Everyone makes mistakes. The weatherman will predict sunny skies only for it to pour. Sometimes. Mel Kiper will mess up in his seven-round mock draft. Occasionally. Even Chuck Norris didn't catch the bad guys the first time around. He needed a whole hour-long time slot.
This is where I have to admit I made a mistake. I thought Mark Sanchez would be a bust. When the Jets traded up to grab him I was the only Jet fan I knew who didn't immediately develop a man crush on the quarterback from USC. Even my friend who threw a remote through a wall when the Jets took Darelle Revis - now a premier NFL corner - was in love with Sanchez. But much like Mark McGwire, I am certainly not here to talk about the past.
It may be too early, scratch that, it is definitely way too early to anoint Sanchez the second coming of Joe Namath. He's played one game and scored as many points for the Jets as the Texans, his interception being returned all the way for a score. There was just something in his performance that made me feel a little bit better about him.
It was the same feeling that emanated from Chad Pennington's first few games. Both were quick to sprint up and down the field following the play and offer congratulations. Both had an intensity and a willingness to stand in a take a hit that young quarterbacks normally lack. Pennington was also quick to head butt his offensive lineman to get himself pumped up before the game, but something tells me that is not a part of Sanchez's preparation. That's the difference between being from a school in rural West Virginia - Pennington's Marshall Thundering Herd - versus Los Angeles and the mighty USC Trojans.
He made throws on the run, he made them in the pocket, he stepped up into space, and he even showed some fancy footwork on play action.
He may still be a bust, but I feel confident enough to say that in the debate of Sanchez versus Matthew Stafford, he isn't playing Ryan Leaf to the former Georgia QB's Peyton Manning.
Could my recent change of heart toward the rookie be due to the fact that I hated the pick of Kellen Clemens - the man who Sanchez beat out for the starting gig - even more than Sanchez? A little - it doesn't hurt to have one of the football teams I follow be able to write their depth chart in pen every weekend, and after today I don't think that will change any time soon.
I'd also like to thank the former Jets quarterback who recently unretired. I don't think anyone wants to read his name in the paper again, so I'll give him the Voldermort treatment, but without his soap opera I don't think I'd appreciate the stability that having a quarterback of the future brings to a team.
Stability at a position like QB is as important as anything else, both for the team and for the fan base. Sure the proverbial "water cooler" debate won't be as heated as if you have two guys going out there and laying it on the line every day in practice and complacency may not always be the 
best thing, but the positives far outweigh the negative.
Think about the past few years at Boston College. Faith in Matt Ryan is a given, but even compare the past two seasons. Chris Crane was an overall mediocre game manager save channeling Frank Tarkenton or Johnny Unitas against NC State, but he was the quarterback. People called for Dominique Davis, at least until he had to play and everyone wanted Crane back.
This year, it was Davis who was almost certainly the starter and with everything else going on with the program he would at least provide someone to rally behind. But when he transferred, yet another facet of the team was thrown into uncertainty. After early returns - granted they were against Kent State and Northeastern - it looks like Justin Tuggle or Dave Shinskie just might be better than Davis, but so much is reliant upon someone being that number one guy.
Even in the era of the wildcat, the importance of one man behind center is paramount.
With Sanchez at the wheel, the Jets can at least head into a single and certain direction. He could be the next Marino. He could be the next Danny Wuerffel. Even crazier, he could be the first Mark Sanchez.
No matter what, it is clear that he will get the chance be that and nobody will be challenging him.
Let's just hope the man crush lasts.
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