UPDATE: It’s official. Sanchez is leaving and Pete Carroll is not happy. Bill Plaschke thinks he is mad because it will hurt the team but I think it could be frustration that Sanchez is making a bad decision. Anyway, he is gone for next year.
This LA Times story suggests that Mark Sanchez will leave school for the NFL draft after only one season as a starting quarterback. I think this will be a mistake for him but it will be a boon for Mitch Mustain, who transferred from Arkansas to SC two years ago. Aaron Corp, a freshman backup quarterback will also be given a chance to start next season with a largely intact offensive unit. SC loses a big part of the defensive squad but the offense will be intact, except for Sanchez if he leaves.
Sanchez may have looked at the careers of Matt Leinert and Matt Castle this year. Castle was a backup at New England until Tom Brady was hurt early in the season. Castle then took over and has had an outstanding season, taking the Patriots to the playoffs. Leinert started a few games for Arizona but has been benched this season as old timer, Kurt Warner took them to the NFL Championship game this weekend.
Apparently, he was also influenced by the fact that three other outstanding quarterbacks will return to school, leaving the draft short of competition for Sanchez. Maybe this is a good decision for him, especially as the quarterback coach for SC will change next season as Steve Sarkesian leaves for Washington. I think another year would make him a better prospect but he has his career to think of and maybe he prefers to move on now. For his sake, I hope he is correct.