Mark Sanchez was the wild card heading into this year's draft. He had a limited number of starts at USC and no one knew where he would get drafted, but it still seemed likely that he could be a nice QB2 because his upside in the right system grew exponentially as the draft approached. If Seattle pulled the trigger on Sanchez, though, his fantasy value would be sunk because Matt Hasselbeck isn't going anywhere right away. Then the Jets made a trade with the Browns and were suddenly in the five spot, causing high-fives and smiles all around in the Sanchez household in California.
And there could be smiles for fantasy owners too -- the word on the street is that people are falling in love with his accuracy, football intelligence and his footwork. And he should start for the Jets from Day 1. Because of that, he has immediate fantasy value -- Jerricho Cotchery and Thomas Jones are nice weapons to have -- as a later round pick.
For keeper leagues, Sanchez, in my opinion, is going to be worth a pretty high pick. There are more talented offensive players -- Michael Crabtree comes to mind -- but Sanchez is going to end up being the most valuable quarterback in this draft, at least from a fantasy standpoint.
