Expectations Will Be High for Sanchez After What Ryan and Flacco Did Last Year

The success of rookie quarterbacks Matt Ryan and Joe Flacco in 2008 will make Mark Sanchez’s rookie season pressure filled, especially playing in New York.  The fact is that rookie quarterbacks do not do well in their rookie seasons.  Ryan and Flacco’s success as rookies is the exception.  It just so happens they did it in the same season.  What are the odds?  Both quarterbacks led their respective teams to the playoffs.  Flacco and the Ravens won two playoff games before losing in the AFC championship to the eventual Super Bowl champion Steelers.  Ryan lost to the NFC champion Cardinals in the first round.  

Ryan and Flacco’s success is so recent that it is fresh in the minds of fans.  Now Sanchez will be expected to have success like they did.  Before Flacco’s playoff wins last season, only two rookies quarterbacks in history won a playoff game during their rookie seasons: Shaun King in 1999 and Ben Roethlisberger in 2004.    

The pressure Sanchez will be under during his rookie season is not fair but it is reality.  He can blame Matt Ryan and Joe Flacco for that.  Sanchez would have experienced extreme pressure anyway being the fifth overall pick in the draft and playing in New York, but he will feel added pressure because of the success of the two rookie quarterbacks in 2008.  If Ryan and Flacco could do it, why not Sanchez?