Jets' QB of future not on roster

After New York Jets head coach Rex Ryan named Greg McElroy as his starter for Sunday's penultimate game versus San Diego in place of Mark Sanchez, a couple of things became clear.

First, the coaching staff, especially Ryan, does not believe that Tim Tebow is an NFL quarterback. And secondly, neither Sanchez nor McElroy should be or will be the starting quarterback of the Jets in 2013.

Sanchez is done. That also became crystal clear watching his embarrassing performance on Monday Night Football in Tennessee. Throwing four interceptions and losing a fumble, giving him 50 turnovers the past two seasons, is bad enough, but the manner in which they occur is what is most troubling.

[McElroy excited | Tebow upset}

A fourth-year quarterback, a four-year starter, should not be making the kind of mental mistakes Sanchez seems to make each and every week. During the post game press conference after every one of his classic stinker performances, he says that he cannot keep making the same mistakes, that he must learn and get better.

Except he keeps making the same mistakes, he has not learned and he has gotten worse. In his defense, the organization did not do him any favors bringing in Tebow for no reason other than to steal a few headlines from the Super Bowl Champions Giants and have not surrounded Sanchez with nearly enough talent for the Jets offense to remotely resemble an average NFL unit.

But after four years and 61 games, 68 touchdowns and 68 interceptions, and signature moments that everyone wants to forget but probably can't (see Butt Fumble 2012), what has he shown to give anyone in Gang Green Nation confidence that he can be the quarterback to take the team to their first Super Bowl since 1969?

The answer to that question is easy. Nothing. There is no good reason Ryan, general manager Mike Tannenbaum, owner Woody Johnson, Fireman Ed or whoever else is asked, could give for Sanchez entering 2013 as the Jets starting quarterback. And if not for his salary - rumored to be a $17 million cap charge if he is released - there is no reason for Sanchez to be on the roster heading into next season.

McElroy, despite his starting this week and presumably the final game of the season in Buffalo, is also not the long-term answer for the Jets at quarterback. If he was, he would not have been deactivated for every game in his NFL career except for the one in which he replaced Sanchez.

He has thrown seven - that's right - seven passes in almost two seasons, and if the Jets front office and staff saw enough in him, he would have been the backup to Sanchez, not an injured and unavailable Tebow.

The Jets have gaping holes on their roster. They lack talent at wide receiver and lack a consistent running game and the defense plays well but does not create enough of a pass rush.

But the biggest hole the Jets have is at the most important position in all of sports -- the quarterback.

For more on the Jets, visit Gang Green Nation and SB Nation New York.

Follow Jason Pafundi on Twitter @jasonpafundi