lum doesn't make good faith arguments when debating these folks.

I'm not calling you a tard Alo, just the people who think Ratliff is here to start. Especially with Mangini's quote saying Ratliff looked completely lost, just last year in camp.

@gips said:

I said back in January that I thought Ratliff could win a hypothetical QB battle with DA in New York. On that occasion, it prompted a hilarious comment by mz the pussy.

Now, I praise Ratliff and get called a "tard" and have my comments completely misrepresented. I guess I now understand why Lum doesn't make good faith arguments when debating these folks.

@ballpeen said:

Only time will tell.

One thing is for sure.....Mangini likes him, which is something we might not be able to say for any of the other QBs currently on the roster.

Thats great Ballpean- lets have another imaginary QB debate

Eric Mangini said:

"Brett's a guy that we got as a free agent after the draft. We liked his traits, and he came into the first rookie camp and he couldn't do a thing. He couldn't do a thing. And I'm thinking, 'Okay, we're just wasting our time here.' Kept working at it, got up to a suitable level.

Made it to training camp, went through some bumps in training camp. We had to look for a roster spot; we were deciding between him and another player. We have this period after practice called opportunity period, where we let the young guys play against each other, get extra reps, and prove that with extra reps that they should continue to stay around in camp. So he lights it up during opportunity period, saves himself, ends up making the practice squad that year.

Wasn't going to let him sit around just as a quarterback, so I had him work at practice squad receiver. Did a great job there and bought himself a year. Through the course of that next year, the amount of development this guy made - through his work ethic, his intelligence, all those things - was impressive. And you guys saw it last year, where he had the two touchdown passes against the Browns.

And that type of substantial progress, I thought, was really encouraging. So I like that a lot about him."

Ratliff's still very raw: though he outplayed Kellen Clemens during the preseason last year, Mangini & co. weren't comfortable listing him as the #2 QB on the depth chart. And some recent reports had him making rookie mistakes during the Jets' recent minicamp.

But Mangini clearly likes the guy's work ethic and his upside. When the Jets traded for Favre, there were rumblings (echoed by Kiper above) that people within the organization were hoping Favre could give them 2-3 years and serve as a bridge to the other Brett.

If DA and/or BQ struggle this year, it wouldn't be all that surprising to see Ratliff emerge as a dark horse contender for the starting job in 2010. Should be very interesting to see how he plays for us this preseason.

Aloysius said:

Been high on Ratliff ever since I saw him absolutely destroy Georgia Tech in a bowl game. Really glad that he was part of the deal.

I agree. he has some talent and you never know, he may be our QB of the future.

Only time will tell.

One thing is for sure.....Mangini likes him, which is something we might not be able to say for any of the other QBs currently on the roster.

Been high on Ratliff ever since I saw him absolutely destroy Georgia Tech in a bowl game. Really glad that he was part of the deal.