Rex Ryan says he knew Mark Sanchez would never be a franchise quarterback

A lot of people pinned their hopes on Mark Sanchez to become the franchise quarterback of the New York Jets, but apparently his coach wasn’t one of them.

Former Jets coach Rex Ryan, now with ESPN, said recently that he never believed Sanchez could become the franchise quarterback some felt he was destined to be.

“With Sanchez, I knew he wasn’t going to be a franchise quarterback, but I thought he’d be good enough to win with,” Ryan told Rich Cimini of ESPN. “The guys coming out in this year’s class have a much higher rating than Mark had — and Mark was OK.”

Ultimately, Ryan said Sanchez ended up having to go because he never improved enough, particularly with his decision-making and avoiding mistakes.

“With Sanchez, we just couldn’t have it anymore,” Ryan said. “The boneheaded interceptions, especially in the red zone, it was mind boggling. Unfortunately, Mark never really got better. I think that was the disappointing thing to me.”

Ultimately, those boneheaded errors will be Sanchez’s Jets legacy. Ryan seemed to believe that the quarterback could evolve into a competent game manager — but it sure sounds like he was always fated to be a disappointment given the high expectations that surrounded him.

H/T CBS Sports