When I first read Debbie’s pro-Pennington post I really disagreed. I thought she was being way too sunny about his abilities. Even with a better O-line, even with better play calling, I just think Chad is too physically limited at this point to ever be a great quarterback.

But, as my finger hovered over the “Reply” button, I had a moment of inspired patience. Think about this before you argue, I told myself. So I waited, and I considered the Jets QB situation. And I’m glad I did, because now I basically agree with Debbie.

Everything I’ve said about Chad in the past I still believe. After the surgeries, his arm strength is just too poor. It’ll always handicap him. No amount of smarts, confidence, and decision-making can overcome the inability to throw an eight-yard sideline pattern. I don’t think he will ever lead the Jets deep into the playoffs. Barring an injury to Clemens he should never regain his starting job. There’s no future in him.

That being said, as long as he’s a backup, they might as well hold onto him. Whoever the Jets replaced him with probably wouldn’t be better. Backups are backups for a reason. The name I’ve heard bandied about most as a replacement is Sage Rosenfels. Safe to say there’s no future in him either. The Jets are going to take a cap hit if they cut Chad, only to replace him with someone comparable or worse. Now if they can trade him for a draft pick, that’s a different story. That might be worth it. But to release him just because he wants to start somewhere isn’t worth it. Tanenbaum and Mangini may want the best for him but the team comes first.

Unless they want to start over with Matt Ryan or Brian Brohm or a trade for Derek Anderson, 2008 should belong to Kellen Clemens. Let the kid succeed or fail without the threat of Chad taking his job after two bad games. As long as they reassure him that it’s his job, Chad should stick around as the backup. If Clemens snaps a collarbone with the Jets at 7-5, it wouldn’t kill me to see Chad take over the reins.