Jason Taylor: Mark Sanchez less 'talented' than Chad Henne

Maybe Jason Taylor hasn’t quite shaken the trauma of quickstepping his way through “Dancing With the Stars” a few seasons ago. Or maybe he just likes to say dumb things.

Either way, the former Jets pass rusher, now in his third tour with the Dolphins, has lit a fire of controversy well in advance of the teams’ Oct. 17 Meadowlands matchup by proclaiming Chad Henne a superior quarterback to Taylor’s teammate of a year ago, Mark Sanchez.

“I saw a kid in New York, Mark Sanchez, that is young,” Taylor told a Miami TV station this week. “I don’t think he‘s as talented as Chad Henne.”

While Sanchez has weathered his share of mechanical and stylistic problems, most recently in a 27-of-43, 369-yard game with two touchdowns and an interception, overall achievement should probably count for something. And in that area, Sanchez has it all over Henne.

While Henne, drafted a year before Sanchez in 2008, has watched the last three playoffs from his living room, Sanchez did enough with his arm to get the Jets to the last two AFC Championship games. He may not always have been pretty, but he has kept mistakes to a minimum in the postseason. And now that the Jets are demanding that he throw more, he’s earned a 90.0 quarterback rating in a 2-1 start.
Henne, on the other hand, is 0-3 and has a mediocre 82.4 rating.

Then again, Taylor is given to this sort of statement. He often took shots at Jets fans his first two times in Miami, and he was only reluctantly embraced in his single season in the Meadowlands last year.

A teammate is expected to stick up for his quarterback. But Taylor seems a b it shy of the facts this time — and a bit premature in starting this war of words.

Mark Sanchez
NFL team: Jets
Age: 24
Height/weight: 6-2/225 pounds
Draft position: 1st rd., No. 5 (USC)
Hometown: Long Beach, Calif.
Regular-season W-L (playoffs): 23-14 (4-2)
Career yards per game/TDs/INTs: 194.7, 35, 37

Chad Henne
NFL team: Miami Dolphins
Age: 26
Height/weight: 6-3/230 pounds
Draft position: 2nd rd., No. 26 (Michigan)
Hometown: Wyomissing, Penn.
Regular-season W-L (playoffs): 13-14 (0-0)
Career yards per game/TDs/INTs: 202.5, 31, 36