Who should the Jets draft?

HOLLANDER: The issue is: Who should the Jets draft, Matt Leinart or Vince Young? During the 1965 college draft, Joe Namath was passed over by the NFL as "too expensive." Afterwards, Hall of Fame owner Sonny Werblin signed him to the AFL's New York Jets. Matt Leinart ain't Joe Namath. Leinart has it backward. He's all about endorsements before football. He's style over substance. Just 10 days before draft day he dumps his agent Leigh Steinberg-who has already laid out a draft strategy for him-and jumps to another agent affiliated with Hollywood talent agency CAA. This guy wants to be in the movies, but what about winning football games?

Namath starred in movies. He earned big endorsements. But that was after he became the first player to pass for over 4,000 yards in an NFL season. That was after he guaranteed the Jet victory over the heavily favored Colts in Super Bowls III. The mirror image of Namath in college football last year was Vince Young. Young guaranteed a Texas victory in the Rose Bowl over Matt Leinart and heavily favored USC. He single-handedly delivered the greatest bowl game performance anyone alive has seen. All last season, while Matt, Nick and Jessica were yukking it up in the pages of US Weekly, Vince Young was running over Ohio State d-backs. Leinart was a sore sport in the post-game interview, saying he still thought USC was the better team. Is that so?

Jets romanticists see Leinart as the "next Broadway Joe," should the Jets draft him with their number four pick. That would be a mistake. It would be misjudging a book by its cover. Leinart looks like the perfect quarterback-tall, strong arm, great footwork. Vince Young looks all wrong. He throws from his hip, he's built like a free safety, he is uncomfortable in the pocket-but he's unstoppable. Young's style of play may shorten his career as an NFL quarterback, but if the Jets take him, they will give themselves three or four of the most exciting years in franchise history. Namath's style of play wrote his ticket to Hollywood and Madison Avenue. Had he not won, he would not have been so interesting. Young knows how to win. You can ask Leinart about that.

SULLIVAN: My choice would be neither. Young is a great athlete who will be crushed by pro linemen should he pull his fancy footwork out in the open field. I too would choose Young over Leinart, but with my draft pick I would select?drum roll?an offensive lineman. But first let me join you in expressing my nausea over these Matt Leinart/Joe Namath comparisons. Let's see the lad take a few snaps in a pro game as 350-pound speedsters come barreling in on him. We'll see if old Matt can handle that, or, if he returns to Cali and rides the surf with Ryan Leaf (a failed QB he sort of reminds me of).

Leinart also strikes me as a bit of a soft preppy-boy from a privileged background. Yes he has talent, but does he have balls? Joe Namath grew up tough in the rough and tumble town of Beaver Falls, PA. Namath also had the moxie to date a black girl while he was quarterback at Alabama in 1963. This was back when miscegenation could get you hung from a nearby Cypress tree.

Joe Namath had heart.

Call me an old-fashioned loyalist, but I still feel that the Jets owe Chad Pennington another year to helm the team. I think that the Jets could use one of those 300 lb. side?of-beef offensive linemen that are eligible this year. As the line goes, so goes the offense, and the Jets front line is as weak as the Berlin Wall...crumbled. So keep your matinee idol and give me a big, strong lineman, and we'll build from there. In heft there is power.

HOLLANDER: "In heft there is power?" That sounds like the mantra for your "Big and Tall" support group. A lineman, huh? D'Brickashaw Ferguson, the 6'6", 305 lb. offensive tackle from the University of Virginia, runs a 5.07 40-yard dash. Plus, he hails from Long Island. You're digging the hometown kid angle, right? Well, the Jets snubbed Queens a long time ago, and by moving their Hempstead, N.Y., practice facility and their Manhattan corporate offices to Florham Park, N.J., there's nothing New York about them anymore. It doesn't take a Wonderlic test to know that quarterbacks turn ailing franchises around, not linemen. (Query: Didn't you used to perform at a little German-themed neon joint in Times Square called "Wonderlic" in the libertine, pre-Giuliani days?) Teams who tied their fortunes to linemen with early first round picks have lived in infamy. The 1974 New York Giants spent the first overall pick on John Hicks from Ohio State. That's right, "John Who?" If not for Ryan Leaf, tackle Tony Mandarich (number two, 1989 Green Bay Packers) would still be considered the biggest draft bust ever.

The Jets need a quarterback. Well, okay, they need everything. But the 2005 Jets were considered contenders despite the demise of Pennington. Chad "It's your privilege to write about football" Pennington is damaged beyond repair. To think otherwise is to be in denial. Who can play quarterback?

Note that Joe Gibbs, a smart guy, discarded Patrick Ramsey. It's either Leinart or Young. We agree, the only thing blown more out or proportion than Matt Leinart's reputation is Mel Kiper Jr.'s hair. Give the ball to Vince Young. Let him run the option. Let him run the wishbone, but for god's sake, just let him run. Then watch the rest of the NFL turn green with envy.

SULLIVAN: Your historic choice of John Hicks is gratuitous. Big and agile offensive lines win football games. Remember the Hogs from the Washington Redskins Super Bowl win? Pennington deserves another shot. He is a good leader with a not-so-great arm. But still, maybe the surgery worked. Maybe he will be football's Tommy John. You are like most football fans-grab-the-glory guy. I look at the total team, and the Jets line needs help pronto. Hell, Tom Brady couldn't survive behind the line the Jets have. It is all about infrastructure, Dave. Build the road strong and the wins will come. The Jets need beef and they need to give Chad one more shot.